Filed under: MPG
FuelVapor Technologies shows off X-Prize competitor
Click one the Ale for a high-res gallery of the X-Prize competitor
Three wheelers seem to be all the rage lately for automotive startups. This probably has something to do with the fact that they are classed as motorcycles and therefore not subject to pesky automotive safety regulations like crash tests. A company called FuelVapor Technologies has created a car called the Alé which they are intending to enter in the Automotive X-Prize and our buddy John from Autoblog actually spotted it at the SEMA show last fall.
The X-Prize is looking for cars that exceed 100mpg and the Alé currently only gets a claimed 92mpg from its modified Honda four-cylinder engine. The team has developed a fuel system they claim vaporizes the gasoline and runs at extremely
Gallery: FuelVapor Technologies Alé
[Source: FuelVapor Technologies via Gizmodo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eric Lowe 6:37PM (7/06/2007)
misspelling of lean as in "line"?
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Manu Sharma 8:12PM (7/06/2007)
No chance they can move 10,000 of those in a year.
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Ethan 8:13PM (7/06/2007)
Shrink the bore a and trim the bodywork a little? All they need to do is make it use 9% less fuel and it's in. Shouldn't be too hard.
Also, at $15-20k this could sell like hotckaes.
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Peter 10:00AM (7/07/2007)
I would buy one if reasonably priced, but that will not be the case. Hand laid fiberglass body. Say hello to $30k+. Plus factor in that highly customized engine and it will probably be $40K+.
We see many concepts like this, but what we really need is to get a big auto company behind such an effort. Perhaps someone like Suzuki/Honda that do both motorcycles and cars.
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Tony Belding 10:11AM (7/07/2007)
I want to point out that a three-wheeled vehicle makes sense for reasons other than regulatory gamesmanship. By removing one wheel you immediately reduce rolling resistance by 25%, you reduce the total mass of wheels, tires and brakes by 25%, and you no longer need a differential. A single rear wheel also makes it easier to produce an aerodynamic (tapered) tail shape for the vehicle.
The biggest disadvantage seems to be the "three-wheeled weirdmobile" perception of the public -- which, when I look at vehicles like this one, I've got to admit that's a pretty tough obstacle.
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mikeinBuilding7 11:13PM (7/07/2007)
With 180 HP they can easily drop down to a 100 HP engine and have sufficient power for most "economy" buyers, and easily break that 100 mpg goal.
Secondly, dropping back on some of that handling from 8inch tires to 6 or 5 inch would decrease weight and rolling resistance.
This one's designed for thrills, redesigned for fuel economy it would be an interesting project.
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Sully 4:21PM (7/08/2007)
I don't know why they think they can enter the X-Prize. Their car doesn't meet the minimum seating requirements. For an alternative class vehicle (ie a two-seater or three-wheeled vehicle) the passengers must be seated side-by-side, and not in tandem. If you read the draft guidelines (found at xprize.org) this seating information is found on page 8.
I'm not knocking the car, I like the design (it actually reminds me a lot of the VW 1-liter car) and it seems to perform unbelievably well.
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george 3:48PM (8/24/2008)
the new rules show tow seats either side by side or tandem, this is called the alternative class, the ale' fits all new regulations