Saturday, January 1, 2011

Velozzi Supercar and SOLO Review

Velozzi Supercar and SOLO

Velozzi made a splash in 2009 with the announcement of a joint project with Bayer Advanced Materials in the production of a super car, appropriately named the Velozzi Supercar. The Velozzi Super Car and the SOLO claim lower net emissions of NOx (nitrogen oxide) than any other hybrid electric or pure electric vehicle.

http://www.zercustoms.com/news/images/Miscellaneous/Velozzi-Supercar.jpg
Microturbine Gallery Velozzi Supercar
http://www.futurecars.com/images/velozzi.jpg

Velozzi Supercar Specs:
    * Type: Range-Extended Electric
    * Class: Sports Car
    * Manufacturer: Velozzi
    * Propulsion system: Electric
    * Top Speed: 200mph+
    * Vehicle range: 200 miles electric, 1,000 miles total
    * Fuel(s): Electricity, Biodiesel, Diesel, Ethanol, Butanol,
       Methanol, CNG
    * Battery system: Lithium-ion
    * Time to full battery recharge: 4 hours at 110V
    * Price: Not Announced
    * Availability: Late 2010

http://www.futurecars.com/images/solo.jpg

Velozzi SOLO Specs

    * Type: Range-Extended Electric
    * Class: Crossover (SUV/Wagon)
    * Manufacturer: Velozzi
    * Propulsion system: Electric
    * Top Speed: 130mph
    * Vehicle range: 200 miles electric, 1,000 miles total
    * Fuel(s): Electricity, Biodiesel, Diesel, Ethanol, Butanol,
       Methanol, CNG
    * Battery system: Lithium-ion
    * Time to full battery recharge: <4 hours at 110V
    * Price: Not Announced
    * Availability: 2011

Los Angeles-based Velozzi made a splash in 2009 with the announcement of a joint project with Bayer Advanced Materials in the production of a super car–appropriately named the Velozzi Supercar–and entrance into the Progressive Automotive X-Prize. Since then, the company has steadily gone forward with the design and has also released information on another, more practical crossover design called the SOLO. Both vehicles will be available for purchase inside the next 18 months.

The manufacturer says

Note that the Velozzi Super Car and the SOLO have lower net emissions of NOx than any other hybrid electric or pure electric vehicle†when other electric vehicles are using the CA or the US Avg. grid, and other criteria pollutants even when they are operating in charge sustaining mode with the microturbine on.

Overview

The Supercar is capable of some extremely impressive numbers, including a 0-60mph time of only 3 seconds and a top speed of over 200 miles per hour. The C65 microturbine, made by Capstone, produces 65kW of power while the AC-induction electric motor puts out a huge 770hp. This car is one of the most anticipated entrants into the X-Prize.

The SOLO, meanwhile, is a practical, luxurious vehicle made to appeal to a wider audience. It utilizes the C30 microturbine from Capstone, which provides 30kW of power to the motor. It's 0-60mph is still an impressive 6 seconds and it's good range and top speed ensure that it can compete with any internal combustion counterpart on all fronts.

Both vehicles feature the advanced microturbine technology from Capstone Turbine and will be the first production model cars to use the turbines, which have so far seen service in buses and trollies. They also feature the advanced, lightweight materials including Nanoledge carbon nanotube epoxy/carbon panels made in conjunction with Bayer.

In fact, Velozzi has managed to put together a strong team of original equipment suppliers including Bayer, Bosch, Nanoledge, Pirelli, and others.

What we like

Serious Speed - if you're going to go with a sports car, you may as well get one that can outrun an Indie racer. The price point for the Supercar is probably going to be near the Tesla Roadster or even the Audi E-Tron, but it will outperform both vehicles.

Practicality - although the price for the SOLO hasn't been set, it will likely compete with the Tesla Model S and the range-extended Fisker Karma. It will seat enough to be a family car and get better than 100mpg, so what's to argue about?

Availability - both vehicles from Velozzi will be available within 2 years, which is before most competing cars will have come to market.

What we don't

No Physical Prototypes - so far, physical prototypes for both Velozzi vehicles have not been publicly shown. It's expected that the Supercar will be shown at the X-Prize in the next couple of months, however.

Safety Testing - the largest delay for Velozzi with both of these concepts would probably be crash and safety testing. With no prototypes yet, it's questionable how soon they could have a production prototype for testing.

Price Ambiguity - with it being so soon to market for both vehicles, it would seem appropriate to have announced pricing already.

Conclusions

Publicly, neither car is in prototype stage yet, though privately it's likely that the Supercar and possibly the SOLO have already seen physical form for testing. Both vehicles are extremely innovative and, if they come to market as promised, would be some of the first practical electrics on the road today.

http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/velozzi-solo-render-rear-630.jpg
It's been almost three years since would-be automaker Velozzi first appeared on our radar
http://www.velozzi.org/Images/Hi-Res/Velozzi_Supercar_front_34_1900-1200.jpg
The Velozzi Car
http://ides.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8346c5d2f69e20120a67b9cc9970c-320wi
The Velozzi SOLO
http://www.cartech.fr/i/edit/2009/07/Velozzi-solo/velozzi-supercar3.jpg
The Velozzi Car
http://ides.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8346c5d2f69e20120a67b9cc9970c-320wi
The collaboration will support Velozzi's goal to develop a crossover vehicle
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRJzcWSfI_upcP5ztGVXrqRWPyVk11suM3g4OemktFQXlPqi3uOhA
The Velozzi SOLO is a planned mass-production crossover 

Cette société américaine spécialisée dans le développement de voitures électriques lance le SOLO, un SUV écologique utilisant des batteries alimentées par un système de micro turbines.

Velozzi nourrit de grandes ambitions pour le lancement de son SOLO. Cette société américaine basée à Los Angeles a pour projet de lancer d’ici 2012 un SUV écologique et performant sur la route. Alimenté par des batteries lithium ion, cette hybride rechargeable ne fonctionnant que sur un moteur électrique utiliserait également un système de micro turbines capables de fonctionner avec n’importe quel type de carburant : essence, diesel, biodiesel, bioéthanol 85 ou encore méthane.
L’utilisation d’une turbine n’est pas sans rappeler les travaux réalisés par la société israélienne ETV Motors sur une Toyota Prius.

Le SOLO mise également sur son châssis, élaboré en partenariat avec Nanoledge. Les deux sociétés ont tenu à mettre l’accent sur le côté léger de la voiture. Les matériaux de nouvelle génération allient donc résistance, performance et légèreté, grâce notamment à l’intégration de nanotubes en carbone. Résultat, le 0 à 100km/h s’effectue en 6 secondes, la vitesse maximale est de 210 km/h et la consommation n’atteint que 2.4L/100km.

Velozzi développe également une supercar utilisant le même système de micro turbines et capable de rouler à 337 km/h. La société américaine déclare avoir de nombreux fournisseurs engagés dans le développement des deux voitures. Elle espère une sortie d’ici 2012.

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