The car of the future will have two engines

1991/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingeniaritza
• Garraioak

It is therefore cars to travel on the highways, with long journeys, but also “dwarf” cars to travel the cities. The shortage of car parks in cities and pollution problems have led car manufacturers to make small cars.

The idea of creating a new vehicle went to Swiss watchmaker Nicolas Hayek. Hayek joined with Volkswagen to develop his idea and from this union it was decided to start the project “City-Car”. Although for the execution of this project will arrive in 1993, some of its characteristics can already evolve. Two adults fit in the front of the car and a chair and two shopping bags are inserted in the back.

Its empty weight is 785 kg and its operating system is mixed, that is, it has two engines: one diesel and one electric. On the streets of the city, the vehicle will be powered by electric power from batteries. When more power is needed, for example on interurban roads or highways, the Diesel engine turns on automatically. When the engine turns on automatically it hardly emits pollutants. The displacement is 1.4 l and the power is 35 kW. It takes 20 seconds to reach 100 km/h and its maximum speed is 150 km/h.

The automatic system called inertial exploitation functions as: when the driver of the car steps on the brake, the motor is disconnected from the gear systems. When the engine is reactivated, it must overcome only friction and air resistance. Therefore, the biggest work is for the brakes, but they perform their function very well. According to the measurements made to date, it consumes 1.2 l of diesel per 100 km and its power in the city is 7 kW.

According to Volkswagen technicians, this small vehicle can have the ability to self-feed. To do this, Diesel would operate a small generator equipped with electric current to the batteries of the vehicle.

The body will be made of steel and recyclable. The synthetic materials used in the car will be recyclable. They can therefore be used in another car. Both doors are very wide and well cushion the bumps.

It seems to be very cheap. According to estimates made at this time, the selling price will not exceed 1,200,000 pesetas.