motivational fodder: MIT's Vehicle Design Summit

[MetroMPG]

This is good motivational fodder for anyone who likes to tinker with vehicles: MIT's Vehicle Design Summit:

http://www.vehicledesignsummit.org/07/images/Timeline/pulse.jpg

The Vehicle Design Summit, started at MIT, is a consortium of engineering students from around the globe that has created four diverse drivetrain vehicles already and is now aiming at creating an industry-ready electric vehicle within the next two years. The ultimate goal of the student-led consortium is to find alternative sustainable transportation technologies.

Vehicles made: pure electric, a human electric hybrid, a bio-diesel conversion, fuel cell. 3 of 4 were 3-wheel single passenger vehicles.

Web page:
http://www.vehicledesignsummit.org/07/

Video:
http://turbo.discovery.com/beyond/?bclid=234388877

[The Toecutter]

The biofuel car and the Pulse were my favorites.

The Pulse might have a use for some fairings on those wheels though. The drag from those exposed wheels must be a huge amount compared to the rest of the car.

[MetroMPG]

That was one of my first thoughts too, right after: "Hey, they're using space-saver lightweight spare tires from the Insight on the front of that thing."