(Look out SMART, the iQ is coming! flickr/A.Schwenke)
Here’s something I just caught on Gizmag (title link). It’s good news for Microcar lovers, uncertain news for American Microcar lovers, and could possibly be bad news for SMART… or not. Here’s a snippet of the story:
July 6, 2008 Toyota showed its iQ Concept at last year’s motorshows, creating a new class of premium ultra-compact vehicle, capable of carrying three adults plus a child in comfort. Now, in a move that foretells a coming era of much smaller cars, the iQ is set for production in 2008 and availability in 2009. The iQ was a sensation, proving emphatically that small does not mean basic, and drawing huge crowds – the message sunk in quickly, and now the production version (pictured) offers a completely new proposition for urban motoring that is stylish, sophisticated, technically advanced and kinder to the environment.
The iQ was a sensation, proving emphatically that small does not mean basic, and drawing huge crowds – the message sunk in quickly, and now the production version (pictured) offers a completely new proposition for urban motoring that is stylish, sophisticated, technically advanced and kinder to the environment.
iQ is less than three metres long, but wider and with a longer cabin than a Toyota Yaris. It achieves a breakthrough in small car packaging to deliver unprecedented interior space, thanks to a series of interlinked engineering innovations (I call it origami!).
I’m not sure what to expect just yet as far as fuel efficency goes (I hear it’s on par with the Prius), but I do know they are calling this a 3+1 seating configuration, meaning room for 3 adults and 1 child… or luggage, whatever you wanna call ‘em. Now the real question will be “is this a 2009 for the USA?”. We’ll keep ya posted; in the meantime, here’s some spy photos.
7. July 2008 at 7:47 am
These microcars may work great in Japan, in Europe, and in a handful of big cities here in the USA (just today I saw a Smart driving through Harvard Square).
What I want to know, though, is who is working on the real fuel economy challenge in America, those long, long stretches of fast interstate highway. I almost never use my car in the city (and I bet quite a few scooter riders can say the same) so a “city car” is useless to me. Forget the tiny packaging and complicated hybrids, and just give me something that can cruise along at 70mph on as little fuel as possible.
7. July 2008 at 1:50 pm
Three adults and one child? That’s kind of a weird combination. It makes it sound like the kid gets folded up in the glove box or something.
7. July 2008 at 4:12 pm
Hey genwaylaid! Would this cut it? http://tinyurl.com/6q37m2
Haha tim! At least it didn’t say “1 child or box of Kleenex”.
7. July 2008 at 10:06 pm
We actually will probably see this one in the US, but branded as a Scion rather than a Toyota.
8. July 2008 at 4:49 am
Steve,
That is an interesting concept car, but I have my doubts that it would still weigh 1800lb or get 100mpg if it met crash and smog specs.
Light weight is the way to go around town where there is lots of acceleration to do (one reason why 50cc scooters are so peppy). On the highway it’s all about aerodynamics.
Volkswagen, Chevy, and others have introduced models with a few aero tweaks and low-resistance tires to pick up a couple mpg, but if they went at the redesign from the drawing-board up, they could cut fuel consumption in half. Heck, the Prius has a drag coefficient about 2/3 of a typical car’s, and its shape is still 50% brick. It also has to lug around many pounds of hybrid equipment that does very little on the highway.
Streamlining is really not all that hard: http://tinyurl.com/6frk7n