Detroit Auto Show: Sweet Rides

What is the point of concept vehicles? Why make this crap since nobody can get one?

 

Concept cars serve are sort of like bait. Car companies use them to attract people to their show display at all the major car shows during the year. If a concept is very well-received it may just end becoming the next thing that company comes out with or something much like it.

 

Attracting people to their display makes a lot of sense. I guess I have never seen a concept car become reality but maybe if you think about it, the new Caddy's are similar to some concept cars. I'm sure that there are others.

 

That Ford Bronco reminds me of a H2. I can see that it competing with one.

 

Man, that Bronco is ugly as hell...
I see them making it into a wannabe Hummer...

but that dont mean nothing to me..am I the only one that thinks Hummers are horribly overrated and overpriced?

I wouldnt mind getting a truck...but the SUVs are just getting uglier and uglier.

I'll stick with my nice, sleek, low-slung sporty car.

 

Also, the new Mustang is pretty close to what the concept looked like and the Chrysler Crossfire was a concept car about three years ago. Mostly though it's to test new ideas like Lil Pun said.

 

The Ford Bronco concept looks more like the Mercedes G-Wagon to me.

 

I would laugh at someone if I saw them drivng this:

 

This one reminds me of the car Homer created for his brother, then it put his brother out of business.

 

Almost. But there's no bubble on the back for your mother-in-law.

 

Absolutely not.

I totally agree. I'd rather spend the same amount of money on a bling-blinging Tahoe or decent Escalade.

They seem like the new replacement for the "cliched" reason that men buy snazzy sports cars. Ya know... they're not quite "packing" down there.

 

Cars are crap. I estimate that we're about 15 years away from cars becoming obscolete (though not entirely extinct - kinda like trains).

Nope - we're about 15 years away from flying around in these (from moller.com):





-- droxford

 

Is that fuel efficient or what?!?!

 

Yeah, and how much does one of those run drox?

 

If you think people can't drive (I don't!), how are people supposed to pilot air-cars? That is too scary to imagine.

 

Several concept cars become production cars - the Viper is one example.

 

Okay okay - more info...

People aren't going to pilot the skycar: it's pretty difficult to fly (like a cross between a harrier jet and a helicopter) and the education and licensing for people to do that would be too difficult for the masses.

So... the U.S. government is in the process of creating a country-wide navigation system (called the 'airway network' - like air traffic control) that will interface with a piloting computer on the skycar. You just tell the skycar where you want to go, and the computer flies you there based on GPS and the Airway Network (there's a global system being created, as well). The gov't hopes to have that system in place in about 4 years.

Initial sky cars will sell for $500,000 (you can reserve one now), but they claim that, once they're in full production, they'll be selling for around $60-80,000. Also, keep in mind that I'm sure that all the auto makers will probably dump their cars and start building skycars (they've been shelving their own skycar plans and patents for decades) once they start catching on.

The moller skycars use regular gasoline and "burn less fuel and they burn it more completely" than cars.
According to Moller, it can fly comfortably at 350+ miles per hour, and gets about 28 miles per gallon (keep in mind, no traffic, no red lights, no stop signs... no turns!), and it can fly at up to 29,000 feet in altitude.

They don't require runways - they use VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) like a helicopter do, and can do limited taxiing on the ground (I could imaging landing on top of a parking garage, and then taxiing down to a parking space.

Here's the FAQ on the M400 skycar. It's a four-seater. They also plan on building a two-seater. (Note: noise is pretty high, and there's no room for groceries, but, hey - it's a first generation vehicle).

-- droxford

 

The air traffic control network I mentioned is called SATS (Small Aircraft Transportation System). Here's NASA's sites on SATS:
http://sats.nasa.gov or http://sats.larc.nasa.gov/main.html

SATS overview:
http://sats.larc.nasa.gov/overview_sats.html

from the SATS overview...
"The Proof of Concept research and technology development phase lasts for five years, or until 2005...Once the 5-year proof of concept SATS Project is complete, it is anticipated that SATS will continue development through the next decade..... The system full deployment phase at federal, state and local levels could occur as early as 2015. SATS could be mature and fully operational by 2020."

-- droxford