The world needs to change, and quick. “To Change the World We Have to Change the Car”, says Costa Rica-based inventor Jesse Blenn in spreading the word of what he says will be the first car designed and built in the country, and it will have an electrified powertrain of some sort.
CambYoCar, is the name of the vehicle that is the brainchild of the ex-airline mechanic. Keeping the vehicle light, using a using a combination of balsa wood and aluminum, at the retail price is expected to be heavy in the range of US$18.000 dollars.
A svelte body is always good for hybrids or electric vehicles even those that (in mini prototype form, at least) look a bit like a scrunched up DeLorean.
Costa Rican officials love the idea of a locally made, cheap hybrid or electric vehicle because of their goal to make the nation carbon-neutral – and the fact that many of the cars there are decades old and of the smoke-spewing variety.
Until now, Costa Rica hasn’t shown much interest in advanced-powertrain vehicles. Of the approximately 80,000 new and used vehicles (with a 50/50 split) imported to the country each year, just 40 or so are hybrids. Undaunted, Blenn has earmarked an old guava jelly plant for the car’s production. There’s a joke in there somewhere.
See the video:
The Technical Specifications
Style Two door ………… 3 large adult + child seating
Construction ……………. Steel and aluminum tube, aluminum / balsa sandwich
Rear Drive ……………… via independent motors with chain reduction, hi-lo range
Empty Weight …………. 600 kg (1323 lbs) Estimated
Max Gross Wt …………. 900 kg (1984 lbs)
Continuous Top Speed 95 kph ……………………..
Range, Hybrid ……… 25-50 km, plus up to 400 km range extension by gasoline or propane engine)
Range, Pure Electric . 75-150 km
Length ………………… 3.0 meters (9 ft 10 in)
Width …………………. 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) (plus mirrors)
Height ………………… 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in)
Wheelbase …………… 1.95 meters (6 ft 5 in)
Ground Clear ………… 0.2 meter (8 in)
Track F & R ………….. 1.3 meters (4 ft 3 in)
Impact crush space ….. 55 cm / 33cm (21.6 in / 13 in) Front / Rear
Roll Center …………….. Ht 75 mm (3 in) / 100 mm (4 in) front / rear
Effective Swing Arm …. 2.5 m (98.4 in) / 1.85 m (72.8 in) front / rear
Turning Radius …………. 3.4 meters (11 ft 2 in) (better than the famous London cab)
Trunk Capacity ………… 0.5 cubic meter (17 cubic feet)
………………………….. Disk Brakes, With regenerative braking
……………………. Air Suspension springs, semi-trailing links, patented mechanism
Tires / wheels …………… 145, 155, or 165 mm x 13 inch
Motor Power ……………. 10.67 kW (14.3 hp) continuous (34.3 hp for 30 seconds) (two DC motors, four in four wheel drive version)
Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries ….. 32 x 60 Ah in Hybrid, 32 x 180 amp hour in 100% Electric
Battery Capacity …………… 6.0 kilowatt hours Hybrid, Pure 18 kWh electric
Charge Time … 3 hours from 80% discharge in Hybrid, (110 Volts, 20 Amps) (5 hours from 80% in Pure electric discharge (220 volts, 20 amps)
Battery exchange …………. Two minutes (rear battery pack, full electric only, for Taxis)
Onboard generator ………… (Hybrid verison only) 3000 watts, 7.0 HP
Other Versions ……………… Four Wheel Drive, delivery, pickup.
Sources: CambYoCar, Green Autoblog
