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Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov has unveiled a sleek electric concept car that its creators say will compete with Elon Musk's market leader Tesla.
Based on the body of a Soviet hatchback Izh, Kalashnikov's CV-1 electric vehicle's 90 kilowatt hour battery gives it a range of 350 kilometers. The arms company says the car can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 6 seconds.
The brand, best known for the AK-47 machine gun, on Thursday presented the retro-looking pale blue prototype, the CV-1 at a defence expo outside Moscow.
Earlier this week, online users ridiculed Kalashnikov's new bipedal combat robot. The golden-colour machine, reportedly named "Igoryok" in production stages, immediately became a subject of social media memes.
Is the car going to be a threat to troubled Tesla?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SemperOSS on Friday August 24 2018, @10:05AM (3 children)
I find it interesting to see the difference between this Russian concept car and American concept cars.
This car is unapologetically retro styled, unfortunately not with positive connotations for most Western people, I gather. Look at the shape of the car, the moveable cover for the fresh air intake just under the windscreen, the gasket mounting of the windscreen in stead of glued on, and the mounting of the wipers (not hidden). Lousy aerodynamics, I'm sure, and it all screams old, old, old.
As I remember, the American concept cars are often futuristic, sometimes to a fault, but integrate modern design principles and extrapolate them into a possible future. Try to compare the Kalashnikov to this [hemmings.com] GM concept from 26 years ago.
I think Kalashnikov have just redefined retro-futuristic.
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Maybe I should add a sarcasm warning now and again?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Friday August 24 2018, @02:06PM (2 children)
and it all screams repairable
FTFY.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:30PM (1 child)
Old style door handles too, photos here,
https://en.kalashnikov.media/photo/technology/kontsept-elektricheskogo-superkara-cv-1 [en.kalashnikov.media]
...sticking out in the airstream and requiring a thumb-press on the button at the same time as a finger-pull to open the door. If their chrome process is any good, these might last awhile, but I really prefer the look and ergonomics of modern lift-pull recessed handles.
Meanwhile, they've given lip service to styling prototypes everywhere, with nearly zero clearance between tires and fenders, this thing is much lower than any useful street car. Imagine it raised up to a normal height and it won't look so cool.
The overall exterior package shape reminded me of the Chevy Malibu Maxx -- a station wagon with a little "trunk bump" at the rear to avoid the current stigma about wagons.
(personally, I'm a big wagon fan and have not yet fallen into the SUV trap)
(Score: 3, Informative) by istartedi on Friday August 24 2018, @07:30PM
Car aerodynamics is notoriously counter-intuitive. This Maserati [wikipedia.org] is worse than this old Tatra [wikipedia.org] according to this list. [wikipedia.org]. I read somewhere that the first engineer to wind-tunnel test cars discovered that a "sleek design" actually had a better Cd going backwards than forwards. That said, all else being equal it's probably better not to have door-handles sticking out; but it might not be as big a factor as we think.
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