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Vauxhall's GTX concept teases the future of mass-market EVs
Vauxhall and Opel, the Anglo-German car maker, joins a number of companies suddenly rushing to embrace electrification. As part of a wider shift away from gas-powered vehicles, it has built the GTX, an all-electric concept that serves as a mission statement for its EVs. You won't see this car popping up in showrooms, but this is the shape, broadly, of things to come.
[...] The GTX concept is an SUV, but built on to the chassis of a compact car, so while it has a high ride profile, its footprint is tiny. Measuring in at 13.3 feet (4.06 meters) by 6 feet (1.83 meters), it's built on the same platform that will underpin the 2019 Vauxhall Corsa, coming in both ICE and EV models. Adding to the look are four custom-made 17-inch tires with hubcaps designed to make them look much bigger.
[...] In place of wing-mirrors, the GTX has two (LG-made) LCD displays connected to cameras that pop out from the edge of the hood. The displays are mounted on the edges of the dashboard to match our instinct to look over when planning a turn. Expect to see more companies adopting this technology -- Audi already has them on the E-Tron SUV -- in the near future. No wing mirrors reduces drag and, perhaps more importantly, makes it easier to park in tighter spaces.
Vauxhall has also gone in hard on the use of LCD displays to cheat little flourishes on the car. On a Rolls Royce, the steering wheel and hubcap insignia remain level due to the inclusion of complex gyroscopic equipment. Here, Vauxhall used little screens to give the look of that (with gentle movement) without any complex engineering. There's also a small LCD battery indicator on the rear driver's-side door to let you know, as you approach the car, how charged it is.
The other big thing that the company is shouting about is the new Visor grille, which will be common across all new Vauxhalls. This five-sided grille will hold the LED headlights, turn signals, the automaker's light-up badge and, where available, the sensors for autonomous driving. Well, kinda -- the company says that it'll focus only on Level 3 self-driving for its production cars.
[...] These loose specs suggest the company is aiming for a range of around 200 miles for cars built on the same platform. The 2018 Nissan Leaf has a 40 kWh battery and has an EPA-rated range of 151 miles. The 2018 Chevy Bolt has a 60 kWh cell and is rated by the EPA for a range of 238 miles.
So, the future of Vauxhall is electricity, efficiency, weight reduction and an embrace of a more futuristic-looking design language. It'll be interesting to see how many of these concepts trickle down into its production models. And that will all start with next year's Corsa.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Tuesday November 27 2018, @06:45PM (3 children)
As for the SUV's, I dislike them for a few simple reasons:
The only logical arguments I was ever given for SUVs were that they are needed to deal with potholes in the cities, but that didn't really pass muster, because (a) Most of the potholes are caused by the big heavy SUVs in the first place, (b) SUV's 4x4 system does not help you at all in that situation, and (c) the ride height of the SUV is pretty much the same as a normal car, so you don't get improved clearance either.
Another argument I have been given is that for those who live in the city, but want to go on "country roads" for the odd weekend need something that can handle both.
I don't know what they think the "countryside" is, but generally countryside road infrastructure is pretty much binary. You either have roads which cars can go on, or you have roads only proper 4x4's, quad bikes and tractors can go on. A SUV won't help you there one bit.
Running joke round my area is the city tourists who visit for the weekend all show up in SUVs, while the locals are in normal cars, or low slung sports cars (because you know, we keep cars on the roads, and use a proper 4x4 when needed). Farmers seem to love classic and sports cars, almost everyone round here has something special tucked away in a barn somewhere for those lovely summer days.
Saying that, while I can sit here and mock the stupidity of it all, I can't deny it is a resounding success. Every time I go to the city it is chock full of SUVs, and they are seriously profitable for the companies who make them. Then again, I also said nobody would ever accept (let alone willingly pay) to have an always on spying device in their home, yet that Amazon echo crap is one of the most popular purchases on cyber Monday (assuming Amazon isn't lying of course).
Moral of the story? If I think something is a crap idea, it will make millions, if I think its a great idea, it will fall flat on its face.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday November 27 2018, @09:44PM
Yes. Could it be a sign of the dumbing down of consumer products and services? Flashy marketing now dominating the product's very design, where function used to be of prime importance and marketing was more of an afterthought? I suppose it's just too easy to underestimate how much of the population does fit into those categories of the obnoxious that you identified. Maybe the jack-of-all-trades / wannabe factor is higher due to people being less likely to afford more than one vehicle these days compared to the past. I think it's also a case of manufacturers cutting back their ranges as a cost saving exercise, often also using a common platform for different models and even badge engineering of one vehicle across different car companies. If one vehicle is just about good enough to sell to two or three groups of people that previously wanted different models, I guess they go with it. The manufacturer wins on their profit margin and the consumer loses on choice and winds up driving a compromise.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 28 2018, @03:42AM (1 child)
This much is completely obvious -- you do not have kids.
SUVs and minivans make modern life possible for those of us with kids, especially if they do sports, have friends, go to parties and do the occasional science project at school.
The added safety of a bigger, heavier car matters to us parents too. It's just another kind of insurance. One we're more than willing to pay for.
So go outside and grow up a little. It's a big and wonderful world Wilbur. You might be surprised how little you really understand about it.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday November 28 2018, @09:57AM
What do SUVs have to do with kids? More to the point, following your logic, how did people manage to have kids before SUV's existed? They are a relatively recent invention.
Hint, there are entire classes of vehicles for people with kids. From the small family hatchbacks, to the standard family car with 5 seats, to 7 seater estates/station wagon for the larger brood, or mpv's if you need a bit more space too. Then there are proper 4x4s with ample seating and carrying capacity, with actual off road ability too.
Bigger and heavier != safer. In fact the extra weight and poorer visibility make SUVs harder to handle and more likely to hit something in the first place.
Their kinetic energy is much higher (it's proportional to mass of vehicle), so they require more power to stop/change direction, and their braking distance is longer. They are more likely to skid, and more dangerous when they do, and if things go really bad their higher centre of gravity mean they are far more likely to roll over and injure/trap the occupants. So, not only more dangerous, but more likely to get into an accident in the first place.
Modern cars are very safe, even your normal family car has multiple airbags and strong reinforced passenger cages. Any kind of accident which cannot protect your kids in a normal car, will not be able to protect them in a SUV either, so that is a red herring.
Sorry, but your arguments don't hold water at all.