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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday November 27 2018, @12:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the dude-you're-getting-an-opal dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday November 28 2018, @10:32AM (1 child)

    by Unixnut (5779) on Wednesday November 28 2018, @10:32AM (#767262)

    > I expect and fear that it will mean no windows at all.

    Most likely, after all, how would you make sure the occupants are watching the adverts if they can look outside? Think of it from a marketing perspective, you have the opportunity to have a captive audience for the entire trip, who have nothing to do but sit and wait to reach their destination.

    You can either give them windows so they can look outside, or you can make use of the captive eyeballs and only let them look at screens, which you can then sell time on to advertisers. You can also control the route of the trip, making it longer or shorter, so you could incentivise behaviour (e.g. make it so that the more adverts the occupants watch, the shorter the route to their destination the car will take).

    Which do you think is better and more profitable for all involved? (except for the passengers. However by accepting to be driven around in an autonomous car, they have volunteered to be nothing but cattle anyway, and nobody asks cattle for their opinions).

    I don't think they can legislate normal cars away. For one thing too many people enjoy driving, especially among the influential upper classes. Just look at the number of events round the world catering to rich car enthusiasts.

    As an example. the central government round my parts decided to restrict all old cars below a certain emissions standard from cities in order to reduce congestion and pollution. That upset the influential folk, who had a chat with the authorities, and then an exemption was made from all restrictions for registered classic cars.

    I mean, they haven't even managed to legislate horses away round my parts, and cars replaced horses 100+ years ago. People still use Horses, either for pleasure, or for business, and there are rules for sharing the roads between us.

    Plus, when we get a disruption of fuel supply, its quite useful to be able to hitch a ride to town on my neighbours horse and carriage :-)

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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 28 2018, @05:27PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday November 28 2018, @05:27PM (#767365)

    > I don't think they can legislate normal cars away.

    - "People are less reliable than autonomous cars. Driving your own car will costs you many thousands per year in mandatory insurance fees." There, got rid of the annoying 99%ers blocking my fun drive! Another cigar?
    - But wait! I don't want to pay extra just to get rid of the plebs! I could just go to the track, then.
    - Don't worry, my congressman just made car insurance up to a percent of your income a tax write-off.