What Is A Hypercar Vehicle?

A Hypercar^® vehicle is designed to capture the synergies of: ultralight construction; low-drag design; hybrid-electric drive; and, efficient accessories to achieve 3 to 5-fold improvement in fuel economy, equal or better performance, safety, amenity and affordability, compared to today's vehicles.

Rocky Mountain Institute's research has shown that the best (possibly, the only) way to achieve this is by building an aerodynamic vehicle body using advanced composite materials and powering it with an efficient hybrid-electric drive-train.

Initially, the hybrid-electric drivetrain in Hypercar^® vehicles will probably use a specialized version of the internal combustion engine commonly used in today's cars. To reach their full potential, and virtually eliminate automobile pollution, Hypercar^® vehicles will be powered by fuel-cells running on tanks of compressed gaseous hydrogen fuel.

Unlike other efficient vehicles, Hypercar^® vehicles don't compromise performance, comfort, or safety. Indeed, by offering extra consumer appeal and manufacturing advantages, they stand a better chance of getting on the road — and forcing old, polluting cars off — in sufficient numbers to make a big difference to the environment. Hypercar^® vehicles and their kin could profitably reduce carbon-dioxide emissions (the major contributor to climate change) by two-thirds, partly by greatly accelerating the shift to hydrogen fuel cells.

In 1994 we founded the Hypercar Center® to research and promote this concept. Having proved its technical feasibility through rigorous technical modeling, the Center's staff spent the past several years making Hypercar® technology a commercial reality. Their unconventional approach has been to place the concept in the public domain and share it conspicuously with some two dozen major car companies and new market entrants to maximize competition in capturing its market and manufacturing advantages. The result: billions of dollars' private investment, and rapid movement of Hypercar-like concepts toward the marketplace.

In 1999, we took this process a step further by launching a for-profit venture, Hypercar, Inc., to speed the industry's transition by exerting direct competitive pressure. This independent company, in which RMI has a minority interest, is now taking the lead in advancing key areas of Hypercar research and development.

In 2004, Hypercar, Inc. changed its name to Fiberforge (www.fiberforge.com) to better reflect the company's new direction and its goal of lowering the cost of high-volume advanced-composite structures.

From http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid191.php

For a free full PDF download  detailing the Hypercar concept see Hypercars, Hydrogen and the Automotive Transition here

And See - Enlightenment Today

Imagine Nation – Artwork & Images

The Her(m)etic Hermit - http://hermetic.blog.com

Save the World from RamPage

TimeSpace

RingWood

The Prince of Centraxis

This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

From  The New Illuminati

tags: hypercar  hypercars  hydrogen  vehicles  automotive  transition  rocky  mountains  institute  amory  lovins  new  illuminati  hybrid  electric  energy  cell  clean  vehicle  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit