Slashdot Mirror

Yes:http://nano.tatamotors.com/price-list-delhi.html.
About 4 grand US. (That's four not forty).

should try tatamotors.com, but still not airpod, but close http://www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=750

What makes me most skeptical is that there is no mention of this vehicle on the Tata web site. If they are making it one would expect it to be on their web site.

Some details on the specifications, range etc of the Airpod can be found here, but some of the stats are in French.

Also, Tata originally signed the agreement in 2007. Five year old news?

Lastly, from the MDI website about the Airpod: This latest version of AirPod... [has] a base consisting of a composite sandwich of fiberglass and polyurethane... [and a] a cast aluminium frame. More details from that link.

Given that the test included only two operating systems and the other one (MAC-OS) beat Vista this is hardly a result to be proud of. Its a bit like saying you compared a Tata Nano, a Volkwagen Golf and a load of other forms of transport for motorway cruising (push-bikes, wheelbarrows, etc) and the Tata Namo came in the top 3.

Ugly as sin http://www.tatamotors.com/

You mean the Tata Nano?

Citations ... err ... clarification please.

    Toyota Vista (Rebadged Toyota Camary)

    Indica Vista (Indian made/sold car)

    Dodge/Plymouth Colt Vista Wagon (Rebadged Mitsubishi Chariot)

    Eagle Vista (Rebadged Mitsubishi Space Wagon)

    Thomas Vista a mighty big station wagon. :)

    Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser The "That 70's Show" classic 1969 Vista Cruiser. :)

    The only Vista I'd want to own is This One (More Information), but fuel is kinda expensive.

I read through the article and a lot of blogs covering Riversimple. Here's what it looks like under the hood. It seems too early and preliminary for adoption. "Open Source" seems to have been employed purely as a buzzword to generate interest. Most of the detail is actually at the 40 Fires foundation website which will probably release design schematics. Their FAQ answers questions I had in mind and is a good place for a starting read. The codename for this car is Hybran. The EU welcomes Hydrogen cars as a strong "Green" alternative.

If you do compare it to other initiatives like OSCar, you would find this option from Riversimple probably at a better stage of adoption. But until they unveil their prototypes (16-Jun-2009 is not far) and manufacturing goals (however they intend to go about it,) consumers will be skeptical about adoption. They first have to hit a note on consumers _wanting_ it or _needing_ it before proposing an attractive business model. Most of the prior comments reflect that we are not yet ready. Design momentum on OSCar seems to have stalled in the year 2006.

In contrast another vehicle release earlier this year happened in India with a lot of buzz about a $2,500 car, the Nano from India. This car _can_ do more than 56 mpg on Gasoline. It isn't green, but you can grab one, drive one and feel much safer than the electric counterparts that roam about the cities. This car went through at least 2 yrs of testing because the average consumer was scared about safety. The adoption was further slowed down by slow manufacturing response from Tata Motors.

India has allowed an Electric car (REVA) to be used within City limits (for road safety and range concerns) manufactured by Reva. The vehicle (a modest 4 wheeler) which comes in multiple flavors has low adoption rates in cities which allow it. This car through evolution has been heavier than India's top selling gasoline small-car the Maruti Suzuki 800cc 4 seater, and offers lesser range within a city. It has a very short range of 80-100km and requires battery packs to be replaced every two years (or depending on usage.) From June, 2001 the adoption has been very slow. During July, 2008 at least 260 Reva's (multiple models) were sold which is a record high. The Reva is priced at a one time price tag of close to $6,500 with an installed set of batteries. These have to be replaced at about $1000 every year. There's some comprehensive information and links on the Wikipedia Article (Reva). The cost has been a factor in slowing down adoption added to the fact that electric charges are required almost on a nightly basis. India has welcomed the car with reduced parking charges and several cuts. The G-Whiz model sold outside India is far too pricey ($12000 in Chile) and does not enjoy these environment friendly regulatory benefits.

For crowded cities in India where pollution is a heavy problem, Electrical cars with limited range for office commuters who'd prefer some shade (where public transport is a little inconvenient with timings) has received early adoption. i would presume that countries facing rapid development and growth rates will have to take this more seriously. Scaling public transport infrastructure has always been a challenge in many developing countries owing to a myriad of reasons. The basis for creating indices to track air pollution is outlined quite well in this paper (PDF) from

55MPG. (TFW says 23.6km/l)

For the record, that's about half of what the motorscooters that most of these will be replacing got. My Bajaj (stock) easily got 100MPG, and with just a little bit of gentle acceleration, it could be coaxed to yield 130+MPG.

After the performance upgrades, it's down to 90MPG or so.

It's really hard to say "55MPG is good fuel economy" when this is meant to be an alternative to motorbikes which are in the 100-150MPG range.

Yes, motorbikes don't have doors or roofs, but speaking as an all-weather motorbike rider (hail is fun!), this is not a deal breaker.

Electric cars have been lingering at the high point because no significant car has been rough to market. The Tesla and the Volt appear to be the firsts going there.

What about these?

MDI Enterprises S.A. - Air compressed cars
Electric Tiger Star Truck
Zenn Motor Company
Tata Motors
GM before the Volt
Zap Electric Cars
Global Electric Motors
Phoenix Motorcars
Dynasty Electric Cars
Nice Car Company
Reva
I could keep going but let me Google that for you.

We need to take the first steps if we are ever to migrate from oil to electric.

I agree.

This is along the line of the Tata car that was announced for some inconceivably low price to the consumer - it works in the Indian economy, but not on the world market.

If India could get serious and produce these things with world-competitive quality in volume, they could have a strong export market. Unfortunately, the products don't currently appeal to anyone outside India, at least not anyone who can afford to pay the freight to ship them.

see, that's the trick here.
the small company that couldn't isn't actually producing the thing, the *licensed* the design to a much larger firm, in fact, the larger manufacturing firm in india, Tata motors

http://www.tatamotors.com/

*they* have all the lawyers and money to do all the required tests to get the cars accepted in other countries.
guess Ford and General Motors soon shall see their bottom line flounder

One day the U.S. will be running Microsoft software, and the rest of the world will not.

It is something of a hobby for me to check out foreign web-sites. I frequently go to GB, IE, AU, PL, assorted South American, Middle Eastern and Asian websites. Many of these websites are run by the big-names of the respective countries.

What I have noticed is that most websites are inaccessible, unless you have Microsoft Internet Explorer, and even if you can access it, it would look horrible.

While many big-name websites in the US makes sure that it will work at least at a minimum, these websites seem to think that Microsft is the only thing out there.

Again, many of these sites engage in immature Shockwave Flash based websites, which by now many big name companies in the US are avoiding and even when they do use it, provide alternative HTML only page. Other immaturities such as using images instead of text also abound.

I am not saying anything. Just putting forth my observations. Of course, one could say that I have been visiting all the wrong websites.

I will show you two extreme examples, one from GB (England) which is one of the most advanced countries outside the US and the other from India (which is one of the poorest and backward in the world). This should give you an idea of how the ones in the middle are.

Try visiting these websites with Mozilla, with Shockwave Flash disabled (I suppose for most Slashdotters, (myself included) going with Flash enabled would be a nastier experience):
[GB] MG Rover Select UK as the country on the entrance page (see also it's German website MG Rover Deutschland)
and
[IN] Tata Motors (a soon-to-be subsidiary of Daimler-Chrysler though).

Again, I am not saying things are super here in the US. It is bad, but so is it outside too. Personally, I wish you were right, then, at least, some part of this planet will escape. Unfortunately, the reality is far from rosy.

GrimReality
2003-10-13 03:32:26 UTC (2003-10-12 23:32:26 EDT)