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Electric Car Sighted on Highway - Who Makes It?
moophus managed
to spot an interesting vehicle on the roads: "Spotted: one electric vehicle
on the highways of Atlanta, Georgia. Sighted around 6:30pm EDT, going south on
I-85, traveling ~60mph (had a cool hum). It was a single seater, three
wheeled wonder. Can anyone identify make, model? Any details on this
bugger, like: range, efficiency, top speed, acceleration, cost, and cell type?
I could only get several pictures which didn't turn out too well, since I had to gamma correct two of them.
Another interesting thing that I've heard about electric cars: they have purposely
put in noise makers in the wheels (like those plastic tri-cycles back in the
day) because they just ran too quiet to be safe. Is this true?" The
pictures didn't turn out too badly, as you can definitely make out
much of the shape of this thing. It's more like a motorcycle than a car, but
it still looks interesting enough. Hopefully more vehicles like this will be
making their way on to the markets (and the roads) sometime soon.
"Spotted: one electric vehicle on the highways of Atlanta, Georgia. Sighted around 6:30pm EDT, going south on I-85, traveling ~60mph (had a cool hum)"
"I could only get several pictures"
Is anyone else worrried about people driving at 60mph snapping away?
Is it a corbin sparrow? Looks v.similar and they're Atlanta based.
Moophus,
:)
:) .
I've had my eye on those vehicles for 2 years
The car you are looking at is called the 'Sparrow'. . It is manufactured by Corbin Motors of San Francisco (actually, their main factory/headquarters is in Hollister, CA, 30 miles south of San Jose; but few people know where Hollister is). It's a one person vehicle. It has a 60 mile range and can go up to 60 mph. Cost is $14-16,000 It's available in North America, Europe & Asia.
I've sat in a Sparrow, but I've never driven one. It's a comfortable, but spartan interior.
Corbin Motors deal mostly with motorcycles, but has this small electric vehicle business on the side (and good luck to them!).
Their main showroom is located 1.5 blocks from the 'South Park' area in South of Market in San Francisco. They are surrounded by a bunch of former dotcom buildings (and a few surviving dotcoms, like mine
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
now I'm thinking hybrid gas-electric is more practical, at least until we get to fuel-cell cars. Not that it isn't great there are lots of options now, but I still think something like the Toyota Prius or the Honda Insight would work better for combined city/highway driving.
I sure hope they put noisemakers in those things. Just a few days ago, I was walking past a car that didn't strike me as all that special until it started moving without making noise. It was a Prius, I think. I sort of freaked out and almost shouted, "Dude! Your car isn't making any noise!"
I then realized that if electric cars become more prevalent, I am *so* dead. When crossing roads these days, I'm often in too much of a hurry or just too lazy to look both ways and all that jazz, so I just rely on my ears to hear any approaching bringers of death and/or mutilation. If cars go silent on me, I'll be roadkill in no time!
Has anyone else taken a few good looks at a vehicle like this and wondered about safety?
I currently have 2 different cars (a 1995 Z28 and a 1978 Cougar) and I worry about SUVs, Trucks etc in my Z28 regularly (not so much with the Cougar, the land shark that it is.) Obviously, my 2 cars definitely don't qualify for the emissions or fuel economy award (not by a long stretch), but I would worry about being in this car, in rush hour traffic, and someone barreling over me with a vehicle bigger than mine (anything bigger than a small motorcycle, anyways.)
They (corbin motors) do have some safety items listed (as far as what's used in the car to make it safer in an accident), but there's no crash data. I'd for one like to see that, but in all honesty, I could see paying about 8-10k for one. A price tag of 15,000USD is a little steep; I would probably go for a used civic or something along those lines for better gas milage, but more safety (at least in the thought that bigger may be better, compared to some cars on the road...)
Any thoughts?
Karnal
According to this article by Western Driver http://www.westerndriver.com/information/test-driv e/2001-corbin-sparrow.html the vehicle registers as a motorcycle, so I'm sure it meets all the safety requirements of one. It also says in most states it doesn't require a helmet or a motorcycle indication on a license, but that it might be hard to find insurance.
0 .html Its written by an owner doing their 2000 mile review.
This article has a lot to offer about performance and potential problems of the car: http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/corbinsparrow200
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.
Heh. My Ram is hardly efficient. It's got a 400 and gets about 7 MPG on whatever I pour down the tank.
But the point is well taken, and when I slap a Slant-6 and A-833 four speed with overdrive manual transmission in there, I'll be running about 25 MPG. Not bad for a brand-new full-size pickup truck, let alone one that is 25 years old.
As for the fuel flexibility, that's the beauty of older cars. Stick an oxygen sensor into the exhaust system and a meter under the hood. Make sure your carb has a soldered brass float, not a plastic one. Replace your fuel pump with an aftermarket hi-perf pump, and the little 1" long sections of hose on your fuel filter. Pour in the methanol, tune and time for best meter readings, and take her cruising. Ideally, you should get a cam ground for the new fuel and play with your ignition timing curves, but they both burn similarly enough to gasoline that the engines run perfectly happily and cleaner than the law requires 'em to.
On a similar note, I have a 1974 Dodge Dart with a 383.Very nice! I've also got a 1970 Dodge Dart and a 1974 Valiant Brougham. They're both 4-door. The Dart is a little granny car with that great front end. Since its motor isn't original, I think I'll put the big block from my truck in there so that I can have a bit of a sleeper. The Valiant is like a miniature New Yorker, born of the oil crisis: smallest car Chrysler made at the time, but with a gorgeous crushed velour and leather interior. Oh, and shag carpeting; it was the 70s.
With no catalytic converter, and no emissions equipment whatsoever, it passed the IM inspection with better marks than my wife's poorly tuned toyota tercel.Yup. Few of the tree-huggers who promote catalytic converters know that it reduces gas mileage which causes more gas to be burned and therefore more pollutants to be released. They also don't understand the basic chemistry behind it, and how it is that cataclysmic converters help to cause acid rain. But they're all happy, sitting around in healing circles, playing folk guitar and slapping themselves on the back for being good people.
What a crime. Think of how nice the exhaust from a modern fuel-injected multivalve car, running without a catalytic converter, would be.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
see www.corbinmotors.com/sparrow.htm
they're made in Hollister, CA.
an outgrowth of a company known for motorcycle
after market products. It's a 3-wheeler with belt-drive
to the rear wheel. In California it is classified as a motorcycle
and is allowed in the carpool lanes.