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The World's Cheapest Car Set To Launch
theodp writes "Ready for one-automobile-per-child (OAPC)? India's giant Tata Group is on the verge of launching the world's cheapest car. The People's Car, slated to be unveiled January 10th at a New Delhi auto show, will carry a sticker price of 100,000 rupees ($2,500), which some analysts say could revolutionize automobile costs worldwide. The Tata is a pet project of Cornell-trained architect Ratan Tata, who helped design it. The vehicle is aimed at improving driving safety by getting India's masses off their motorbikes and into cars."
I tried to find some specs, but the site is already slashdotted.
The specs are not out yet. It will be revealed at the auto show.
It's incredible how many people start wading into all kinds of issues with the intent of improving safety without the first notion of what risk really is and how we humans evaluate and cope with it.
Anybody who's work may impact public safety should be forced at gunpoint to at least read Risk by John Adams. It has much to say about the effects of public safety initiatives and their unintended consequences.
For instance, after the introduction of compulsory seatbelt legislation in the UK, the number of motorists who were killed or seriously injured decreased somewhat. Unfortunately more cyclists and pedestrians were killed or seriousy injured in collisions with motor vehicles, such that the overall number of road deaths increased. Adams attributes the increase to drivers' assessment of their own level of risk being reduced, hence they tended to drive more quickly and in a more dangerous fashion, until their personal risk threshold was restored.
"...The vehicle is aimed at improving driving safety by getting India's masses off their motorbikes and into cars..."
In light of what I said previously, look out for a rise in the overall number of people KSI on India's roads...
T&K.
Political language
First they would have to fix the potholes on the roads. When I was in Bangalore, there were numerous holes in the middle of a wide boulevard. You can't use the word "potholes" because these holes can easily swallow a Honda Civic. Plus, they're usually marked and blocked off by only one single traffic cone. So if Bangalore, being a world class tech city, was like this - I can only imagine the less-endowed cities throughout India. You see a lot less of this in China. Not even the third-tier cities away from the coastline.
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
R K Pachauri thinks this will facilitate more gas guzzling on the roads, though Tatas are quick to reject it.
Suzuki thinks safety concerns would mount
People are also worried if our roads will be congested by these cars.
- 33 HP 660 cc gas engine. Also a 700 cc diesel option. (4)
- 80 mph top speed (4)
- single windshield wiper blade as a "cost-saving measure"(2)
- Four doors (4)
- 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) per liter. Call it 60 mpg using company supplied numbers(3)
- Picture here maybe with an scanned in article about it listing engine options
As for seeing it in the U.S., two things here: In India required safety standards do not currently include full-body crash testing, airbags or antilock braking systems (1). The cars would have to be upgraded to be U.S. street legal. Which brings us to this point: "Roland Berger [consulting group] estimates it would cost as much as $4,000 on top of Tata's $2,500 to engineer the car to meet U.S. safety and emissions regulations, transport it, pay tariffs, market it, pay lawyers and offer warranties. The same would hold true to meet European or Japanese standards. Meanwhile, the Tata would have to compete, too, with a used-car market that turns over 43 million cars a year. A quick Web search shows that $6,500 could buy a 1998 Cadillac Seville with a V-8 engine and a leather interior, or a 2002 Dodge Caravan that seats seven." References: 1 NY Times 2 Rediff 3 Forbes 4 Business Week"It's one thing to talk about the poetry of machines. Quite another to listen to it for yourself."
You're thinking from your point of view. Would you, or anyone else on slashdot give up their cars?
Just because you can afford a good car doesn't mean others can, and its good to see someone caring for the lower end of society. In India you will see 2-4 member families traveling on motorbikes/scooters, and it just isn't safe to hang on to a baby while driving - yet that is the only option these people have. An affordable car will help everyone immensely, and most cars in India target fuel economy very seriously - my car, for instance, gives me 25kmpl on the highway and 18-20 kmpl in the city. Its an 800cc engine, compact, and manages reasonably well on highways - I can drive at 80-100 kmph with ease, and higher than that on Indian roads is anyway risky.
Stop living in heated houses, driving cars with huge engines, and then worry about global warming.
The problem is, and indeed TFA points this one out, it's not one guy on a motorbike. Have you seen how they use their motorbikes in India? Typically they're three or four up (rider, pillion and a child or two sitting on the tank) with luggage strapped on anywhere it can go. There's a reason why that sort of thing is illegal over here ("here" being pretty much anywhere west of the Asian subcontinent).
Fuel consumption - true, pollution - debatable. Most bikes don't have catalytic converters so they produce proportionally more pollutants.
A swiss study concluded 'motorcycles collectively emit 16 times more hydrocarbons, three times more carbon monoxide and a "disproportionately high" amount of other air pollutants compared to passenger cars' though it has also been disputed.
I'm sorry if I haven't offended anyone
We've had TATA pickup trucks in the UK for a few years now. They're pretty good. They're surprisingly well-built, if a bit plasticky. The 4WD box seems to be derived from Steyr-Puch running gear, and the engine is a licence-built Peugeot XUD 2-litre diesel, with or without a turbocharger. This means that engine spares and consumables aren't a problem (because about a quarter of the diesel cars and vans on the road in the UK use Peugeot engines in one form or another) and it will run quite happily on veg oil.
My little car has a 1.1L engine, and happily cruises on the autobahn at 140km/h (87mph) for hours on end. Even in the Alps I've never encountered a place where I couldn't at least maintain the speed limit (120km/h).
Don't confuse a bad implementation with a bad idea.
Go spend a while in Indian traffic
I saw five on a motorbike (a family, including child under one) and about eight was our best guess at the number in a Tuk Tuk (or Auto as they referred to them in Hyderabad) although it was hard to count.
That being said they should be able to fit about 10 in a Tata.
When I was there I had to have a go on the back of a motorbike, and in a Tuk Tuk which had had interesting disco lighting inside.
Well, it hasn't worked in Delhi, where I lived for three years, or in Bangalore, where I've just moved. All it means is that instead of a bunch of people who can't ride bikes causing accidents, it'll now be a bunch of people who can't drive causing bigger and better accidents.
The only thing that might drop the accident rate is the near-gridlock in Bangalore will extend to total gridlock, preventing any motorized movement at all.
In India scooters outsell cars 6:1. For any family, getting to an outing requires several trips if they own a scooter. Even if they're crazy and put 2 adults and 2 kids on it. The Tata car is built to infuse that market with a cheap car that can compete on price with getting another scooter and all the troubles associated with being out in the open.
See in India you can already buy a Bajaj 3-wheeler aka motor rickshaw that seats 4 or 5 or more. But they're fairly expensive and they're not really cars per se - they're rickshaws. I may get one myself if gas gets expensive enough. They're registered as motorcycles in the US. And with an 8.5hp engine, max speed about 45mph it's a great around town vehicle.