Thanks Dinosaurs, now lets move on with elegance…

The average person weighs 75kg and yet requires a vehicle weighing 1500kg to haul them around. That really is quite obscene when you think carefully about it. Is it vanity, greed or just all of the manufacturers have become dinosaurs laboriously sticking to their old ways and not daring to do anything different.

There are some out there that have always promoted lightweight design e.g. Lotus. This has always been with performance in mind and not the pursuit of fuel economy. I can forgive them for that as there has to be a reason and being environmentally friendly has only just started to sell.

If we take a good look at the Toyota Prius we see a very hi-tech vehicle with a huge amount of components that gives a reasonable fuel economy. The vehicle weighs an incredible 1325kg. Is this an elegant solution? The following quote comes to mind:

"To define it rudely but not inaptly, engineering is the art of doing that well with one dollar which any bungler can do with two after a fashion.”, Arthur M. Wellington

There are a new breed of vehicle designs that are turning up with a very strong environmental theme e.g. Aptera – daring design, fantastic fuel economy claims and a vehicle that weighs around 386kg, this just feels more sensible. A simple fundamental concept where weight is kept to a minimum, aerodynamic drag is reduced and the power unit is simple and much smaller as a result of the diet.