In January 2014 I travelled to
Silicon Valley CA to meet with the vehicle manufacturers and president Rick Woodbury of the Tango T600 www.commutercars.co.nz, investors and
to view various charging infrastructure implementations.
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president of Commuter Cars Rick Woodbury on the right and myself on the left.
We were both about to demonstrate how two people can compfortably sit in the vehicle.
I
am 6’3” so often have height issues with smaller cars. The T600 is much
taller than your average car and therefore you have a greater visibility
while driving. The vehicle is 99 cm wide or half the width of your average
sized car and narrower than a BMW KT1200LT motorcycle (used by the NZ
Police).
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The driver’s seat was
very comfortable with excellent driving visibility.
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The passenger seat was
also comfortable with good views to the side of the driver (Note I am 6'3").
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This is one of the many
steep streets in San Francisco (Stanyan street). We parked the T600 to
demonstrate the roll over threshold.
The narrow form factor
design is unique and has a worldwide patent in place.
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My
attempt to push the T600 over was unsuccessful and in reality we would have
required a forklift to do the job.
The
Tango T600 has a 56 degree rollover threshold, low centre of gravity due the
to placement of the batteries in the floor and weighs over 1.5 tonnes
(heavier than a Subaru Outback). It also has a FIA-certified roll cage
defined for 200mph crashes. Full front, side and back impact bars.
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Recharging
the T600 at the San Francisco Crissy Field which is part of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area.
Note
the wind turbines in the background are powering the charging stations.
Everywhere
we travelled swarms of people questioned us about the vehicle. When we
explained that one of the main benefits was traffic congestion reduction the
majority wanted to know when the vehicle would be available at mass produced
prices.
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Recharging stations at
Google. This set-up is 500 meters long and has solar panels above providing
alternative renewable energy to charge the various electric vehicles.
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A typical recharging
set-up in a normal sized garage. Note the height and width of the T600 when
compared to the Toyota Prius to the right.
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