vehicles for planet Earth and beyond

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TELLURIAN MOTORS
vehicles for planet Earth and beyond

Queso it doesn't really look like there's an actual banana-yellow Time Further Out parked on the salt flats. The shadow's all wrong, it's probably out of scale, there are no reflections, and there is no salt on the tires. It doesn't look real at all.

That's okay. Part of the reason I continue to pursue this design theme is that I want people who see my vehicles to question whether they're real. Each form is starkly angular, otherworldly. There are no doorhandles, no mirrors. The glass meets up flush with the body panels, even on the doors -- making the viewer think they might not open.

It's a little tricky, but the side windows open a bit like sunroofs and moonroofs do -- and when they're down all the way, they've disappeared without a trace...


Another part of the reason for the flat panels, as mentioned before, is ease of manufacture. All panels can be cut & folded using a press brake -- no need for stamping dies or laborious hand-forming. A frame jig for each model will be necessary for welding up the chassis from square and triangular tubing. Bodies and frames, ideally, will be stainless steel.

Paint is therefore an option. Customers might rather have brushed or polished, even engine-turned or etched, bare stainless.


One more part of the reason for this design theme is its uniqueness, and last but not least there is the challenge of subtly arranging angles and straight lines into pleasing forms.

Of course not everyone will be pleased by them. You want curves, look elsewhere.

You may have noticed there is no badging on my vehicles, not even a dot for one in any of my recent images. This is not an oversight. If there is a need for an emblem somewhere, it will look something like this:

Tellurian Motors vehicles are meant for the future, built to be enjoyed far into it. Each will be powered by a device that takes Aetheric energy and Converts it to Electricity (ACE).

What I call ACE devices should have become available beginning in the 1930s, but the technology has been suppressed -- heavily, and with extreme prejudice. This technology will be the key to the People of Earth gradually switching to a paradigm of abundance (Utopia, Heaven on Earth), and its 'release' is inevitable.

Dreams beyond avarice... I've always wanted to build vehicles of my own design, and it appears that in the future it will be my bliss to do so. I've never cared about money and will be glad to see it become a thing of the past...

Eventually, Tellurian Motors will provide other types of vehicles -- but I'm not ready to start designing flying saucers just yet.



filsmyth
29Mar2009

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BRUTRUCK Returns

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BRUTRUCK (so named because it was the first to follow the Brubeck in this design theme) had its humble beginnings on Boxing Day 2004.

A crude and primitive attempt was made to render it in a 3/4 view, and then it was put on the back burner (to simmer). Much later I sketched the TMT (Tellurian Motors Truck)... Wasn't sure I liked the old name anymore, but mostly I was trying to bring it up-to-date with the more refined style of flat-panel design I had come around to...

That crude 3/4 image did however prove to be a decent basis for reimagining -- and re-imaging, if you want to put it that way.


Early on I decided it would be powered by steam, in part because I wanted to be contrary. Later I figured it could be a series hybrid with electrical storage and the option of removing the generator and leaving it behind (at a jobsite, to be used for powering tools while the driver ran an errand, for example). The gen would be underhood, and could be anything that would provide sufficient power, easily replaced.

Down the line, I thought, a BRUTRUCK's generator (and electrical storage medium) could be replaced with a device that harnessed aetheric energy and converted it to electricity. It's only a matter of time before 'free energy' technology is finally 'allowed'. The thing is, I don't expect to be able to actually build any of my vehicles before that happens, except perhaps a Runabout prototype -- so now, all Tellurian Motors vehicles are conceived to run on aetheric energy.

...and so here it is (again), the Tellurian Motors BRUTRUCK, above in 'Metallic Denim', with no provision for a slide-out generator. Under the hood instead are the...

...now hang on a minute, I've just coined a new name and acronym: ACE, for "Aetheric (energy) Conversion to Electricity". Nice thing to have up your sleeve...

...Under the hood instead are the ACE, HVAC equipment, computer/controller, the front pair of electric motors, electric power steering, and a shallow storage area on top. Other storage is available behind the seat (BRUTRUCK has a bench, like any real truck should), in front of and above the rear wheel wells, and maybe in an in-bed trunk (if the spare tire can fit below the front of the bed, ahead of the rear pair of motors).

Yes, BRUTRUCK has all-wheel drive in the form of an electric motor for each wheel, as a standard feature. Each can be disabled through the computer interface, if there is a problem with one of them -- or if you simply want to do some rear-wheel burnouts, or take your truck drifting.

It's been a long journey, but it is by no means over. As with other Tellurian Motors concepts, BRUTRUCK will continue to evolve.

filsmyth
27Mar2009

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Brick / In Progress / Gecko

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When I wrote "The Big, Fast Limo", I didn't have any images to share -- or so I thought...

These images are from a backup disc I'd forgotten about, from our old computer. "In Progress", above, is from October of 2000, created in MS Paint.

Below is the Gecko, which was unnamed until I recoloured it in 'money green' (probably also using MS Paint). We didn't have a scanner back in December 2002 -- my sketch was scanned by a friend and e-mailed to me.

In January of 2003, once again using Paint, I came up with the Brick:

It was -- trying to remember -- while I was an art major at WVU, in 1986, that I began redefining the limousine. What started out as basically luxurious vans with a stagecoach layout evolved into truly monstrous concepts by sometime in 1988, after I'd finished my Army training and was settled down in my barracks at Fort Monmouth.

Soon I'll have to dig out and wade through all those sketches running through the '90s. The 'express limousine' sprang onto the page in countless iterations -- along with many other vehicle forms...


The excess of that era likely played a part in my conception of such vehicles. In recent years I've left the express limousine on a shelf in my mind -- but now I'm looking to a future of abundance, and it can find a new life.

Of course any new 'EL', if it's a Tellurian Motors product, will have to sport flat-panel design. Rest assured, it's already forming...




filsmyth
22Mar2009

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The Brubeck 2

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The original Tellurian Motors Brubeck, the very concept that spurred my signature design theme, was dated. Its lines were too crude, and it was to be powered by a pair of motorcycle engines running on propane -- one last salute to internal combustion. It lost something in being converted to electric...


As you may have read in a previous post, I've not only left internal combustion behind, but batteries (and even ultracapacitors) as well -- at least, as far as Tellurian Motors is concerned. Vehicles can now be designed without the concern of making room for a conventional drivetrain. Beyond that, we don't have to worry about the placement of a large and heavy battery pack, and there is no longer a need to make vehicles efficient, except for the sake of performance.

The full Tellurian Motors line is powered by aetheric energy, harnessed by devices no larger than the electric drive motors. Go ahead and call it science fiction if you like (for now)...

My sketches really don't do justice to the concepts in my head -- until I scan them and use them as the basis for digital imagery. It's a bit like using a ruler on a piece of tracing paper, and the result can appear radically different from the sketch.

...and then comes the opportunity to play around with colour.

[Click on these images to view the original sizes.]

When you look at the Brubeck 2, you don't have to wonder where the engine is: There isn't one. Instead it has a pair of electric motors, one for each rear wheel, between them. This is the simplest solution for good traction, especially when we have the luxury of using direct-drive. Two more motors could theoretically be added to the front, but this is a sports car.



Many Tellurian Motors vehicles will share a family resemblance, and this is certainly the case with the Brubeck 2 and Time Further Out. The front and rear treatments are quite similar -- in my head. You may be able to imagine the front of the TFO after looking at the Brubeck 2, and the rear of the Brubeck 2 after looking at the TFO. As much as I enjoy doing these renderings, you may not have to merely imagine for long...






filsmyth
vernal equinox, 2009

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further and further out

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Sketches are rough, by definition -- but I can look at mine and be reminded of what was in my head when I put pencil to paper. Most everyone else just sees a rough sketch...

The curvy shapes I used to come up with were much easier to draw, so I would go beyond mere sketches. My flat-panel designs? Not so much.

This whole theme of mine began with an image manipulation program, so it makes sense to revive it using one...

First the sketch had to be rotated so that the beltline would be on the horizontal, just to make it easier for me to work with. I then started selecting polygonal areas in new layers and bucket-filling them with colour. Copied the wheels from another image of mine, pasted them as layers which were then skewed for perspective and size. The rest involved manipulation of mostly polygonal selections, a little airbrushing...

...and for the presentation, some text and a background gradient. In the end I've completely covered over and obliterated the original sketch -- but its essence remains, and some elements needed to be revised.

Now of course the Time Further Out looks even more like the Aston Martin Lagonda by Sir William Towns, but as much as that car influenced this design, there are many differences to be found -- which will be obvious when they are parked side-by-side.



I've gained a lot of experience recently with the Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), and enjoy using it. Finally, I can begin to share images of my designs that more closely resemble what's in my head...





filsmyth
19Mar2009

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Time Further Out

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Nearly a year ago I posted about the Time Further Out...




This week it's been on my mind again. The sketch above is still fairly representative of the design, but there are refinements -- which I may post soon, along with a new sketch or two...



filsmyth
06Mar09

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