Precursor
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the PRECURSOR
In "Angular Momentum" I described a new concept that I called, at the time, 'Tellurian Targa'. Since then I've looked up the word, just to be clear of its origin, and was reminded that it's become a Porsche trademark. Decided to rename the concept quickly, just so the working name didn't get burned in my mind...
...But what to call it? To find an appropriate name, I thought it best to get it clear in my head just what the concept represented. What was it, really?
Well it's an electric vehicle, started out as a sports car with a targa roof but grew a covered bed, so technically it's a pickup. Hmm. No name there, at least nothing that doesn't sound contrived (or isn't copyrighted). Nothing alphanumeric sprang to mind either.
However this vehicle represents something very specific. It is being designed for the time we live in, where without access to free energy technology we are still relying on batteries -- and to achieve temporary extended range, we have to leave room for an onboard generator or extra battery pack. It also comes along before Tellurian Motors is established, but in anticipation of that future range of vehicles it is engineered with the free energy future in mind (for one, it does not use regenerative braking).
So. This concept is not only a precursor to the entity that will be known as Tellurian Motors, but a prelude (can't use that name either) to the future of electric vehicles in general.
As has happened so often in this blog, I'm posting without an image. This time it's because the form is still morphing in my mind. I don't want it to look like a pickup at all -- with the tonneau in place it will just look like a mid-motor sports car. The rear window is looking more and more like a wide slot, and I've decided to extend the flying buttresses all the way to the rear of the tonneau. It's also gotten less and less rounded, more angular, but not quite approaching the flat-panel look of my other concepts. It does share the slant above the beltline, though, and for a practical reason. The roof is narrowed in this way, to aid ingress and egress for such a low vehicle. The doors can hinge along this angle, flipping up and out, not 'scissor' but more 'butterfly'.
The front features a band of LED running lights that wraps all the way around the trailing edge of the bumper, separating it from the front decklid, fenders, and full bellypan, and incorporating the turn signals. This connects to vertically-stacked projector headlights behind rectangular lenses...
...and I just thought of this: Between the headlights, and between the LED band and the front decklid, is a rectangular panel that flips forward to reveal an area that houses the primary charging port and an extension cord.
For the rear I'm seeing a pair of red neon tubes backed by LEDs -- the neon comes on when the headlights do, and the LEDs only come on for brake lights and turn signals. These are mounted a bit low, in an opening below the tailgate and above the bumper, flanking the license plate. Reverse lights are largish round units centered behind and bisected by the tubes. Small round reflectors can be incorporated here, in the center of those tubes, and as seen from directly behind, centered on the reverse lights. All this is mounted on an exhaust grille for a bit of rear 'ground-effect' downforce ducting.
Also the front bumper has an opening for a downforce duct (housing nice little round yellow foglights), airflow exiting at the leading edge of the decklid.
Body will be GRP (glass-reinforced plastic), not the stainless steel of a true Tellurian. This means paint. For a signature colour, I'd like to match that curious blue that always seems to appear in solar panels -- and we might as well call it 'Curious Blue' (completely unrelated to Chrysler's 'Curious Yellow' of the early 1970s).
The vehicle has no mirrors, utilizing cameras and monitors instead.
Maybe you can't picture the Precursor yet, but I can, and writing about a concept in the way I have above actually helps quite a bit in my design process.
Not sure how soon images will be available, but I will post them here on the Tellurian Motors blog.
[UPDATE: Concept partially sketched, photo added (top) Tuesday August 30, 2011.]
Stay crunchy.
filsmyth
05August2011
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