vehicles for planet Earth and beyond

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filsmyth

22 June 2012

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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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Angular Momentum

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The Tellurian Targa

A couple of years ago I joined Local Motors, which is a venture in automotive crowdsourcing. Haven't entered any of the competitions, but have been active in the Rally, roadster, what next? forum thread...

The consensus seems to be that the next LM vehicle to be produced should be an electric sports car, and indeed the company is planning to engineer and build an electric platform soon. Before I learned of that, however, I got antsy and decided to put pencil to paper, sharing most of my quick, rough sketches in the thread.

Here is the latest:

'TELLURIAN TARGA'

Now of course I don't want to do anything for LM in Tellurian Motors' flat-panel design language, so this means I'm having to get used to drawing curves again...

Before this concept sprouted an 'open cargo area' it already had the removable roof panel and targa bar, and since my ID on the LM site is 'Tellurian', well, the vehicle sort of named itself.

The folding tonneau cover (which when folded, disappears below the rear window) is composed of 4 solar panels. These might not offer much charging capacity, but every little bit helps. Plus, the secondary charging point used by these can also be used by a small, ordinary generator that one might load up for use as a range extender on longer trips.

To be quite honest, I hadn't thought of the genset option until after I'd already decided on what is technically a small pickup configuration -- simply to increase cargo capacity. Some call this 'synchronicity'...

YES, I'm going against my own design ethos in a couple of ways by working on this concept -- it doesn't use flat panels, nor free energy...

...Not yet, anyway.

filsmyth

29July2011

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Bare-Bones Sophistication

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As you may know, Tellurian Motors has been dovetailed, along with some of my other daydreams, into a work of fiction. The novel, Virtual Dreamer, is set in the near future -- and may or may not ever get written. Development is continual within my own mindspace, but abortive attempts at actual writing felt premature. A certain amount of pressure exists around this task, but only from within -- the day (or night, more likely) is imminent, when I'll finally jump into it and barely rest until it's finished...

...So what am I doing writing a blog, you may be wondering, while I have a novel to work on? Good question -- but it may (or may not) be part of my process (if I have one) to continue the conceptual development of vehicles that will be featured in the story. Without further ado:

TELLURIAN RUNABOUT

bare-bones sophistication

No, I still don't have images of the Runabout to share... Hang on, let me sketch something...

...Okay. My coffee didn't even get cold. Problem with sketching so quickly is that it's not very precise, and some things have been left out...

Let's start with those big round rallye lights. Maybe they should be set back a bit, within the frame -- and maybe they don't quite fit the futuristic theme, but let me explain:

Sure, you might expect a trapezoidal panel filled with LEDs here (and you wouldn't be wrong to), but the Runabout is to be the first-ever purpose-built Tellurian Motors vehicle (after an electric conversion or two) and as such will be extremely prototypical. Off-the-shelf components will have to serve as placeholders for bespoke items yet to be developed.

Also missing from the sketch is a cut line in the polycarbonate of the side-window/hatch area. Just imagine one running straight up from the back of the front wheel well to the top of the A-pillar (windshield frame). For a long time I thought there would be a (removable) one-piece hatch on each side, each with a little round access door, but now as I look at the sketch I think a 'vent window' or 'wind wing' approach makes more sense.

Remember? Okay, well maybe you've been in a car or truck that has a section of door window at the leading edge, that doesn't roll down with the rest. 'Back in the day', there were vent windows there, that pivoted -- very useful for catching a breeze, if you didn't have air conditioning.

Speaking of which, yes, the Runabout was originally conceived for the Bonneville Salt Flats -- so yes it DOES have A/C, quite powerful for a vehicle of its size, and mirror-tinted windows all around.

...So what do I mean by 'bare-bones sophistication'? Well for one this is, as you can see (wow, I finally produced a sketch), a very simple little vehicle, perfect for a first attempt at vehicle construction. However from its first inception it has been about comfort (a bit of escape from the heat and blinding reflected sunlight of the salt flats) -- and it can be used as a rolling testbed for various systems and applications.

The first example is likely to be very crude indeed, like a cross between a golf cart and a UTV -- but there is (if I may say so) a simple sophistication in the design itself.

As for its appearance in the novel, well, you'll have to wait...

filsmyth

June 2, 2010

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Deora III Goes 'Local'

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Less than 2 months ago I discovered something called Local Motors, a new company that 'crowdsources' vehicles. They've developed an online community to share in the design process... How could I not join?

Struggled briefly with the question of which of my designs to throw into the ring. Figured it should be the one with the least family resemblance to other Tellurian Motors vehicles, so my Deora redux fit the bill. Plus, it's conceptually based on someone else's design, so there ya go. Check my profile page.




These sketches have not yet been uploaded to the Local Motors site, and I'm not sure they will be. The LM community is filled with amateurs (and a few professionals) used to seeing slick presentations and renders done with expensive 3D software -- and I've been pestered by a teenager and a twentysomething, both very vocal and opinionated.

The good news is that my participation on the site got me to become more serious about taking this particular daydream and transferring it to paper, then to the computer. It's all well and good to have something in your head, but the real development begins when you attempt to share your vision with others.




Where the orginal Deora show truck was a barely functional vehicle, lacking side windows and completely unusable as a truck, and the Deora II was a Hot Wheels design that was unbelievably interpreted into a full-sized and driveable
yet still completely useless spectacle, I approached Deora III from the beginning as a functional light truck.

It may not be the most practical truck, but most truck owners never use their vehicles to their full potential anyway.

Since both the Deora and Deora II Hot Wheels models included tiny plastic surfboards, I realized I should not ignore the surf connection -- and since not every surf spot has a nice smooth parking lot, Deora III ought to be able to drive right out onto any beach (and get back from it). Yes, that means it needs 4WD and appreciable ground clearance...

It also just about requires that it has some means of securing at least 2 surfboards -- and for this I've envisioned a twin set of removable, folding racks (that could be mounted in the bed of any pickup that has those square holes in the tops of the bedsides). Each rack would hold 2 boards and 'lock' in both horizontal and vertical positions. Need to carry more than 4? There's room under the racks, and a cargo net to keep them from sliding around too much.

You're absolutely correct if, while looking at my digital images, you think the bed isn't long enough. The sketches were done later, and show a longer wheelbase.




Any questions?



filsmyth
01December2009

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the Tellurian Coupe

Made this sketch yesterday, after thinking about the design for a day or so. The Coupe is a 'Grand Tourer'...

What, you wanted more details? What's to tell?


filsmyth
13September2009


PS Another sketch was done, on video:

sketching with fil

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old news (Salamander)

I rarely bother to put the date on my sketches, but on the other side of the sheet of paper I drew this on there is a strange 'END TEST' printout with a date in the middle of December 1997.

As stated in my last post here, one of the vehicle configurations I used to sketch in the mid-90s was the extreme-cab-forward pickup -- yes, before the Chip Foose-designed Deora II was released as a Hot Wheels model...

The main variation was quite large, and at some point it occurred to me that it was sort of like a boat for the land -- so, no surprise that I developed an amphibious version.


...But you ask, "Does this mean the Deora III is meant to be amphibious?"

In a word, no. However one could be configured in a very boat-like manner for land-based activities similar to what you might do on water...


And, why convert a land vehicle into an amphibious one? Better to design a vehicle from the start as amphibious, yes?

So, I could very well be sketching a new version of the Salamander soon -- larger than Deora III and with round wheel openings (into which the wheels will retract during offshore operation). It will be more of a boat with wheels than an amphibious truck...



filsmyth
01August2009

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