Miracleman89
12-01-2007, 03:44 PM
This post was originally posted by Ian Bruce Administrator on the official Venture Vehicles website.
Vv Update 11/30
Hi guys,
I’d like to start this week’s update by suggesting that we all take a collective deep breath. Things are continuing to move forward VERY positively and there still remains a lot to be done.
I ask that you keep in mind that the magnitude of this project is enormous, and things of this nature take a tremendous amount of time -- whether it is the vehicle design, the engineering, performance, safety, parts & component sourcing, or design for manufacturing.
Our goal has never changed. It continues to be creating a unique & innovative new solution for personal transportation, to create the best possible product we can and a company and brand that we’ll all be proud of.
As we continue to move ahead, one of the things that has been extremely important is for us is to get your feedback and input via the Forums. We are also getting input and feedback from others as well, most recently, through some consumer research we are conducting.
So you know, the audience for this research is really two-fold: a consumer database through a high recognized research firm that specializes in consumer research in automotive industry, AutoPacific. They have over 10,000 consumers in their database, and we have had great success in getting solid feedback from them in the past. The other audience we thought was extremely appropriate was the nearly 4,000 folks, including many of you, who have pre-registered on FTR.com. Getting this kind of feedback is incredibly important for us -- and frankly, just good business practice.
The questions on the AutoPacific survey are (were) designed to help us better understand different perspectives and opinions from diverse groups of people -- whether it’s vehicle design, branding, what they like, what they don’t and why. Or other issues -- including things like performance tradeoffs or affordability.
What’s important for you to understand is that our goals for the vehicle and our company have not changed -- but as you know, we are all blazing some new, and unexplored trails. We continue to learn more and more each day, but as you might guess, there are no easy answers or simple solutions with something this unique. There are a lot of moving parts, with a lot of different partners.
We have told you before that communication is very important to us. We committed to providing everyone with a bi-weekly update posting to help keep you in the loop, this very post, in fact. We also committed to you that our communications would be upfront and candid and we wouldn’t BS you. To be very honest, while we'd like to communicate with you every day, addressing every question or issue that may arise, the reality is that Vv is still an early start-up company -- we have a small team of highly experienced professionals that have been and are literally working around the clock with our strategic partners helping to build this company.
The Vv community is growing every day and is the backbone of the company. We sincerely thank you for your support and also ask for your patience and understanding as we fly ever faster and further down this road.
Shameless plug department: We have our first official "Fly the Road" merchandise site up. The items there are our first-run, very limited, soon-to-be collector pieces. ;) Please stop by at:
http://www.flytheroadstore.com/ (http://www.flytheroadstore.com/)
-- Ian
also later he posted these comments in reference to what Texan wrote:
Texan wrote:
"Pose specific questions on the forum, request detailed feedback on different aspects of the issues you raised above. I'm sure the smart people on this fourm will have some valuable insight to the challenges you face in all areas."
Ian wrote:
"It's interesting that you brought this up, since we're looking at Kawasaki 440's and similar liquid-cooled engines for our gensets. The Kawi's about 65 lbs, and de-tuned, generates about 40hp -- actually more than we need. But drop on a cat, muffler, and gear/belt reduction, and it comes in line with our target specs -- about 30hp (22-23kW) at a reasonable RPM.
BTW: No way I'm taking a jetski past 60mph. The water's about as forgiving as reinforced concrete at that speed. ;) "
Then he added these comments in refernce to what jmeineck1 wrote:
jmeineck1 wrote:
1. Have the full scale models beens started?
2. How close is the propulsion system component selection to completion
3. Interior design started (and maybe some drawings)
Ian wrote:
"1. Yes -- and we expect to see them at the end of the month.
2. We've made selections for the Alpha build already. This is primarily for the purpose of testing and debugging of the hybrid and battery management systems. We'll be refining the specific component selection as we move forward.
3. Yes -- they're being modeled in Alias, and I'm told they look fantastic. The design team will be presenting them to us in a couple of weeks -- after which, we'll share them with you here.
Hope that clears things up for you. "
Vv Update 11/30
Hi guys,
I’d like to start this week’s update by suggesting that we all take a collective deep breath. Things are continuing to move forward VERY positively and there still remains a lot to be done.
I ask that you keep in mind that the magnitude of this project is enormous, and things of this nature take a tremendous amount of time -- whether it is the vehicle design, the engineering, performance, safety, parts & component sourcing, or design for manufacturing.
Our goal has never changed. It continues to be creating a unique & innovative new solution for personal transportation, to create the best possible product we can and a company and brand that we’ll all be proud of.
As we continue to move ahead, one of the things that has been extremely important is for us is to get your feedback and input via the Forums. We are also getting input and feedback from others as well, most recently, through some consumer research we are conducting.
So you know, the audience for this research is really two-fold: a consumer database through a high recognized research firm that specializes in consumer research in automotive industry, AutoPacific. They have over 10,000 consumers in their database, and we have had great success in getting solid feedback from them in the past. The other audience we thought was extremely appropriate was the nearly 4,000 folks, including many of you, who have pre-registered on FTR.com. Getting this kind of feedback is incredibly important for us -- and frankly, just good business practice.
The questions on the AutoPacific survey are (were) designed to help us better understand different perspectives and opinions from diverse groups of people -- whether it’s vehicle design, branding, what they like, what they don’t and why. Or other issues -- including things like performance tradeoffs or affordability.
What’s important for you to understand is that our goals for the vehicle and our company have not changed -- but as you know, we are all blazing some new, and unexplored trails. We continue to learn more and more each day, but as you might guess, there are no easy answers or simple solutions with something this unique. There are a lot of moving parts, with a lot of different partners.
We have told you before that communication is very important to us. We committed to providing everyone with a bi-weekly update posting to help keep you in the loop, this very post, in fact. We also committed to you that our communications would be upfront and candid and we wouldn’t BS you. To be very honest, while we'd like to communicate with you every day, addressing every question or issue that may arise, the reality is that Vv is still an early start-up company -- we have a small team of highly experienced professionals that have been and are literally working around the clock with our strategic partners helping to build this company.
The Vv community is growing every day and is the backbone of the company. We sincerely thank you for your support and also ask for your patience and understanding as we fly ever faster and further down this road.
Shameless plug department: We have our first official "Fly the Road" merchandise site up. The items there are our first-run, very limited, soon-to-be collector pieces. ;) Please stop by at:
http://www.flytheroadstore.com/ (http://www.flytheroadstore.com/)
-- Ian
also later he posted these comments in reference to what Texan wrote:
Texan wrote:
"Pose specific questions on the forum, request detailed feedback on different aspects of the issues you raised above. I'm sure the smart people on this fourm will have some valuable insight to the challenges you face in all areas."
Ian wrote:
"It's interesting that you brought this up, since we're looking at Kawasaki 440's and similar liquid-cooled engines for our gensets. The Kawi's about 65 lbs, and de-tuned, generates about 40hp -- actually more than we need. But drop on a cat, muffler, and gear/belt reduction, and it comes in line with our target specs -- about 30hp (22-23kW) at a reasonable RPM.
BTW: No way I'm taking a jetski past 60mph. The water's about as forgiving as reinforced concrete at that speed. ;) "
Then he added these comments in refernce to what jmeineck1 wrote:
jmeineck1 wrote:
1. Have the full scale models beens started?
2. How close is the propulsion system component selection to completion
3. Interior design started (and maybe some drawings)
Ian wrote:
"1. Yes -- and we expect to see them at the end of the month.
2. We've made selections for the Alpha build already. This is primarily for the purpose of testing and debugging of the hybrid and battery management systems. We'll be refining the specific component selection as we move forward.
3. Yes -- they're being modeled in Alias, and I'm told they look fantastic. The design team will be presenting them to us in a couple of weeks -- after which, we'll share them with you here.
Hope that clears things up for you. "