carverlives
10-12-2009, 07:56 PM
A while back I was able to get the word out via the Yahoo Leaning Three Wheelers Group that I was looking for a used Carver. People responded with info on used ones in England but the cheapest was still around 22 thousand pounds, & it had roughly 38k miles (or kilometers) on it. In California the problem seems to be the same as the rest of the states though- the 650 turbocharged Diahatsu motor won't pass smog, which is another obvious stumbling block to happy in USA Carver motoring.
Maybe there are people out there with help on that front, ie. they can sponsor a smog challenge or somehow modify the Diahatsu motor to pass smog) It seems as though the factory would have tried very hard to overcome this hurdle. When the Carver was first supposed to be sold in the states I called the fellow tasked with importation. He said they were messing with other powerplant options such as using a Honda fit motor. My point is even if you found a Carver used that you could afford, how would you overcome the non smog certify-able Diahatsu dilemma? So an electric Carver makes a lot of sense in yet another way.
But to flog this point even further I've read that some people have been able to get a rolling chassis of a three wheeler (not a Carver) into this Country with engine removed.
All this brings me to the the Venture/Persu manufacturing challenges. There are a number of companies manufacturing electric drivetrains in Calif: Tesla is the most famous and I've read that they are helping out Mercedes with the electrified Smart car. And AC propulsion out of San Dimas California is currently helping BMW with its electrified Mini Cooper now being tested by 500 lucky People that got to lease them. Therefore, one idea for VV or Persu might be to use the following strategy: Dont' be afraid of farming out the powerplant electrification, indeed major German manufacturers seem to think this is a good way to go. Then, gather all the jigs, molds, stampings from the Carver manufacturing site in Germany, ie buy up this equipment or get copies and get the info on what preexisting parts Carver used, then actually manufacture electric Carvers to see if the PM company can start making a profit in this Country. You know- sell some, use profits to keep Company solvent. Then, and only then start the redesign of the body for later editions of the Persu autocycle. After being lucky enough to drive the Carver I think the Carver is just fine the way it is. Better than fine. The PM Company could hit the ground running with this method, vastly shortening their time to produce vehicles for sale.
Finally, and sadly, I talked to one of the PM principals with this suggestion of using many of the existing Carver components a while back. His answer was very discouraging. They intend to make an American version of the Carver:
More room, more safety features, different design. Remember the dot com cash burn rate? This guy seemed to be talking about the rate needed to make a leaner achieve earth orbital velocity.
Have you seen the Aptera yet? They are now very close to making production vehicles. It is an electric three wheeled windcheating wonder, but no, they don't lean, and the seating is side by side. But pretty soon people are actually going to be able to buy one, at around 30k$.
Maybe there are people out there with help on that front, ie. they can sponsor a smog challenge or somehow modify the Diahatsu motor to pass smog) It seems as though the factory would have tried very hard to overcome this hurdle. When the Carver was first supposed to be sold in the states I called the fellow tasked with importation. He said they were messing with other powerplant options such as using a Honda fit motor. My point is even if you found a Carver used that you could afford, how would you overcome the non smog certify-able Diahatsu dilemma? So an electric Carver makes a lot of sense in yet another way.
But to flog this point even further I've read that some people have been able to get a rolling chassis of a three wheeler (not a Carver) into this Country with engine removed.
All this brings me to the the Venture/Persu manufacturing challenges. There are a number of companies manufacturing electric drivetrains in Calif: Tesla is the most famous and I've read that they are helping out Mercedes with the electrified Smart car. And AC propulsion out of San Dimas California is currently helping BMW with its electrified Mini Cooper now being tested by 500 lucky People that got to lease them. Therefore, one idea for VV or Persu might be to use the following strategy: Dont' be afraid of farming out the powerplant electrification, indeed major German manufacturers seem to think this is a good way to go. Then, gather all the jigs, molds, stampings from the Carver manufacturing site in Germany, ie buy up this equipment or get copies and get the info on what preexisting parts Carver used, then actually manufacture electric Carvers to see if the PM company can start making a profit in this Country. You know- sell some, use profits to keep Company solvent. Then, and only then start the redesign of the body for later editions of the Persu autocycle. After being lucky enough to drive the Carver I think the Carver is just fine the way it is. Better than fine. The PM Company could hit the ground running with this method, vastly shortening their time to produce vehicles for sale.
Finally, and sadly, I talked to one of the PM principals with this suggestion of using many of the existing Carver components a while back. His answer was very discouraging. They intend to make an American version of the Carver:
More room, more safety features, different design. Remember the dot com cash burn rate? This guy seemed to be talking about the rate needed to make a leaner achieve earth orbital velocity.
Have you seen the Aptera yet? They are now very close to making production vehicles. It is an electric three wheeled windcheating wonder, but no, they don't lean, and the seating is side by side. But pretty soon people are actually going to be able to buy one, at around 30k$.