[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img] Amidst all the economic sound and fury, one could very well ask, what’s going on with car manufacturers? Insofar as Detroit is concerned, who knows? But in India, there’s a revolution brewing, and it’s called the Nano. The People’s Car is back.
Billed as the world’s least expensive car, although there are challengers out there, Tata Motors’ Nano is only 10 feet long, seats 4 people, and has a similar cute styling to the Smart Car. It has a top speed of roughly 65 mph with a fuel capacity of 3.96 gallons. That may not seem like much, but considering that it gets approximately 55.4 mpg, that 3.96 g gets you pretty far. Not bad for a little car priced at $2,500. (No, there are no zeroes missing. $2,500!) As I understand it, the Nano is geared for the Indian market. We in North America, as in Europe, will have to wait for the car to be redesigned to meet our safety standards. Still, what an accomplishment!
It gets better. Not only has Tata Motors developed an innovative car, they’ve also innovated a manufacturing and distribution model based on locally sourced parts and modular design. The idea is that the car will be “sold in kits that are distributed, assembled, and serviced by local entrepreneurs.” An entire cottage industry of local mechanics and automotive specialists can be built to service, customize and otherwise add value to the Nano. You can read more about it here (http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/)
Before I become a mere cheerleading parrot, though, it’s worth pointing out criticisms that have been leveled, namely, that Tata Motors will put millions of cars on the road as people in populous India buy them up. That the engine runs on petrol isn’t exactly a bonus, although the high mpg is obviously a good thing. The lesson, though, is that innovation in the automotive industry isn’t dead; it’s just that Detroit has been asleep at the wheel.
As exciting as Tata’s Nano is, there is a development that is even more exciting: the compressed air engine. As developed by MDI Enterprises (http://www.mdi.lu/english/), the engines can either be used on their own or as part of dual-energy system that combines the compressed air engine with gasoline. The result: A car that emits little to no pollution, depending on whether the engine is used in dual-mode or in compressed-air mode only. With good range – certainly enough for our daily commute needs – MDI’s line of cars, like the CityFlow, also benefit from fast refilling. According to their website, they promise 1 to 3 minutes time to refill the compressed air tanks when using air stations, 1.5 to 4.5 hours when using onboard plug-in refilling systems, or refilling through the use of the dual-energy system. To put it simply, this is a car that seems to fulfill everything we need from a car. Better yet, MDI has partnered with Tata Motors, expressing a commitment to the same modular design concept, which they refer to as “Dealer/Manufacturer/Partner,” that sees a variety of benefits including boosting local economies, diminishing transport costs and energy use, and other. The only question is when it will come to us and what the price will be. MDI’s CityFlow, for example, is currently estimated at €13,000.
You Call That Accessible?
Here in North America, meanwhile, the buzz seems to be around Tesla Motors’ upcoming release – a 4-door electric sedan that follows on the heel of the hot Roadster. Given the Roadster’s inaccessible price of $109,000, how much will the sedan sell for? Roughly $49,000. I don’t know about you, but even taking gas prices into account I wouldn’t call this “accessible” as Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk does.
I wonder if we’re seeing a cultural kind of Reagonomics at play here: create products for the top tier and hope it somehow trickles down to the masses. When it comes to technology, sure, that may happen. Computers, mp3 players, cell phones; innovations often start out with high prices until the lower-priced clones come in. But Tata Motors and MDI are examples of innovative thinking that don’t begin with catering to the rich, but take instead a holistic view that encompasses pressing social concerns while involving, well, the rest of us. Here, however, the people’s car has long sold out. Volkswagen’s New Beetle? It was cute, yes, like the original, and very modern. The price tag, however, was not so cute; goodbye people’s car, hello status symbol. Same goes for the Mini, which has become the automotive equivalent of the iPod; stylish, ubiquitous and subject to adoration from legions of fans. Again: What happened to the people’s car? You know, a genuine car for people, like me, who don’t need all the bells and whistles to be fetishized and packaged in a cycle of perpetual consumerism? A simple, humble car. Not an extension of our manhood. Not an assault vehicle. Not a piece of drivable bling. A car. For the people.
Suspicions rests with the poison that is the corporation-uber-alles class-warfare (but don’t call it that; you’ll upset pop-conservatives) approach that has dominated economic policy regardless of the President’s political party. There is no people’s car because, politically, there are no people; there are only interests, of which only the best-funded get a political voice. In the sorry spectacle that is the Big Three’s swan song, unless there is a revolutionary change in outlook – I’m talking paradigm-busting vision like the one displayed by Tata Motors and MDI – we’ll end up with a patched-up system that may stagger forward for awhile, but will inevitably collapse.
Frédérik invites you to discuss this week’s column and more at his blog.