A New "Car of Tomorrow"

[Josh-Levin]

Like Preston Tucker, I have an idea for an automobile that can change the world. You can read about it at [url]http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=744[/url].

My idea, the LeviCar concept, involves having modular cars such that the chassis and drive train are separable from the car body, as in GM's "Sequel" and its predecessors. For long trips, the car body can be removed from the chassis and placed on a Magnetic-Levitation (MagLev) rail system, and travel with door-to-door time that is competitive with a jet plane.

The benefits would be enormous. In addition to transporting people at high speed, with superior safety and efficiency, the MagLev system would also handle freight, greatly reducing the need for large trucks.

Even without MagLev, the modular cars would provide greater ease of servicing. One possible business model is to have the chassis leased from a company that also provides for all service and maintenance. If you have a problem, just bring your car in, have it put on another chassis, and drive off while they fix your old chassis and later give it to another customer. Your lease payments would not be "rent" on the physical object (the chassis), but rather a payment for the service (transportation) that the chassis provides. (You could still either own or lease the car body.) Mobile chassis-swap trucks can be dispatched to help those customers stuck on the road, and these customers can then drive off with minimal delay.

I would like to avoid the problems that befell Preston Tucker. I know this idea is much bigger than I am. Also, it will put a heck of a lot of people out of business, or else change their jobs profoundly. I would hope that careful planning can avoid the potential negative impacts of such a large economic displacement. Auto manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, gas station owners, mechanics, airlines, and truckers would all be affected.

On the other hand, a full nation-wide MagLev system would cost in excess of a trillion dollars, and provide a lot of employment while it is being built.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Thank you.

[Tuckerfan1053]

Buckminster Fuller had a similar idea with "cars" that could link together to travel down roadways or even be loaded on planes.

[wishihadasuperbee]

The MagLev system in function sounds outstanding. However if the system intended to replace transportation as we know it, somthing would have to fill the space left behind within many persons for the ever alluring chrome, deep paint, exhaust notes, addiction to torque and acceleration, and everything else that makes man love cars. Many pay a higher price for fuel, just to burn it. I believe the future is in refining how the cars run, all the while retaining the lure of the automobile. The hybrids are starting to evolve into cars that look normal. I imagine this appeals to people who like cars. The wierd looking hybrids appeal to those who arent so inclined to cars themselves, but perhaps the technology the hybrid offers. Those customers I suppose would be more likely to embrace the MagLev. Just my opinion, no offense intended to anyone.