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Autoblog Green has all the info on the “all new” 2009 Zap Xebra. The good news? Bye-bye fiberglass, hello steel construction. The bad news? It’s still a freaking Zap Xebra. Oh yeah, and nothing was done to improve the range or power, according to ABG. But, according to a statement from Zap found in the EETimes test drive (key bits: “quite rudimentary,” “struggle to get comfortable,” “somewhat unsettling,” and “noisy and bumpy”) all this was done without the benefit of a federal bailout. Hallelujah! All hail our new green car champions! Or not.
12 Comments on “Ladies And Gentlemen, Your 2009 Zap Xebra...”
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“If you want something sturdy, and fast, get a table.”
3-wheelers are great for dodging regulations, but the combination of tall car-like body, offset driver position and delta configuration pretty much necessitates shitty tires (otherwise the thing would flip over all the time).
It’s amazing that they managed to screw up every aspect of a good 3-wheel electric car design (single or triple seat, tadpole setup, low and lightweight), and yet people are lining up to buy those abominations. Yet again proof that the market is ripe for a properly executed eletromobile.
Worst. Voiceover. Ever.
The sound engineer for that video had to be deaf.
–chuck
Umm… Yeah.
Still a huge scam.
These are on sale here in Portland, but I’ve only seen two of them (not demonstrators) on the street. I wonder what the sales figures are.
chuckgoolsbee, that’s the first thing I noticed. In a world filled with voiceover talent that can actually project and enunciate, they couldn’t do any better than that mush-mouth? No doubt somebody’s wife’s cousin’s nephew.
These are the prototype of the things GM will be producing once the car “czar” (communistic??? nah…) takes over.
I want to see one do a hard brake into a left or right turn on dry pavement.
@alex,
Not to be nitpicky, but, ok I’m gonna be…
3 wheelers are not inherently instable. In fact, quite the opposite, in a 2 front 1 rear config.
From the MBZ LifeJet prototype, to myriad other tilting/cambering 3 wheelers, they will easily outpull Vette/Viper/Porsche on a skidpad. And smoke them royally in the cones.
Don’t get me wrong, the Zap is not that type of 3 wheeler. But to say the 3 wheeled layout is inherently flawed is just not true.
To your point, active tilting/cambering for 3-wheelers is much more stable. But would you consider active tilting/cambering to be an ‘inherent’ design of 3-wheelers?
Then with 2-front wheels you’re just moving the instability to the rear, so accelerating too quickly in a turn becomes bad in that case. Although that maybe less of a concern since rapid acceleration while turning is probably less likely (and less necessary) then the occasional rapid deceleration.
No matter; as you noted none of these things seems to be the ZAP, but hopefully they’ve done their testing.
My initial request for a video stands.
deVeritas,
2F1R layout even sans tilt/camber is really pretty impressive. If it’s done correctly. Layout and weight distribution do play an important role in the equation.
But, yeah. 1F2R generally sucks. And it would be a funny vid.
Then with 2-front wheels you’re just moving the instability to the rear, so accelerating too quickly in a turn becomes bad in that case. Although that maybe less of a concern since rapid acceleration while turning is probably less likely (and less necessary) then the occasional rapid deceleration.
Since when does anyone accelerate INTO a turn? The two-front / single-rear layout is extremely stable, and many kit cars and small sports cars with this layout can hold over 1 lateral g in a corner. It all depends on Center-of-Gravity… if you’ve got a 2-1 layout, you’re obviously not giving the weight balance a rearward bias.
It still surprises me that people will pay absurd amounts of money for this piece of crap. I’ve actually driven the original gasoline driven version from the Chinese supplier that XAP buys from… for about $2000-$3000 for the gasoline three-wheeler, it’s already dubious… you get something that feels about as substantial as a Radio Flyer with a roof, handles worse, and has a suspension that feels made to last all of three weeks. Driving at 30 mph has never been so scary. even a bicycle feels safer at those speeds.
If a Chery QQ deserves zero stars on any western crash test, that thing probably won’t get past negative three. I was going to do a road-test of the thing for our website… then figured out it wasn’t worth the trouble… since nobody was likely to buy it anyway… nobody in their right mind, that is…
niky,
regarding accelerating into a turn
This is a very useful technique in FWD and AWD cars, within limits, of course. I first learned this from my father years ago when I drove his Audi 100LS. It had a tendency for the rear end to break away if you braked during a turn. He advised me not only not to brake but even to add a little gas durings turns. Of course that only works if you’re not entering a turn too fast to begin with, but that’s just part of good driving anyway. And I can tell you that my Outback grips much better in turns if you accelerate slightly. Try it.
Anyway, the turn the Zap car made in that video looked plenty scary to me.
Oh. That’s accelerating out of a turn. It’s a useful technique to counter oversteer, but in that situation, your FWD car has very little weight on the rear end, anyway, which is why it’s oversteering in the first place.