"and 100 more" (nth256)
08/17/2015 at 15:08 • Filed to: None
0
9|
"and 100 more" (nth256)
08/17/2015 at 15:08 • Filed to: None | 0
| 9 |
... particularly this response...
I have had a particularly Torch-worth idea (actually it plays off one he’s tossed out before - the idea of modular cars).
What if you take a Smart, and by-and-large, leave it as it is... but then, make a separate, detachable modular front end with a larger engine and similarly detachable rear end with a full-length truck bed, and basically utilize the Smart as a cab, with all the controls necessary to drive it in both mini- and maxi-modes? You could keep your truck parts stored away while you commute 75-90% of the time, then connect your truck bits for when you need to haul some heavy stuff?
Maybe, replace the ICE front end with a large battery pack, and mount a heavy-duty electric motor directly to the rear diff. This would allow the truck components to sit indefinitely (albeit, with a trickle charger on the battery pack) without worries of oil turning to sludge. You could also use the engine in the Smart while driving as a battery charger in a series-hybrid arrangement.
You could have different rear ends, as well - flat-beds, camper backs, fully-enclosed cargo haulers, mobile tiger cages, etc...
If your truck parts break down, have a way to disassemble the whole thing in the field so you could still drive the Smart/cab portion to go get help.
Am I serious about this? Not at all. Just spit-balling. But where else can we take this idea?
UPDATE: I can see I’m not being very articulate today, so here’s a better example of my idea:
Take large pickup
Remove everything between the firewall and the bed
Attach to front and rear respectively of Smart in an easily detachable/reattachable manner
Obviously, I’m not talking about a backyard chop job, but a fully-engineered product that can basically change the Smart from its own stand-alone vehicle, into full-sized pickup truck that uses the Smart as its cab, and back again. When in truck mode, it wouldn’t even use the Smart’s drive wheels ideally, as they’d be lifted higher due to the truck’s increased ground clearance.
Bytemite
> and 100 more
08/17/2015 at 15:11 |
|
You do know a smart is rear-engined right?
itschrome
> and 100 more
08/17/2015 at 15:15 |
|
drive by wire controls on truck body, connect via blue tooth or something. leave smart unmodified other than having controls sent to lower unit. wouldn’t be THAT hard I suppose. Some sensors, sending units and of course creaming the whole truck part. but yeah wouldn’t have to modify the smart at all really.
|
and 100 more
> Bytemite
08/17/2015 at 15:15 |
|
Yes. But the Smart wouldn’t be powering the truck-mode, except maybe passively (series-hybrid arrangement).
Mercedes Streeter
> and 100 more
08/17/2015 at 15:22 |
|
Rinspeed did something like that with its Dock + Go concept. Basically it turns a smart into a six wheeler with different attachments. There’s a bed attachment, a larger boot, a freaking DJ booth, extra battery (to either extend the range of the EV model or to turn the petrol/diesel models into a hybrid) and on and on.
But geez, what the heck happened to the front end?
DogonCrook
> and 100 more
08/17/2015 at 15:30 |
|
In theory it’s a good idea, Chevy wanted to do it with that skateboard hybrid thing they worked on forever. But a smart with a bed isn’t very useful honestly. The bed would be so small it would be like a tray on the back of a four wheeler.
|
and 100 more
> DogonCrook
08/17/2015 at 15:41 |
|
Well, my thinking would be that you’d use the bed in conjunction with the modular front end... pretty much eliminating the Smart’s ability to drive itself, as all the driving would be done by the add-on front and rear ends. In that regard, you couldn’t just use the bed on the Smart.
|
and 100 more
> Mercedes Streeter
08/17/2015 at 15:44 |
|
Interesting concept! Kinda along the lines of what I was thinking...
I dunno, i kinda like the Rinspeed front, though it very much reminds me of the Kia Soul.
|
DogonCrook
> and 100 more
08/17/2015 at 15:44 |
|
Yeah but it would be cheaper to just buy an extra truck, which is why I think the idea never took off and became the volt. I think an open floor luxury cabin or camper would work better. For the base smart I could buy 10 trucks.
|
and 100 more
> DogonCrook
08/17/2015 at 15:53 |
|
Admittedly, I’m throwing true practicality out the window... But that’s not the point I was getting at, just seeing what other ideas I could squeeze out of this one.