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The Commuter Cars Tango is a prototype ultra-narrow electric sports car designed and built by Commuter Cars, an electric car company based in Spokane, Washington.
History
Commuter Cars was founded in Spokane, Washington, by Rick Woodbury and his son Bryan Woodbury in 1998. Bryan Woodbury says that his father had come up with the original idea sometime in the early 1980s. He had learned that 106 million people in the United States were driving to work alone. He came up with the idea for a single-seat electric car. Starting in the 1980s, Woodbury started researching hydrogen power, which lead to fuel cells. The relatively light weight of the fuel cells led to his idea of a stable, narrow vehicle with a low center of gravity. While waiting for fuel cell technology to catch up, he eventually settled on a design for the car to have individual electric motors for each wheel. In his spare time, he worked on building his first car. In 1998, he sold his yacht to fund the company. Among those parts was a safety cage made to NASCAR specifications.
Production of the first of their line of ultra-narrow electric sports cars began with the Tango T600. The company designed a small electric car. They stated that production of the first version, at a rate of about 100 cars per year, was set to begin in late 2005. Actor George Clooney took delivery of the first Tango kit on August 9, 2005, which was a major milestone for the company. Clooney appeared in the press with the car, explaining its features and promoting it.
By 2008, Commuter Cars had only produced 10 cars, which sold for an average of $121,000 each. The company generated a significant amount of media interest with the sale to Clooney. However, that initial media attention did not lead to a production deal.
In 2010, the company entered the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize in the "Alternative" category. The vehicle entered was a Tango T600 owned by Google founder Sergey Brin, borrowed back for the competition. After passing many of the performance tests with ease, the car failed to complete the 100 mile durability run (one of the complicated set of requirements for the prize) and was eliminated from the competition. When the company had sufficient funding during 2007, it employed eight workers and was able to manufacture one car each month.
Overview
The Tango is narrower than some motorcycles and may be small enough to legally ride side-by-side with other small vehicles in traffic lanes in some jurisdictions. Capable of seating two passengers in a tandem seating arrangement, it only takes up one-quarter of a standard parking space and is able to park sideways. One prototype vehicle has been produced by the company and was shipped to Prodrive in the United Kingdom in January 2005, where the design was refined for production models.
Commuter Cars states that the Tango's heavy battery pack and low ground-clearance combine to give it a center-of-mass from the ground, allowing for stable handling. About two-thirds of the curb weight in the prototype is taken up by the batteries, twin motors, and controller, mounted low in the frame. Commuter Cars states that production models are expected to weigh less, ranging from . Propulsion is provided by two electric motors. To extend its range, an optional generator cart can be attached to the Tango. one driving each rear wheel with claimed of combined torque at low rpms. 8,000 rpm redline. or 4 motors, one for each wheel, lithium batteries.
- : 12.25 seconds @
See also
- Peel P50
- Isetta
- William Garrison – studied concept of narrow vehicles