Car-doored?

MadammeMarie
MadammeMarie Posts: 621
edited December 2009 in Commuting chat
How the future looks....?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

Comments

  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    Nice but not sure about the lack of a B pillar on a 2 door, and what if the battery runs out?
    Do Nellyphants count?

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  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    What happens if your battery goes flat?
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Nice idea, don't like the fact that the seatbelt is mounted to the seat very much - can that be safe? Also a side-on collision would be interesting. What's more, what happens when the battery dies, and wouldn't the mechanism weigh a ton?

    Scissor doors solve a few of the 'problems' quite neatly, as do sliding doors. Both of those, however, are rather heavier than a standard door.
    FCN 7/1
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  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    Always Tyred wrote:
    What happens if your battery goes flat?

    You cannot start the car!! No point getting into it.
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    Wallace1492 wrote:
    Always Tyred wrote:
    What happens if your battery goes flat?

    You cannot start the car!! No point getting into it.

    Yes there is:
    You need to get into the car to open the bonnet, and thus on to get a charging method onto the battery, if you can't do either of them then you need in the drivers seat to steer the thing and crank the engine while you find some alternative method of propulsion to circumvent the need for the starter motor.

    The alternatives to these are external charging points using the standard booster socket as found on buses, trucks and motorsports vehicles, but not in widespread use on private cars and means you would need 2 types of jump lead (socket to socket and socket to crocodile) or a battery pack with the socket on it.
    Or external unlocking of bonnet.
    Either way you would need to unlock and open the car on the booster pack or other car battery.

    Car batteries and booster packs are designed to provide loads of current to the starter motor and not much else. This is probably an issue in the operation of the whole thing as the door motors are going to have to operate on the battery alone not the alternator.
    Electric windows don't normally work with the ignition off for a reason...
    Do Nellyphants count?

    Commuter: FCN 9
    Cheapo Roadie: FCN 5
    Off Road: FCN 11

    +1 when I don't get round to shaving for x days
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    nwallace wrote:
    Wallace1492 wrote:
    Always Tyred wrote:
    What happens if your battery goes flat?

    You cannot start the car!! No point getting into it.

    Yes there is:
    You need to get into the car to open the bonnet, and thus on to get a charging method onto the battery, if you can't do either of them then you need in the drivers seat to steer the thing and crank the engine while you find some alternative method of propulsion to circumvent the need for the starter motor.

    The alternatives to these are external charging points using the standard booster socket as found on buses, trucks and motorsports vehicles, but not in widespread use on private cars and means you would need 2 types of jump lead (socket to socket and socket to crocodile) or a battery pack with the socket on it.
    Or external unlocking of bonnet.
    Either way you would need to unlock and open the car on the booster pack or other car battery.

    Car batteries and booster packs are designed to provide loads of current to the starter motor and not much else. This is probably an issue in the operation of the whole thing as the door motors are going to have to operate on the battery alone not the alternator.
    Electric windows don't normally work with the ignition off for a reason...

    :shock: :shock: :shock:
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Wallace1492 wrote:
    Always Tyred wrote:
    What happens if your battery goes flat?

    You cannot start the car!! No point getting into it.

    :lol::lol:

    Yep, if the battery goes flat, you need a new car. FACT.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    This idea has been floating around for about 15 years now. BMW tried something similar once (EDIT: take a look at the Z1).

    The implementation on this particular example is ghastly.
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  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    Wallace1492 wrote:
    nwallace wrote:
    Wallace1492 wrote:
    Always Tyred wrote:
    What happens if your battery goes flat?

    You cannot start the car!! No point getting into it.

    <Brain Dump>

    :shock: :shock: :shock:

    :lol::lol::lol:
    Do Nellyphants count?

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    Cheapo Roadie: FCN 5
    Off Road: FCN 11

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  • tiki tourer
    tiki tourer Posts: 16
    You need to get into the car to open the bonnet
    Not on my Ford focus - you use the key to open the bonnet. Also, wouldn't the door open (but not close) by gravity alone?
  • DanielCoffey
    DanielCoffey Posts: 142
    I suspect that the door mechanism would be on a secondary battery (our camper van used to have two batteries - one for the engine/lights and the second for the interior facilities).

    As for the seatbelts on the seats rather than the pillars - it looks like the seats are heavy duty and reinforced so I suspect they will be strong enough.

    Overall, looks interesting. Not cheap of course, but interesting.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Have seen this video a few times now. You dont need a battery system to do this, and it could be done on single, normal doors keeping the pillar inplace and frame safety. Batteries and motors add to the bulk.

    I suspect the reason why it hasnt been done more widely is down to the risk of ain water getting dragged under and into parts of the car, where as with a normal door it just runs off.
  • tebbit
    tebbit Posts: 604
    Worked with a bloke once, who's battery was playing up so he bought a new car, he bought a second hand car for £6k, which cost him £200 per month, for five years costing hin £12k. Replacing his car battery £20 tops, new car £12k, muppet.
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    I take this piece of overengineering to be a backhanded tribute to the simple mechanical elegance of the hinge.
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  • BentMikey
    BentMikey Posts: 4,895
    deptfordmarmoset wrote:
    I take this piece of overengineering to be a backhanded tribute to the simple mechanical elegance of the hinge.

    +1
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    BentMikey wrote:
    deptfordmarmoset wrote:
    I take this piece of overengineering to be a backhanded tribute to the simple mechanical elegance of the hinge.

    +1

    indeed!
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    MadammeMarie wrote:
    How the future looks....?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

    Back in 1988 BMW made the BMW Z1 which had a similar door function:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZ7lAk-BdQ

    Great car, my uncle had one. Best memories were driving around with the doors down only to get stopped by police, press the button and on we go and then press the button again to drive around with the doors down. - purely because we could....
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  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    MadammeMarie wrote:
    How the future looks....?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

    Back in 1988 BMW made the BMW Z1 which had a similar door function:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZ7lAk-BdQ

    Great car, my uncle had one. Best memories were driving around with the doors down only to get stopped by police, press the button and on we go and then press the button again to drive around with the doors down. - purely because we could....

    Whoa!! check out Clarkson's hair and denim! :D

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