Axon Automotive gets UK government funding for small city car
Click above for a gallery of the Axon Hatchback
We've been following Axon Automotive for the last few years, and the last we heard, the company was hoping to enter the Automotive X-Prize. According to new reports, the budding automaker has just received over £2 million from the UK government's Technology Strategy Board. More money has rolled in from a technology development firm called TTP and one other unnamed investor. The Axon concept is innovative in its use of high technology construction techniques that allow for an extremely light weight. This low weight helps the Axon achieve acceptable performance with a small .5L engine.
Chief among its features is a chassis that's made from recycled carbon fiber braided around a foam core. This allows for a unit that weighs 60 percent less than steel but is equally as strong. This technology is said to be adaptable to any type of vehicle design and the company hopes its next model will feature a plug-in hybrid drivetrain.
Gallery: Axon Hatchback
[Source: Channel 4]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
michael pettibone 9:38AM (2/07/2009)
At last,something that makes sense! a small car that weighs less than 1,ooo lbs. could perform well with 500cc and get 100 mpg all with minimum pollution.Ten years ago we were told that we would have these wonderful fuel cell cars by 2010-where are they?Now there is endless yammering about electric cars. Guess what? We lack the capacity in our electric grids to add millions of electric cars. We are told they will be charged when demand is low-no they won't. people are idiots and will charge them at peak hours. Most of the ways we make electricity are polluting and dangerous.
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gorr 11:04AM (2/07/2009)
Carbon fibers is better for car construction and cost less then steel especially for a start-up compagny. Big machines actually in use at gm,toyota, nissan, etc to make cars with steel cost millions and millions and any change in chassis construction cost a lot to inplement because they are huge, heavy, costly. Carbon fibers use is cheap and easy to work with and offer better quality then steel. The car construction techniques of gm, toyota using mandated steel from goverment-natural ressources military cartel have put the entire world in bankrupcies with false legislation impeding any new activities and technologies, complete pollution of land, water, air in the entire world. All that because they don't want to use cheap, efficient better quality carbon fibers to make a camaro or 400 h.p for 15 000$.
I saw a documentary last night and ford, chrysler and gm have destructed the entire town of detroit. The japaneses and now the chinese have helped a little bit the car manufacturing in u.s.a but despite a grow in population and a growth of car selling in u.s.a detroit is a gosht town representing the heavy taxing of anyone that produce something good. So gm, chrsler, ford produced jobs, car and technologies long time ago and heavy taxation on their technology with epa regulation change each 6 months since 1908, 200% taxation on salaries, etc and subsidies for imports and mandated petrol, steel, platinum, carb tests, medicare, strike and made detroit a mess.
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Sean 11:34AM (2/07/2009)
Strut mounted on the firewall??? That won't make for a quiet ride.
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Brian P 3:34PM (2/07/2009)
gorr, you need to up your knowledge on manufacturing processes ...
Stamping sheet metal is something that requires expensive equipment (large stamping presses) but it can stamp out a piece every couple of seconds day in and day out, then switch the tooling and make a different piece every couple of seconds day in and day out. The base equipment (the press) will last 50 years if taken care of. The metal itself is entirely recyclable with minimal/negligible degradation of quality. Steel auto body shells are among the most-recycled products in consumer use.
Making carbon-fiber parts is a slow process. It is possible to automate the cutting process and partially automate the layup process, but the layup needs to be done in a mold which has to be put into an autoclave and cured for a period of time. This ties up any given mold for +/- 20 minutes plus the time the layup takes - figure on at least half an hour. If the assembly line runs one-a-minute (typical) then you need 30+ sets of tooling for each and every piece that you manufacture in that manner!
I KNOW THIS because I have customers who use process #1 (steel stamping), and I have one customer who shall remain nameless who uses process #2 (carbon-fiber layup) for certain parts in low-volume specialty versions of certain cars that otherwise use stamped-steel construction.
The Corvette uses fiberglass body panels - always has. It's possible in that case because it is a relatively low-production model.
And ... fiberglass-resin and carbon-fiber resin defy attempts to recycle them in the usual sense. You CAN chop up the parts and use the mishmash for something else, but there is a degradation - you cannot make parts as strong and light as the original oriented-strand carbon-fiber mat out of the recycled mishmash. Only way to recycle it is to burn it and let the plants do the recycling with the CO2 that results ...
Fiberglass / carbon fiber = low initial tooling costs for LOW volume production but high per-unit labour costs. Attempting to scale up the production rate results in skyrocketing costs because of the number of molds of each part that are needed.
Stamped steel = high initial cost but extremely low per-unit labour cost, this is why this process works for high-volume manufacturing.
Don't get me wrong, carbon-fiber and fiberglass composites are fantastic for low-volume production, but don't make the assumption that the process can easily be scaled up.
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gorr 5:13PM (2/09/2009)
I said that i want a carbon-fibers light sport car for cheap, so get out the way.
Rick 2:31PM (2/09/2009)
That car would look so much better without that rear wheel blocking panel. I'll never understand those adn why care companies try to force that on us.
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Chris M 2:33AM (2/10/2009)
It reduces aerodynamic drag, and some think it looks neat. Of course, it could present a problem when changing tires, and it does cover up fancy mag wheel rims.
Concept Cars 6:05AM (3/19/2009)
A city car or urban car is a small, moderately powered automobile intended for use in urban areas. It is comparable in size and features to a electric vehicle. http://www.localcarsnow.com
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