Japan's Eliica Combines Electric Power with Blinding Speed
What is green, has eight wheels, two wings, doesn’t fly, and apparently is difficult to make up a joke about? That’s right, the Eliica, an electric car prototype developed by Japan’s Keio University.
The Eliica’s most notable quality is its eight wheels, each with its own electric motor and energy-regenerative disc brake system, which produce a total of 640 horsepower and a top speed of 230 miles per hour. The front four wheels steer the car, which also has two rear gullwing doors. Instead of a flux capacitor, the Eliica is powered by 80 lithium-ion batteries which can be easily charged from a residential power grid in about ten hours.
Although the future is unclear for this futuristic car, we hope to see more of this green machine as it attempts to challenge gasoline-powered speed records.
View more pictures of the Eliica in the gallery above.
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Comments
Mark in Maine
Oh, come on - I can't believe no one has offered an opinion on this thing yet . . . The only thing that comes to mind for me is the Panther 6 from the U.K. in the late 70's . . .
Jeff
This isn't all that new. There was a mini-series on one of the Discovery networks a while back that had a feature on this, along with other experimental prototypes. Do recall that despite it's goofy looks it was fast as snot.
"Just because you read the manual doesn't mean you can drive the car."
Anonymous
As stupid as I thought 8 wheels was initially, I realized one big benifit of it. It would make an amazing winter vehicle. Think of all that traction...
Bdox
Sure looks like a Citroen to me.
Johann
...gotta agree with the Citroen look-alike comment.
I like Citroen.
gary
This thing bears an uncommon resemblance to the Dymaxion, a car built in the 30's or 40's I think, by Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome. People laughed at that one, too.
Blinding speed. Battery powered. Unaffordable, of course.
Rod
This is one UGLY car. With 8 tires it would cost a fortune to keep on the road. How anyone can consider a car with 8 tires and 80 batteries and 10 hours to charge it up a GREEN car is beyond me. Where is all the energy going to come from to produce the tires, make the batteries and charge the batteries coming from, out of the thin air? Global warming is NOT real so I say DRILL BABY DRILL and give me petrol!
Steven
You may be right, Rod, global warming may be just human paranoia run a-muck. But oil is a finite resource and we need to continue research and development on the wide plethora of goofy ideas until someone finally builds us Diet Smith's 'magnetic air car' from Dick Tracey.
Rod
This is one UGLY car. With 8 tires it would cost a fortune to keep on the road. How anyone can consider a car with 8 tires and 80 batteries and 10 hours to charge it up a GREEN car is beyond me. Where is all the energy going to come from to produce the tires, make the batteries and charge the batteries coming from, out of the thin air? Global warming is NOT real so I say DRILL BABY DRILL and give me petrol!
Anti-ROD
"Global warming is NOT real so I say DRILL BABY DRILL and give me petrol!"
Yeah, but the peak oil production is past us / very near to us... So, keep it up, drill, drill... In 10 years' time, i bet you whatever you want, you'll be driving one electric car, and find the descendants of the present Eliica sexy as hell!
Time is on my side, duh! :-)
Need To Be Rid of Rod
Only a fool could claim Global Warming is not real and since I dont believe Rod is a fool, I will assume he is simply drunk or has the last name Bush.
If for no other reason than millions in CHina and India now having electricity, Global Warming must be taken seriously. Carbon based resources will run out one day so we have to get used to electric cars and most importantly, look to diesel cars in the immediate future to make best use of what oil we have left.
Witness the Audi A3, 236 ft lbs of torque and over 40 mpg, the BMW 5 series diesel and wonder again why the american auto industry is down the tubes. We need small american made cars powered by 1.6L to 2.5L 4 cylinder, DOHC, 16V Direct injected diesels made with recycled plastic parts to save weight AND RETURNING UPWARDS OF 40 MPG!!
I am going to sleep now so wake me when GM, Ford and Chrysler wake up.
pranoy
Superb Car... No doubt why it got 8 wheelz!!!
Cyd 81840
I LOVE! it. Super traction. I can't remember the race series ( Indy? ) that had a two wheeled steering entry that was banned after it blew the skin off the other cars in the turns.
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