The affordable, 100mpg, carbon-composite passenger car

[BigWarpGuy]

"It might be affordable but how safe would it be?"

The affordable, 100mpg, carbon-composite passenger car

[Karl Roth]

The raw materials are at an all time high for carbon we need some Smart person to take it from co and co2.
karl

[SuperGeek]

I don't see a Tridion cell, so I'd be wary of its rollover/crush endurance.


Carbon fiber is lightweight, but how strong is it when employed in this structure? That's especially important because people compare hitting the smart to whacking a ping pong ball; hitting a carbon fiber car could be like whacking a raw egg. In which case it'd never pass US safety rules and thus never sell here.

I'm sure someone at Daimler-Benz-Smart said the same thing once.

[Belleveu1]

Since it will be made of the same basic material as the Stealth Bomber, will it be cop radar evading? Hmmmm

[Smart Enuf]

Originally Posted by Belleveu1

Since it will be made of the same basic material as the Stealth Bomber, will it be cop radar evading? Hmmmm

Doubtful. There are numerous supercars made of carbon fiber, and I haven't seen radar evasion as one of their advertised attributes (surely it would be if it were true). Besides, U.S. stealth airplanes rely on more than simply carbon fiber. They use a combination of special coatings and other RAM (radar absorbing materials), internal structures designed to absorb radar signals, and external shapes (the diamond facets, parallel and serrated edges, etc.) that reflect the radar in all directions other than back to the source.