The Eliica (or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car) is a

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

first shown in 2004 and designed by a team at

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu. The car runs on a

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

and can accelerate from 0– in four seconds (faster than the Porsche 911 Turbo at the time). In 2004, the Eliica reached a speed of on Italy's Nardò High Speed Track. The team's goal is to exceed , breaking the record set by today's street-legal

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

-powered vehicles. Shimizu's new project is called "SIM-Drive" (シムドライブ), with wheel hub motors.

KAZ

The Eliica is a refinement of the earlier KAZ (Keio Advanced Zero-emission vehicle), a limousine-sized 8-wheel 8-person electric vehicle prototype of 2003 that also set speed records.

Design details

The Eliica weighs and seats the driver and three passengers. The body was tested in a

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like

gull wings The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorporat ...

. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make up one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging at 100 volts from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off a residential power grid. The car has eight

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

s to improve traction, and they are smaller than normal passenger vehicles, so it can be lower to the ground for better aerodynamics and stability. Each of the wheels has a

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

, giving a eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 ''g''. Each wheel contains a

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...

and employs a regenerative brake system to recover energy. There are currently (as of 2005) two versions of the Eliica: a ''Speed model'' and an ''Acceleration model''. The Speed model is made to challenge gasoline-based records and has a top speed of with a range of . The Acceleration model is made for the street and has a top speed of with a range of . The estimated cost of development was in excess of . Once the team receives corporate sponsorship, they plan to produce at least 200 units. As of early 2007, the projected price was (about ). On December 19, 2005, then-

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Junichiro Koizumi tested this vehicle in a 10-minute ride to the Japanese Parliament. In 2006, the car was tested by Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, as well as by

Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

* OctoAuto * 1925 8-wheel car ''Liborio E. Rivas of Santa Rita, New Mexico patented it in April 1925 * "Spider-Car" ''an experimental vehicle, produced by Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Company, appeared in 1929 in San Francisco; rebuild 1927 Marmon'' Limousine * I.D.E.A KAZ ''2001 luxury limousine concept; Each of the KAZ’s 8 wheels is powered by its own electric motor, 6 of which are involved in steering.'' DIY * 8-wheeled 1977 Cadillac Eldorado (chassis number 6L47S7Q306322) ''built from 1980s-1999, V8 engine, four front wheels are for steering'' * 8-wheeled Corvette ''finished in 2010 *8 Wheel 1989 Isuzu Pickup - Triple Play ''built from 2005-08 by Steve Francis of Montgomery, Texas; V8 engine, zero ground clearance'' Truckin Magazin
"If Godzilla Built An Isuzu"
May 01, 2008 ''there is also a 10 Wheel 1991 Isuzu Pickup from 2005''

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20121120025750/http://www.eliica.com/English Concept cars Electric land speed record cars Electric concept cars Automobiles with gull-wing doors Vehicles with wheel motors Eight-wheeled vehicles

KAZ

Design details

See also

Other 8-wheelers

References

External links