Obvio! is a Brazilian automobile manufacturer that specializes in the production of

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often ...

s. Plans were made to sell their cars in the United States through the ZAP distribution network. The company was wound down for a while with the death of vehicle designer Anísio Campos in 2019.

Details

Obvio! vehicles are described as "high performance urban cars". The Obvio! 828 and the Obvio! 012 are

mid-engine In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

d models powered by a 1.6 L 16-valve inline 4-cylinder

Tritec engine The Tritec engine (also known as Pentagon) is a four-cylinder petrol engine that was manufactured between 1999 and 2007 by Tritec Motors in Brazil and was used in various cars including Chrysler and Mini models. Tritec Motors Ltda In 1997, Chrysl ...

producing . Versions producing or are also available.

Fuel consumption A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

is in the city or in highway. These are

flexible-fuel vehicle A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol o ...

s that run on either

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 ...

, pure

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

(

E100 E100 or E-100 may refer to: Electronics * Casio Cassiopeia E-100, a pocket of knife PC * iriver E100, a portable media player Vehicles Automobiles * Baojun E100, a Chinese electric microcar * JMEV E100, a Chinese electric city car * Toyota Co ...

), or any mix thereof. The cars are fitted with a

continuously variable transmission A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automatic transmission that can change seamlessly through a continuous range of gear ratios. This contrasts with other transmissions that provide a limited number of gear ratios in fixed steps. T ...

(CVT) that can mimic a 6-speed sequential gearbox. The chassis is designed as a series of

ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...

s (a system called "Niess Elliptical Survival Rings") to be strong yet light. The cars have one bench seat that seats three, and are fitted with

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. Th ...

s. It has McPherson suspension and

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 ...

s all around. The internal and external panels of the bodyshell are made in ABS/

PMMA PMMA may refer to: * para-Methoxymethamphetamine, a stimulant drug * Philippine Merchant Marine Academy The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy ( fil, Akademiya sa Bapor Pangkalakalan ng Pilipinas) also referred to by its acronym PMMA) is a ma ...

plastic. It uses

scissor doors Scissor doors (also called flap doors, wing doors, beetle-wing doors, turtle doors, switchblade doors, swing-up doors, upswing doors, Lamborghini doors, and Lambo doors) are automobile Vehicle door, doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge ...

and also has a

Boblbee Boblbee (also expressed as BOBLBE·E when used on their products; , ) is a corporation that began in 1997 as a think tank for research and development of sports and recreational equipment. This led to the design and manufacture of hardshell and ...

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

space integrated into the design. The 828 has a list price of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

14,000 and the 012 has a list price of US$28,000. Extras offered are

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

(hot/cold), individual seats,

power window Power windows or electric windows are automobile windows which can be raised and lowered by pressing a button or switch, as opposed to using a crank handle. History Packard had introduced hydraulic window lifts (power windows) in fall of ...

s/rear mirror/

central locking Power door locks (also known as electric door locks or central locking) allow the driver or front passenger to simultaneously lock or unlock all the doors of an automobile or truck, by pressing a button or flipping a switch. Power door locks w ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

seats and an '' iMobile Carputer''. The Obvio! 828H is

hybrid electric A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an Electric motor, electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertr ...

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 ...

that runs on a flex-fuel engines and was presented in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in November 2010.

References

Brazilian brands Car manufacturers of Brazil Electric vehicle manufacturers of Brazil {{Brazil-company-stub