The Lumeneo Smera and Tango electric cars both hover around 3-feet wide and 8-8.5-feet long.  Both get over 90 miles to the charge, will go over 80 miles-per-hour, and neither one can be bought on a show room floor.

The Lumeneo Smera is still a pre-production prototype that is expected to go into production in 2009.  The car is less than three-feet wide and about eight feet long. 

The wheels are powered by two 20-hp electric-motor engines and a 144-volt lithium-ion battery.  The car will reach 80 miles-per-hour and get 93 miles between charges.

This little car takes corners more like a motor cycle than a car.  It leans.  Special gears and mechanisms built in calculate the appropriate lean for the speed and angle of the turn.  No one has to figure out how to lean from the seat or worry about tipping over because the car handles everything for the driver.

The Lumeneo Smera is expected to cost between$31,000 and $46,000.

In contrast, the Tango is three inches over three feet and is eight and a half feet long.  It comes in three different models, only one of which has actually been produced, and two that are still in the design phase.

The top speed of the Tango is 120 miles-per-hour and is expected to go 40-80 miles on an alkaline-lead battery, or over 200 miles with an advanced lithium-ion battery. The advanced batteries will be a part of the T 600 package and possibly an option for the T 200 and T 100.  In any case, all three are expected to have good acceleration and speed.

All three will have air conditioning, heat and a stereo standard.  The T 600 and T 200 will both have a 400-watt stereo and leather seats.  The T 100 will have cloth seats and a 100-watt stereo.

The Tango T 600 is actually a kit car that takes less than a day to complete.  It will have two advanced DC motors, and a 2,000-amp Zilla controller.  The car has a racing-standard steel roll cage, four-point harness seat belts, a carbon-fiber body, cruise control and costs about $108,000. 

The Tango T 200 has a fiberglass body, all wheel drive with four 50-kilowatt hub motors, a 200-kilowatt AC controller, cruise control, and regenerative braking.  This version will cost about $39,900 and is still pre production.

The last model the Tango T 100 has a fiberglass body, either front or rear-wheel drive with two 50-kilowatt hub motors, a 100-kilowatt AC controller, regenerative braking and cruise control.  This is the most affordable of the three with a projected cost of $18,700 when finally produced.

Both of these cars hold the distinction of being able to fit in a motorcycle parking place and ride two to a lane since they are both so thin.  They both have room for two passengers that sit one behind the other like a fighter plane cockpit, and both have exceptional stability for their size.

The real winner of this contest, not that one exists, will be the first to produce an affordable version of these thin cars.  So far the only car that actually exists and has been on the road, is the Tango T 600. 

Of course having either of these cars under $40,000 might be considered by some to be affordable.  While the Tango promises the most affordable version of either of these vehicles with the T 100, it will be interesting to see if it is actually produced. 

The T 100 would be the car that would make an excellent car for work commutes in place of larger, bulkier, more costly vehicles.  At $18,700 it just might make a good third car for everyday driving so that the larger vehicles could be reserved only for hauling children, large loads and long trips. 

I just want to see one of these driven here on the east coast.  Why are all the really innovative cars reserved mostly for California?

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Entry was posted on Saturday, June 14th, 2008 at 9:38 pm under Auto, Green Technology.

Read more entries by Susan Wilson.
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