Concept Car : Rinspeed eXasis

Flying cars, cars that swim - and now a mirage of a car? Switzerland ’s Rinspeed is at it again, this time bowing with a concept called eXasis that will be shown off at the 2007 Geneva motor show.

Working with Swiss engineering company Esoro, Rinspeed has sketched out the eXasis, it reminds us, 40 years after an all-plastic car was shown in Germany . The concept celebrates 30 years of business for the Swiss coachbuilder. Ahead of the Geneva show, Rinspeed has released more details and images of the new concept.
Rinspeed specializes in off-the-wall concepts made to publicize its coachbuilding efforts. The 2004 Rinspeed Splash concept, for example, is an amphibious concept that ran the English Channel in record time and attracted interest as a new way to cut across Londontraffic.
The latest eXasis concept sports a transparent plastic body that Rinspeed likens to a 3-D effect. The plastic is tinted yellow, from its windshield down to its floorpan. The body has elements of classic racers, like a cigar-shaped body and fore-and-aft seating, along with open wheels.
The eXasis sports a supercharged 150-hp, two-cylinder engine that runs on bioethanol. And since it weighs about 1650 pounds, Rinspeed says the concept could have Porsche-like acceleration.
The two-seater has specially developed Recaro seats that are formed around plastic ribs - twelve, the same number as in the human body.
Find out more about the Rinspeed eXasis at
http://www.rinspeed.com/

Concept Car : Infiniti Essence

Infiniti Essence is a concept which designed to celebrates 20 year existence of the brand. Infiniti Essence concept has been premiered in Geneva Motor Show and features rear-wheel drive coupe, two-seater, and a front engine.

While powered by a hybrid system, Infiniti Essence concept may develops 600PS (592bhp). Infiniti Essence also features 3.7-litre V6 gasoline engine that develops 440PS (434bhp) as it has been fitted with twin turbochargers.

Infiniti Essence also showcases a new type of electric motor, called a 3D Motor, that takes the power output up by 160PS (158bhp). The electric motor is particularly slim, disc-shaped and offers twice the torque of a conventional unit.

"OLED-clad car " German engineers

'Leccy Tech With the Geneva Motor Show on the horizon, German engineering services provider EDAG has released a preview of what it hopes will be one of the stars of the 2009 Swiss auto gathering: the “Light Car – Open Source”, a concept it is describing as “visionary and courageous”.

The LC-OS consists of a rolling chassis that can be adapted to a number of styles and roles by using different body panels. Drive will be provided by four in-wheel electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery pack which give the vehicle a range or around 150km (90-odd miles).

far so good, but now things start to get a bit sci-fi.

To begin with, the LC-OS's body panels will be made from something called basalt-fibre made by Austrian company ASA.TEC.

Rather being made of chunks of the Giant's Causeway, basalt fibre is made up of the minerals plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine – none of which we had actually heard of before today - and while similar in usage to carbon fibre and fibreglass, it's tougher than the latter and cheaper than the former. It is also fully recyclable and has a specific tenacity three times that of steel. At least that's what is says here.

The basalt-fibre body panels will apparently be transparent giving the car the appearance of being made of glass - so bad news for anyone who likes to drive while nude – although EDAG's announcement is a little contradictory on this point.

Some or all of the outer and inner bodywork will be used as a giant OLED screen which can portray lights and instruments as, when and where the driver wants, in effect turning the entire car into a computer desktop - well, sort of.

"We have transferred today's multimedia and lighting technology standards to the car, and in future want to offer the customer scope for free configuration, as the entire surface of the vehicle functions like the display of a multimedia installation, and can be used intelligently and individually,” said Johannes Barckmann, head of the EDAG Design Studio.

Uses for this include a graduated display of the LC-OS' braking force on a whole tailgate screen “brake light”, which could be helpful for those driving behind an LC-OS once they have got over the shock - or for posting rude messages to other motorists.
Before you ask, we should point out that the company's use of the term 'open source' isn't quite how we all understand it. This is no come one, come all collaborative design project - EDAG's simply approaching other firms to help it work on the tech.
The LC-OS will be 4m long, 1.7m wide, and thanks those neat in-wheel motors will have a 2.9m wheel base giving ample space for five passengers.
Come the opening of the Geneva show on 5 March, we will have more of an idea as to how much of EDAG's plans are based on hard engineering and how much on their design department smokin' and a-tokin' late one night

Assystem City Car 2008 Geneva Motor Show

This is an odd car according to the manufacturer it has special software which will reproduce the external environment on a windescreen screen.


It has to be said, the City-Car does look like a bumper car. Don’t you just want to get in and hit something?




It also has a system of augmented relaity that offers a more visible display of information that is suppose to aid the driver