Tiny Electric Car Cost $420,000 To Build | RIDICULOUS RIDES
A MAN claims he has created a car that might solve the world’s traffic congestion problems. Rick Woodbury from Spokane, Washington USA, is the president, founder and sole employee of ‘Commuter Cars.’ The carmaker’s flagship model is the 2005 super slim two-seater Tango T600, a high-performance electric car that preceded Tesla. Rick told Ridiculous Rides: “I started this company 21 years ago – it was based on an idea that I came up with in 1982.” He was inspired by the shocking traffic congestion he had to face on a daily basis.
Transcript
00:00 The coolest feature to me is that it can get through traffic faster than any car in history.
00:06 We get so many reactions from people watching it, it's amazing.
00:10 Hi, I'm Rick Woodbury.
00:13 I'm president and founder of Commuter Cars.
00:17 I started this company 21 years ago.
00:22 It was based on an idea that I came up with in 1982.
00:32 I used to drive a Porsche from Beverly Hills to Hummus Beach every day and the traffic
00:36 was horrendous.
00:37 And I noticed that everybody around me was a single occupant in a car, taking up a whole
00:42 lane.
00:43 So I thought, everybody wants to get from point A to point B efficiently.
00:47 And in cities like Los Angeles, there's really no center, there's no hub, it's just everybody
00:51 goes everywhere.
00:54 I don't think there's any other answer except doubling lane capacity.
00:57 This is the Tango Car, a super slim electric vehicle that has created Rick's answer to
01:01 congested city driving.
01:02 The coolest feature to me is that it can get through traffic faster than any car in history.
01:07 Same width as a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
01:10 You just come up to a stoplight, but instead of waiting in line behind all the other cars,
01:15 you just go right up the line in between and you filter.
01:19 On the inside, well, it's very comfortable.
01:21 You're right in the center of the car.
01:23 You're on the driver's side on both sides.
01:26 So it's very convenient.
01:27 Look out either window, you've got better visibility, you can see exactly what's happening
01:31 around you.
01:32 You've got better visibility than any car I've ever had.
01:34 You can fit two people.
01:36 This has a Momo steering wheel.
01:38 This is actually used by race cars, the Motec Dash.
01:41 Four-point shoulder harness.
01:42 The pilots of commercial aircraft use these exact harnesses.
01:46 With a comfortable and easy to drive interior, what is it like to drive a car like this?
01:51 It handles really well.
01:53 We know it has a super low center of gravity, being that it has a dry sump engine that's
01:58 opposed, so it's got a lower center of gravity than just about any other car.
02:02 I've had it up to 120 miles an hour, so the length is 102 inches, the same width of a
02:08 semi truck, so it can park perpendicular to the curb.
02:16 This is the chassis, and this is the roll cage that is certified by FIA for a 200 mile
02:23 an hour race car.
02:24 There's about four times more impact protection here than there is in a standard production
02:29 car.
02:30 To me, this car is safer than any other car on the road, because it can avoid accidents
02:33 better than any other car.
02:34 This has the same rollover threshold as a 911 Porsche.
02:37 It turns instantly, unlike a motorcycle, which has to countersteer before it can turn to
02:41 avoid a collision.
02:43 The Tango debuted in 2005, and after actor George Clooney bought one, the car became
02:48 a runaway success.
02:51 Due to the nature of the build, the company can only produce a certain amount.
02:55 It took ten employees about three years to get nine and a half cars built, and this is
03:00 number ten.
03:01 It's been quite a few more years, but also it's a lot more complicated.
03:05 We've spent a couple of years just developing the new lithium pack for this one, but there
03:10 have been constant upgrades over the years just to get the lithium batteries and the
03:14 management systems to handle them.
03:18 This is the car that we sold to a customer in Perth, Australia, and it's in the process
03:25 of assembly, but mostly it's waiting on completion of the battery pack.
03:29 The battery box is here.
03:31 This whole bottom of the car is battery.
03:33 There's 90 kilowatt hours of battery in there, which will give us about 300 miles of range.
03:39 With all the work needed to create these slender vehicles, the production costs can't be that
03:43 cheap.
03:44 These cars have cost an average of $420,000 each to build.
03:48 And unsurprisingly, out on the road, this car gets a lot of attention.
03:51 Hi, sure, of course.
03:54 Thank you.
03:55 Yeah.
03:56 This is so cool that you got this done.
03:59 I'm so impressed with you.
04:02 I mean, that's an amazing thing.
04:04 We get so many reactions from people watching it.
04:06 It's amazing.
04:07 We have two people, both the driver and a passenger, both photographing the car as we're
04:11 going down the highway.
04:12 It grabs a lot of attention.
04:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]