Remember that time that our west coast celebrity-blogging sibling Defamer got some news on George Clooney's electric car, and we were all like "Defamer got some car news before us, wow." And then remember we were like, totally jealous and stuff? Hell, even big brother/sister/poppa/momma bear Gawker was impressed. "Who are they to be stalkin' our man!" we remember them cryin' while strikin' their best baby-momma pose. Yeah, that was totally an awesome night. But this is more awesome...
because we've got more news on the super-narrow electric car called the Tango T600. And we've got it before Defamer. Nyah! Yep, Clooney's got one, because that's how he rolls. But just cause the perpetual stalkee rolls that way, don't expect we'll be writing checks just yet. We're still cynically skeptical about the Tango, despite some videographic evidence of some pretty awesome tire-smoking burnouts because, well, that's how we roll. Continue reading our in-depth analysis, or just watch the video and go back to your game of Sudoku or you know — however it is you roll.
You have to admit, the Tango can do a sweet burnout for an earth-loving hippie car. But that's about where our fascination ends. Aternative energy car builders still haven't got the cost/performance/design formula quite right, and the Tango is no exception. First, it looks dorkier than the dorkiest of dorkmobiles. And your passenger sits behind you — jump jet style — when you're not carrying any cargo. And then there's the price. It's not in production yet and the ordering page says it'll take $108,000 to get a Tango T600 (the model in the video) kit, no word on how much assembly is required. Excuse us, but we don't love mother nature that much. Try Treehugger.
Read the Commuter Cars website a little deeper, and you'll see that the claimed 0-60 time of "about 4 seconds" is totally theoretical and not yet tested. And if you've watched the video you've heard the best two quotes, one calling the Tango a "chick magnet" and the other one where creator Rick Woodbury says "crashworthiness is better than any production car that I know of." Our belief is these two quotes are themselves equally theoretical and untested.
But the really disturbing thing about the Tango is that it's only 39 inches wide. Great for parking, not so good for not rolling over. Of course the Tango people claim it's perfectly stable, and they've put the batteries under the floor to help stability. But Scotty was pretty damn clear with us; "Ye canna change the laws of physics," and 3000 pounds plus 39-inch track equals not very stable.
3000 pounds? Yes, and 1000 of those pounds are batteries. Which means without batteries the Tango weighs as much as a Lotus Elise with an engine. In other words, you could pack an Elise with an electric motor and batteries and it would probably weigh less than the Tango. And potentially cost less as well. And you would actually look cool. Best of luck to Mr. Woodbury — but we won't be lining up to dance with the Tango any time soon — Clooney be damned.
[Hat tip to Jerry]
Video - Zero Emission Entertainment [Streetfire.net]
Commuter Cars Corporation [commutercars.com]
Related:
Clooney Tangos Through Hollywood [internal]
George Clooney's Tiny Ride, Part II: Chicks Don't Care About Size [Defamer]