Avera Motors releases high-efficiency car teaser
Florida’s Avera Motors has announced plans for a new high-efficiency vehicle as well as released a teaser of the upcoming car that gives 60 miles to a gallon (of petrol).
It seems nowadays, that a new super efficient electric vehicle is announced almost every month and so this month ought to be no different. Well it is and isn’t . . . the latest is from Florida’s Avera Motors, which has announced plans for a new high-efficiency vehicle as well as released a teaser of the upcoming car. The only difference? This is not an EV.
Avera has been extremely tight-lipped about its project, maintaining secrets that even Julian Assange would love to know. We know that Avera chief executive R.J. Scaringe has assembled a team of engineers who have worked on projects like the Ford GT, Dodge Viper and Koenigsegg CCX and that the company was planning to build a new take on the efficient automobile, but beyond that, it was anyone’s guess.
Photo: Avera Motors
But now, finally, a few details are emerging about this ultra efficient concept. From the teaser image, all we can gather is that the new vehicle will likely feature a hatchback bodystyle and a standard wheel-at-each-corner design.
The four-seat, rear-wheel-drive car is expected to get more than 60 miles per gallon, even though it has a conventional gasoline engine. That model could debut as early as 2012. Avera Motors says that its first offering will cost somewhere around $25,000.
“You look at the vehicle and the way we build vehicles, and it’s a process that we’ve been using for quite some time,” Scaringe told Autoblog. “What we’re doing here is basically rethinking the entire process so that you can dramatically reduce the amount of capital required.”
Scaringe says that his group of engineers have endeavoured to redesign the typical manufacturing facility to suit the needs of Avera exclusively and to keep the initial investment in the project as low as possible. Avera’s theory is that doing so will allow the company to produce a high-quality, low-cost vehicle.
Avera boasts that its new prototype will feature supercar-like handling, aggressive looks, an affordable price tag, and EV-beating efficiency. (The shape presented in the photo release and rumors in the blogosphere suggest it most resembles the new Honda CR-Z hybrid.)
An important practical part of this theory is the lightweight aluminum space frame. Scaringe said that his engineers have reexamined the entire vehicle system in order to find ways to lose bulk and reduce costs. Avera hasn’t released any specs of the vehicle so we don’t yet know how much the car would end up weighing.
The company says that it will unveil a preproduction fleet in 2012 with full-scale production beginning in early 2013.