The Eliica (or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car) is a

supercar A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...

or an

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

first shown in 2004 and designed by a team at

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu. The car runs on a

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energ ...

and can accelerate from 0– in four seconds (faster than the Porsche 911 Turbo at the time). In 2004, the Eliica reached a speed of on Italy's Nardò High Speed Track. The team's goal is to exceed , breaking the record set by today's street-legal

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

-powered vehicles. Shimizu's new project is called "SIM-Drive" (シムドライブ), with

wheel hub motor A wheel hub motor, hub motor, or in-wheel motor is a motor that is incorporated into the Wheel#Hub, hub of the wheel. Wheel-hub motors are commonly found on electric bicycles. Electric hub motors were well received in early electric cars, but ha ...

KAZ

The Eliica is a refinement of the earlier KAZ (Keio Advanced Zero-emission vehicle), a limousine-sized 8-wheel 8-person electric vehicle prototype of 2003 that also set speed records.

Design details

The Eliica weighs and seats the driver and three passengers. The body was tested in a

wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like gull wings. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make up one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging at 100 volts from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off a residential power grid. The car has eight

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

s to improve traction, and they are smaller than normal passenger vehicles, so it can be lower to the ground for better aerodynamics and stability. Each of the wheels has a

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

, giving a eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 ''g''. Each wheel contains a

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the #Calipers, calipers to squeeze pairs of #Brake pads, pads against a disc (sometimes called a

rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

rotor) to create friction. There are two basic types of brake pad friction mechanisms: abrasive f ...

and employs a

regenerative brake Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy or potential energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. Typically, regenerati ...

system to recover energy. There are currently (as of 2005) two versions of the Eliica: a ''Speed model'' and an ''Acceleration model''. The Speed model is made to challenge gasoline-based records and has a top speed of with a range of . The Acceleration model is made for the street and has a top speed of with a range of . The estimated cost of development was in excess of . Once the team receives corporate sponsorship, they plan to produce at least 200 units. As of early 2007, the projected price was (about ). On December 19, 2005, then-

Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

tested this vehicle in a 10-minute ride to the Japanese Parliament. In 2006, the car was tested by

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the Far-right politics, radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan ...

, the governor of Tokyo, as well as by Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan.

* OctoAuto * 1925 8-wheel car ''Liborio E. Rivas of Santa Rita, New Mexico patented it in April 1925'' * "Spider-Car" ''an experimental vehicle, produced by Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Company, appeared in 1929 in San Francisco; rebuild 1927 Marmon'' Limousine * I.D.E.A KAZ ''2001 luxury limousine concept; Each of the KAZ’s 8 wheels is powered by its own electric motor, 6 of which are involved in steering.'' DIY * 8-wheeled 1977 Cadillac Eldorado (chassis number 6L47S7Q306322) ''built from 1980s-1999, V8 engine, four front wheels are for steering'' * 8-wheeled Corvette ''finished in 2010'' *8 Wheel 1989 Isuzu Pickup - Triple Play ''built from 2005-08 by Steve Francis of Montgomery, Texas; V8 engine, zero ground clearance'' Truckin Magazin
"If Godzilla Built An Isuzu"
May 01, 2008 ''there is also a 10 Wheel 1991 Isuzu Pickup from 2005''

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20121120025750/http://www.eliica.com/English Concept cars Electric land speed record cars Electric concept cars Automobiles with gull-wing doors Vehicles with wheel motors Eight-wheeled vehicles

KAZ

Design details

See also

Other 8-wheelers

References

External links