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EV World Open Access Article |
Prototype Loremo super-sedan seats two adults and two children. To enter the car, you lift the hood and step inside. Kid's seats face the rear and are entered through hatchback.
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Loremo: Germany's Super Sedan
Interview with Uli Sommers, the creator of the super-efficient 1.5 liter Loremo 2+2 prototype
By
Bill Moore
Open Access Article Originally Published: April 18, 2006
Could I interest you in a 1.5 liter car that can comfortably transport two adults and two children at Autobahn speeds? I am.
But for us Yanks who might not know what that means other than maybe it's the size of a new Coke bottle, 1.5 liters is the amount of fuel the German-designed Loremo technology demonstrator burns to travel 100 kilometers or just over 62 miles. Translated into a more understandable number on this side of the Atlantic, that's equivalent to approximately 155 miles per gallon. We're not talking extrapolated numbers like those used to pitch plug-in hybrids; that is, of course, if its designers and engineers in Europe are correct in their calculations, because a drivable version is still in the offing.
The last time I saw a number this low coming out of the Fatherland* was VW's Two Liter experimental sports car. So, I was clearly intrigued and decided to contact the company and learn more about the project, eventually speaking with the concept's originator, Uli Sommers. Speaking in far better English than I ever would have in German, we talked about the origins of the car and its many unique features, including its lack of doors, its innovative chassis design and aerodynamic styling, as well as its diesel, mid-engine power plants. You can listen to the interview using the MP3 players at the right.
Sommers explained that the genesis of the idea for the car began "quite a few years ago" when there was lots of talk about reducing oil consumption in Europe. It was his opinion that alternative fuel vehicles would never be successful if they didn't first pay close attention to the amount of energy they used.
He saw the evolution of his car beginning first with it being as energy efficient as possible, regardless of the power plant, be it a heat engine or electric power. With a highly-efficient platform, he could then focus on eventually incorporating various alternative fuel drive systems, including batteries.
"Loremo, at first, is a body concept. What means for us is drive is a 'black box'; drive could be anything," he spoke in somewhat broken English.
"Our thinking is, we don't want to marry two risks with each other," he said. "Developing an electrical car is a risk as an enterprise and developing an efficient car is an enterprise, too. So, we go one step."
While the prototype will be powered initially by one of two small, diesel engine options, Sommer said that he can also envision an electric-power version of the car, but that will come after the concept is proven and production well underway.
He sees this as being a financially more prudent approach, noting that whereas in "former times" it might have taken many millions of dollars or Euros to design a "from-the-ground-up" electric car, with the Loremo available someday, he sees the "enterprise" to introduce an EV-version as costing a fraction of that. He plans to make the Loremo the first commercially-produced vehicle that can be converted to run on either a heat engine or on battery power, without the compromises typically associated with EV conversions of gas-engine cars to electric.
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19-Apr-2006
18831
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Just a few weeks ago James Worden,the founder and CEO of Solectria was in my office presenting his new products, Solar PV inverters, and we talked about the Sunrise. He said he still had the original prototype as well as one of the preproduction models in his garage. I think he said one of them belongs to his wife. What really shocked me was when he told me that he could sell them for $26,000 and make a profit. Just what is wrong with this picture? Why is it not in full production? We didn't have time to get into that stuff.
Posted by: larry elliott
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20-Apr-2006
18861
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Hey guys, please support our EV cause at Loremo official forum. So far they have been somewhat reluctant to say whether a glider version of Loremo will be avaibale for EV conversions or not..
They probably plan a factory veggie diesel option though, which is quite popular in Germany where infrustructure is growing..
Thanks
http://www.loremo.com/forum/forum.php
There are several threads on Loremo EV/glider but you can start a new one, right :@ )
Posted by: Tono Stano
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20-Apr-2006
18913
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Bill and all, I agree the hybrid drive system is the way to get to full electric when practical but the vehicle that could do that by being light, efficient and one piece composite was the Solectria Sunrise. If only some smart automaker had caught that idea we would be far ahead. Then they could have all versions from gas, to biofuels ,hybrid and electric.
I also wish a company would keep the vehicle the same each year and just make real new models with improved drive systems. A little like the VW bug, no big body changes, small real changes. The cost would be very low.
Posted by: jim stACk
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20-Apr-2006
18914
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that forum is all in german, I have to use an altavista translation on each item to read it in my english. I didn't see any language options for other areas.
Posted by: jim stACk
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20-Apr-2006
18928
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I think the Loremo forum is rather bilingual. You can post in English and will be understood and replied in English..
Posted by: Tono Stano
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20-Apr-2006
18966
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The car was way to small for me. If I could go back i wo
Posted by: Billy BOB
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22-Apr-2006
19237
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I am in munich
-nearly a half century-
I heared about loremo some years ago-
I wish them the best !
Karl
www.m-gesundheit.de
Posted by: karl weippert
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22-Apr-2006
19266
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Very good. But the car should not restrict itself to bio-diesel fuel alone. With this kind of efficiency, renewable fuels such as hydrogen and biomass-derived syngas will become practical with even smaller tanks and reduced filling time, and at cost even less than today's car running on gasoline. GAseous fuels can be produced much quicker and cheaper and using much less energy than liquid fuels such as ethanol or biodiesel. The drawbacks of renewable gaseous fuels such as hydrogen and methane have been 1/3 the energy density as gasoline, and longer filling time, and more expensive per unit BTU's than gasoline, but having a car 3-5 times more efficient than current gasoline cars will neutralize these drawbacks. Fueling infrastructure with methane or hydrogen? Honda is selling home fueling station for natural gas cars. A FFV capable of running on either methane, hydrogen, or gasoline will have the problem solved. Fueling up at home with in-house gas line 90% of the time for in-town trips, or a local station equipped with natural gas filling equipment, and save a lot of money. Occasional out-of-town trips can be managed by a strapped on or built-in gasoline fuel-tank. For the Loremo with 150 mpg or the Prius III with 94 mpg, a gasoline tank of 3-5 gallons is equivalent to a 15-gallon tank in a 30-mpg car, so,not much internal space will be needed. Running gasoline and hydrogen simultaneously from both tanks, and one can realize boost in energy efficiency of up to 30-40% in comparison to gasoline alone. Not a bad deal for the extra complication of a FFV, ain't it?
Posted by: Roger Pham
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22-Apr-2006
19268
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100 kilograms is 220 pounds, not 267.
Posted by: Ben Wheeler
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19-Apr-2006
18736
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The Solectria Sunrise was just as inovative and efficient and all electric. It was light weight composite one piece chassis body. It could go over 300 miles on a charge.
To bad the big auto companies didn't realize how great that would have been. I'd love to see at least one manufacturer really give us new choices in transportation. Diversifying is smart for investing and also for big business.
http://www.acterra.org/ev/archive/Sunrise_crash.html
The Sunrise, a full-size, 4-passenger sedan, grabbed headlines around the world this spring by traveling 238 miles on a single charge in the 1995 American Tour de Sol electric vehicle road rally in New England. Last month, it was announced that Project Sunrise had received notice of a grant totaling $6.5M from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program. The Northeast Alternative Vehicle Consortium, which coordinated the funding proposal and was named as the project administrator, indicated that the funding "will hasten technology development, enabling EV (electric vehicle) commercialization ... and pave the way for a robust new U.S. automobile industry."
Posted by: jim stACk
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19-Apr-2006
18779
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Jim... the difference here is this car would appear doable without having to wait for batteries, and when affordable batteries do debut, this is an ideal 4-place platform for conversion, as Uli points out.
I drove the Sunrise and it was great 4-place EV... it was just ahead of its time.
Posted by: Bill Moore
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10-Jun-2008
62162
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I love the idea of the Loremo because I believe the infrastructure is already in place for it to drive on to our roads to day. It’s cheaper than the other alternatives by a long way, which means it’s in the budget of many people. It also uses a piston engine making it easier for production and regular mechanics will be able to fix the conventional engine. It uses a fuel that is readily available at stations and the car is suitable for long distance traveling. I like what was said about the car being simple. This will no drought mean less hassle and longer expectancy from the engine. The idea of converting the Loremo to electrical makes me a believer of this car, because primarily it’s a car of design, I always believe brilliance lies in design. The Loremo is set to make an impact because it can be produced in the millions. I know everyone wants an electrical car but if we needed millions of batteries in one year for our cars is it even possible to keep up with such a demand. I know in my country the electricity crisis hardly lets us leave our greasers on never mind an entire population plugging all there cars in at once and start having baths and making dinner. I think that’s enough draw to blow any countries power stations upJ The Hydrogen fuel cell is very expensive it cannot be afforded by even a middle class. Also the expectancy of the Hydrogen fuel cell in 10 years and it needs extremely large tanks, which don’t take it that far. Hydrogen fuel cells need to still come a long way before they up to standards.
Posted by: Tyrell John
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23-May-2008
61844
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Jim while the Solectra just won the recent contets on distance on a charge 362 miles the Loremo is estimated to get 155 miles per gallon. Your argument is comparing a tankful (charge) for the electric car vs only 1 gallon for the diesel. You want apples to apples find out how far the Loremo ghoes on a tank or find out how many gallons the electric comparison on the charge is.
Posted by: Dave Horchak
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