New Mindset: ready to go

From the front it's reminiscent of a '55 Karmann Ghia. The asymmetric rear coach- and glasswork looks like one of those Toyota Sera gullwing coupes converted for use as a hearse. It reprises the front bench seat. The rear seat looks like a booth from the Cosmopolitan cafe. And the whole thing sits atop wheels nicked from a mountain bike shop.

And yet, it works, aesthetically and operationally. What you see here is a fully working prototype.

It's called the Mindset, and it's the work of a Swiss outfit called Mindset. Apposite, for it's the result of a meeting of a formidable set of minds from the European auto industry. People like former Bertone design head David Wilkie, former VW head of design Murat Gunak and a French engineering firm called Heuliez whose resume includes brand-approved electric versions of Peugeot's 106 and Citroen's AX and Saxo.

The Mindset is set up to become available in two forms. The basic one has a 70kW electric motor powered by a 300 volt, 20kWh lithium-ion phosphor battery pack. Putting 220Nm of torque through the front wheels from the moment of takeoff, that's enough to heft its 900kg mass to 100km/h in under seven seconds, the company claims, and on to a governed top speed of 140km/h.

A charge of 1-5 hours delivers a range of 100-200km. Unless you opt for the extended-range version, which supplements the electric motor with a 250cc petrol engine to keep the battery charged. In which case, you'll get over 800km, while emitting only 79g/km of CO2.

The 22-inch rims are tall enough to keep the car comfortably off the ground for the purposes of easy entry and exit; they're narrow to reduce rolling resistance, road noise and drag. The rear ones are the clearest evidence of the project's capital-D design consciousness, with external mudguards and exposed multilink components there purely for their stand-out aesthetics.

On the design front, Wilkie has told press that front-end homage to the Karmann Ghia -- right down to the distinctive air vents by the headlamps -- is no accident either.

Thanks to some thoroughly 21st century fluid dynamics work on the front end and smooth underside, the company estimates a Cd of around 0.28, which puts it in Prius/Insight territory.

Keen observers of the press pics have noticed something odd beneath the dash: it's not usual for EVs to have a third pedal, running as they do on single-speed or CV transmissions. It's more evidence of that designer cleverness -- a brake pedal connected not to the normal brakes but to the car's energy regeneration systems. The aim is to inure drivers to using the regenerative systems as much as possible, thereby extracting all the energy regeneration one can from the car's momentum. Apparently you can get good enough at this to render the conventional brakes all but redundant save for emergencies.

Mindset is still working on the funding, but if all goes according to plan, Europeans will be able to get one as early as Q1 2011. Price: they're saying about 35,000 Euros.

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