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 – At its launch earlier this year, it was described as “the most innovative and technologically advanced car ever produced in Australia . . .” Without any doubt, the pundits were right. Equally without any doubt, the aXcessaustralia Concept Car will never roll off the production line. By ROSS TESTER Love it or hate it, you cannot ignore the aXcessaustralia concept car. Nor can you ignore the amazing range of Aussie ingenuity and expertise which has gone into making this dream a reality! 4  Silicon Chip Australia’s Concept Car That’s because the aXcessaustralia Concept Car is just that, a concept. It demonstrates what could be the future of motor vehicles given the right economic, political and industrial conditions – and showcases more than 140 Australian component companies and service suppliers. In other words, the aXcess­a ustralia Concept Car is more a component showroom on wheels than the family car of the future; a showroom for the ideas and innovations which Australian components companies can produce right now. They’re hoping that the big car makers will be impressed and will sign some lucrative contracts. That’s one of the things that makes this concept unique – it didn’t come from the drawing boards of General Motors or Ford (or any of their global affiliates or com- Great car –ll but you wiit never buy petitors), as virtually all new vehicles currently do. The aXcessaustralia Concept Car was designed and built by the component companies themselves as a means of showcasing the industry’s capabilities to the world. And it has been done at a cost the major manufacturers simply wouldn’t believe: around $13 million worth of goods, services and expertise supplied by those 140+ companies. By contrast, a major car manufacturer would have a budget ten times that amount to get to concept car stage! Designed and co-ordinated by specialists Millard Design Australia, from original concept to finished concept car (if you’ll pardon the pun) took just twelve months. That is some achievement! We will have a look at just some of the features of the aXcessaustralia Concept Car which make it so unusual; not just the electronics, though there is a huge variety included, but also the car body, chassis and power plant, all of which are purpose designed and built. Body construction The most striking feature of the car – love it or hate it – is the body. It’s quite unlike anything you’ve seen before. The X-shaped frame is actually on the outside of the car and is a single piece carbon fibre construction. Weighing a tiny 69kg but incredibly strong, the frame is attached to a precision metal chassis by a series of bolts and adhesive at key points. A revolutionary riveting system was used in the chassis, eliminating the need for spot-welding. The rivet makes its own hole and fastens in one neat operation. The 2mm thick carbon-fibre body panels and doors are also mounted on the X-frame. Each of the panels is one piece, making removal and replacement easy if required. There are no bumper bars as such but bonded twopiece moulded front and rear bumper reinforcement beams are included. One noticeable feature is the lack of a “B-Pillar” – the vertical pillar between the front and rear doors. Instead, the “clamshell” power doors are mounted on the front and rear of the May 1998  5 frame and close on themselves, interlocking as they do. The single-hinged doors are all operated by electric linear motors which also engage the locking mechanisms. As a safety measure, the rear doors cannot be opened until the front doors are slight­ly ajar. Keys are not required to open or lock the doors: they are activated from the outside by touch pads and by voice commands or fingertip controls on the inside. In fact, keys are not required at all – but more of that anon. While the door windows are made from conventional toughened safety glass, the front and rear windscreens and roof panels are made from Lexan Polycarbonate, protected from UV light, abrasion and chemicals by a flow-coated layer of silicone hardcoat. Not only do these reduce weight by 40%, they give a high resistance to forced entry or impact. Still outside the car, solar panels in the roof generate enough electricity to power an air extractor fan, keeping the car cool while parked in the sun. The mirrors also bear special mention because they are much more than mirrors! They incorporate a signal lamp, temperature sensor and the antenna for the passive entry system. The drive-train The engine chosen for the concept car is a supercharged, 2.3-litre twostroke inline six, made by the Orbital Engine Corporation. It’s only about three quarters the weight of a conven- No less than five prototype mock-ups were made during the design stage but despite this, the whole project took less than a year to complete. While this photo shows the traditional method of clay modelling for aXcessaustralia, extensive use was also made of computer modelling and design. tional (four-stroke) 6-cylinder engine. The block is aluminium while the bore is nickel-silicon carbide to give high wear resistance. It’s a small engine but delivers peak power of 160kW and 250Nm of torque. Unlike conventional two-stroke engines, it uses a wet sump lubrication system (similar to four-strokes). With a view to export, it meets the strict 1998 California ULEV emission requirements. The engine mates with a fully computer-controlled and programmable “intelligent” four-speed automatic transmission. Gear selection can be made by voice control or by the “Touchtronic” control system, allowing manual operation. In normal operation, a computer selects the appropriate gear depending on the driving style. And in case you forget, the handbrake is automatically applied when you place the transmission in “park”. A specially designed lightweight aluminium propellor shaft and fluid-coupled limited slip differential complete the power train. Suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres have all been specially selected or designed for the concept car using advanced components. The large 18x8 magnesium alloy wheels, for example, were directly cast from the original computer design. Incidentally, the anti-lock brakes feature their own microprocessor ECU module with self-diagnosis and a “limp home” mode – a feature previously found in EFI systems but certainly not in braking systems! Estimated top speed of the concept car is close to 240km/h. Interior features This impression of the interior of the car (with the frame and roof panels removed for clarity) was drawn by the car's interior designer, Yan Hong Huang. Everywhere you look, aXcessaustralia represents the very latest in design and technology. 6  Silicon Chip Even if the outside appearance hadn’t fazed you, your first glance inside would convince you this is no ordinary car! From the revolutionary instrument pod to the entertainment modules in the rear, the concept car has everything in electronics that one could wish for with an open order The highly innovative instrument pod is designed to mount on the steering column rather than a “dashboard”. This makes it an easy switch to left-handdrive – again, keeping the concept car’s main purpose of a showcase for the world market. All switches are finger-tip operated membrane types. book and Australia’s best suppliers. Let’s look at that instrument pod first. Mounted on the steering column (making it suitable for left or right hand drive), it is less than 60mm thick and weighs less than 1kg, yet incorporates all the controls and instruments usually found on the dash and steering column combined. The gauges and speedo use ultra thin stepper motors while a liquid crystal display shows distance travelled (odometer) and current gear engaged. A single LED and light ducting provides illumination to all pointers. You can even have your choice of illumination colour, thanks to bi-colour LEDs. All conventional switches have been replaced by membrane (touch pad) controls within easy fingertip reach of the driver, hands never having to leave the wheel. Turn indicators, light switches, windscreen wipers (though both headlamp and wipers can be set to automatic operation) and even the dimming for the display are immediately accessible. Many of the controls can also be voice-activated. Also integrated into the instrument cluster is another innovation, the hazard warning system. A pulsing LED and audible warning is activated when the vehicle approaches a range of hazards – emergency vehicles, rail crossings, even accident black spots where safety transmitters have been installed. To keep back-seat passengers amused, there’s an entertainment centre housed in an automatic-opening rear seat centre console with such goodies as a Sony Playstation and video payer, connected to colour monitors set into the rear of each front seat. Naturally, there’s also a complete audio system for the driver/front passenger too, much of it operated by voice control. Voice activation We’ve mentioned that voice control a few times. Developed by Robert Bosch Australia, the system recog- nises up to 40 commands which not only activate those items already mentioned but will also set individual driver and passenger temperature controls, open and close the doors, dial the telephone, and even start and stop the engine! The system also has the capability of giving speech warnings and information such as open doors or headlights left on, vehicle diagnostics, road alerts and navigation information. Navigation information? Of course, the vehicle is fitted with GPS navigation. Another nice feature (albeit also already found on some high price cars) is the memory keycard system where the car “remembers” a driver’s personal information – seat and mirror positions, entertainment centre settings and so on. There is a lot more to the aXcess­ australia car than we can cover here. However, it does have its own web site (www.axcessaustralia.accp.net.au) for more information. If you want to see the vehicle “in the flesh”, unfortunately you’re too late, at least for the present. Since its release in February it has travelled to the US, appeared at the Melbourne Motor Show and the Australian Grand Prix and most recently left for a tour through south-east Asia, commencing with the Automechanika Asia show in Singapore in late April. The web site will probably give you the best idea of when aXcessaustralia is coming “home”. SC Never again would Dad get “Are we there yet?” from the back seat! Not with individual Sony Playstations, video player and full entertainment system to choose from. Individual colour monitors are fitted to the rear of the front seats with the entertainment system mounted between the rear seats. May 1998  7