Sunday, January 17, 2010
Since NAIAS hates The Car Blog and wouldn't let us into the Press Preview (more on that later), we were forced to go to the public show and give you guys horrible coverage. Even at that, going to the Detroit show is never a bad thing (going to Detroit in general is another matter), and the authors of The Car Blog definitely had some fun hunting down Mustang "experts" who ended up being models who couldn't tell us anything about the 5.0 and almost crashing electric cars in the Electric Xperience section, even though we weren't even in the cars at the time. Okay, maybe that second part was made up, but all in all our bloggers acted like excited kids for most of the show.
Now to the subject of this post. CT&T, a Korean electric car (car used as a general term here, folks. Most of their models are glorified golf carts) manufacturer that has been pretty much neglected by the general press, came to Detroit as part of the "Electric Avenue", which included things as varied as aforementioned golf carts to the Commuter Cars 850HP Tango to an Automotive X-prize contender dressed up in a Shelby Daytona body. Not many people were watching this company, as they hadn't exceeded expectations in the past, to say the least. But this company brought with them a giant display with a full three debuts, more than most major manufacturers, and their entire current range dressed up for different situations, including an e-ZONE microcar in full police garb.
One of the models CT&T debuted was their new CT&T Multi Amphibious Vehicle, which they will hopefully rename in light of America's literacy rate. This car seems like a disaster waiting to happen when you read about it. It's an all-electric, six-wheeled amphibious vehicle with no roof or doors, which presents many technology and safety issues. First and foremost, this car must be very well-built to ensure that passengers aren't electrocuted in the water or anyone who buys one will see their life insurance rate triple. Second of all, this thing could never be road-legal in the US. It has no shoulder belts, no roof, little side structure, and an inches-high windshield. Because of this, CT&T might as well simply make an all-electric boat since there's no point in having a car-boat that is only legal as a boat. Yet again, people in Beverly Hills don't buy Ferraris to race them, they buy them to say "Hey, I have something you don't!" We'll have to see if any of CT&T's other models can make it in the US, but definitely don't expect this one to. Even if by some miracle it passes regulations, who will buy one? Who ever bought the Corvette-based Ram-faced WaterCar Python or the Hydra Spyder?
