When you think about places where the vehicles of the future are being innovated, the first location that comes to mind probably isn’t Spokane, Washington. But that’s exactly where the EnergyRushTV video journalism crew went this summer. We’d been hearing about the “Tango” and its unique size, shape and power. Then we heard George Clooney had purchased one, so we just had to check it out.

When you first arrive at the facility where the Tangos are made, it’s not terribly impressive. In fact, it’s a little hard to find even though it’s on a main boulevard in the east part of the city. Part of the reason the facility is small and low-key is simple. They’re making these cars one at a time. This makes the cost prohibitively high for the time being (which is evidently not a problem for Clooney). When the company gets fully funded, they’ll presumably be able to make the cars assembly-line style, at which point the price will be reduced drastically.

The creator of the Tango and also the head of the company, Commuter Cars, is Rick Woodbury. The vice president is Rick’s son, Bryan. Like we said, this company is small. We got to spend several hours with Rick and videotaped the shop and the process of building these cool little vehicles. We also got to go for some hair-raising rides in them, but more on that later.

What is it about the Tango that differentiates it from other electric cars? First of all, it’s only 39 inches wide. That’s a thinner girth than a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. So two Tangos can easily drive side by side in a single lane of traffic. The driver sits up front and the passenger sits directly behind. Another advantage of the Tango: Instead of having to park parallel to a curb like regular cars, this thing can be parked perpendicular to the curb. We have video to prove it!

Rick got the first inkling of an idea for the Tango many years ago while sitting in a traffic jam on a freeway in Los Angeles. “I looked around and realized all these cars taking up all this space,” he told us. “And they each had just one person in them. And I thought about how ridiculous that is!” But instead of just stewing about it, Rick decided to do something about it. And the idea of the Tango was born.

We know what you’re thinking. A car that skinny must be top-heavy and unstable on the road. That’s what we thought. To prove that theory wrong, Woodbury took our cameraman for a ride. The first thing he noticed was that this vehicle is fast. There’s a potent electric motor powering each of the four wheels, and the Tango is actually faster than almost any car out there. Then came the cornering. Our cameraman’s first thought as Rick approached a turn at a high rate of speed was, “We’re never going to make it. This thing will tip over!” But the Tango zipped around the corners like a Corvette.

How can that be when the laws of physics would indicate otherwise? Easy: There are 2,000 pounds of lithium-ion batteries underneath the floorboard of the car, which act as literally a ton of ballast to keep the car flat on the road in quick, sharp turns.

Another thing we noticed while zipping around the city in Tangos is that they really do get noticed. Pedestrians will literally stop in their tracks, jaws agape and pointing it out to their companions as the Tango cruises by. And when it’s parked downtown, crowds of curious onlookers quickly gather to get a closer look.

Our day with the ultra cool Tango in Spokane finally came to an end. We’re hoping to be able to see lots of Tangos out on the roads someday, helping to ease congestion and leave a smaller carbon footprint. We’re also thinking that with its great handling and incredible speed, George Clooney will be able to outrace any paparazzi in his very own Tango.

Stay tuned for more reports as the EnergyRushTV team roams the earth in search of stories.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 7:23 pm and is filed under Production Logs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.