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Yo-Mobile

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ё-AUTO Limited
IndustryAutomotive
Founded12 April 2010
as CITY CAR Limited
Headquarters
Moscow, Russia
Number of locations
Russia, Belarus
ProductsAutomotive engineering
Industrial engineering
Power electronics
Control electronics
Automotive styling
Industrial styling
Prototyping
Divisionsё-AUTO
ё-ENGINEERING
Websiteyo-auto.com
yo-engineering.com
Yo-mobil
Overview
Manufacturerё-AUTO
Productioncancelled[1]
Body and chassis
Body styleCrossover, hatchback, truck
Powertrain
EngineGasoline or natural gas hybrid
yo-mobil coupe
yo-mobil hatchback
yo-mobil truck

The Yo-mobil (Russian: ё-мобиль, IPA: [ˈjɵ mɐˈbʲilʲ]) was a planned hybrid electric car that was going to be produced by Yo-auto, a Russian company that was a joint venture between SKD truck maker Yarovit and the ONEXIM investment group.[2][3][4]

On 7 April 2014 it was announced that the project was sold to the Russian government for €1, because "...the sharp weakening of the auto market has made it impossible to go ahead with the project, and make a profit.".[5] No production vehicles were ever produced and the project is effectively dead.

Background

The car was introduced on 13 December 2010 in Moscow, a product of a joint venture between Yarovit, owner of a small assembly plant in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Onexim investment group, headed by Mikhail Prokhorov, who is the leader and financier of the project.[2][4] Prokhorov planned to invest around €150 million (US$200 million) in a venture, dubbed Yo-auto.[2] According to Prokhorov, he intended for the vehicle to "break the stereotype saying Russia can't produce good cars."[4]

Design

The car will be powered by an engine that can burn both gasoline and natural gas setup includes a no-transmission layout and instead has a generator that feeds energy into a super capacitor that in turn powers the car’s two rear wheels.[2] Unlike other hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, the internal-combustion engine directly powers the motors rather than a battery.[2] It was planned to install a rotary vane type engine, with the pistons moving in a circle, rather than linearly.[2] However, the inventor of the engine Mikhail Virgiyanov in an open letter to the company refused to continue work on the engine and accused the company of copyright infringement.[6] Other features include a plastic body that can be recycled to make other structural components. Another feature is the ability for the vehicle to become a 20 kW power station for your house or business during a grid failure.

Fuel economy of the car is expected to be around 67 mpg‑US (3.5 L/100 km; 80 mpg‑imp), with a range of 680 miles (1,090 km) and a top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h).[2] However, no tests were conducted due to the lack of working examples.

Criticism

The project has been criticized by many[who?] Russian automotive specialists.[7] In particular the project and its designers are criticized for:

  • Overly ambitious plans for a company that has never designed or produced vehicles of any kind (Yarovit company only did SKD assembly of trucks based on large Terberg components)
  • Designing a vehicle around high-tech components most of which do not exist even as experimental machines[6]
  • Dangerously high center of gravity, making it susceptible to roll-over[8]
  • Archaic design, resembling go-carts by its body and mining equipment by the drivetrain[8]
  • Use of capacitors as power storage devices[9] which have numerous disadvantages and may become dangerous in certain circumstances[8]
  • Dynamic driving properties declared earlier may not match practicals due to power leak caused by additional electric equipment (like lights, air conditioning etc.).[8]
  • No physical safety tests results were announced yet (June 2012).

Production and sales

Yo-auto initially planned to begin producing the car during the second half of 2012,[10] and had aims to sell 10,000 during the first year of production.[2][4] However, these plans were revised in 2012, with the estimated start of production was moved to early 2015, a plan that never came to fruition.[1] While it will be initially sold in Russia, Yo-auto plans to sell the vehicle in Europe subject to compliance with European Union regulations.[4] The cars will be manufactured in a factory near St. Petersburg that will have an estimated annual capacity of 45,000 units. A second factory, to be opened later, is expected to double the annual production rate.[10] However, these plans were also revised in 2013, with the estimated total annual production rate now targeted at 40,000 units.[11] While it will be initially sold in Russia, Yo-auto plans to sell the vehicle in Europe subject to compliance with European Union regulations.[4]

In late 2011, Vietnamese company TMT and Yo-auto announced plans to develop a line of 2-8 seat cars for the Vietnam market, developed from the Yo-mobil platform.[12]

2011 concept car

2011 yo-mobil concept car

At the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, yo-Auto presented a concept yo-mobil with sliding doors. Instead of mirrors, the concept utilized a pair of video cameras for rear view vision.[13]

2013

On August 15, 2013 official website of ё-ENGINEERING has been started.

Transfer to the government

On 7 April 2014 ONEXIM announced transfer of all the Yo-Mobile technologies to the government-owned research institute NAMI (Russia) [Q2183171] for a symbolical price of 1 euro. It also announced the intention to sell Yo-Mobile Saint-Petersburg plants. ONEXIM explained the decision by weakening of Russian rouble and declining of the auto-market in Russia.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Yo Mobile, Russia's first hybrid, delayed until 2015". Autoblog.com. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Russian Billionaire Backs New Hybrid Car". The New York Times. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Yo! Russian Magnate Starts Hybrid Car Company". NPR. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Russian Billionaire Ventures Into Hybrid Cars". The Wall Street Journal. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  5. ^ "Yo-price: Russian tycoon sells hybrid car project to govt for €1". Russia Today. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  6. ^ a b http://www.professor-butakov.ru/history/view_history.php?id=1
  7. ^ http://www.autonews.ru/autobusiness/news.shtml?/2010/04/07/1541034
  8. ^ a b c d http://trv-science.ru/2011/07/05/yo-mobil-innovacii-na-marshe/
  9. ^ http://www.yo-auto.ru/innovation/nakopitel-energii/
  10. ^ a b "Russian ë-mobile hybrid car orders 10-years ahead - Prokhorov". RIA Novosti. 27 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Russia's Hybrid Yo-Mobile's Output Target Halved". RIA Novosti. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  12. ^ "TMT sẽ sản xuất lắp ráp xe hybrid sử dụng nhiên liệu sạch". TinTheThao.com. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  13. ^ On, Sgh. "New yo-Auto Concept Car at Frankfurt". mdautomobile. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  14. ^ Popov, Yegor (April 2014). "€1-мобиль". Kommersant.

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