|
Lexus 2054 Cast as Vehicle of the Future |
|
|
Lexus 2054 Cast as Vehicle of the Future |
|
|
July 16th
2002 - ET Exclusive - Motion Captures of the Lexus 2024 TV
Commercial [[ Although the June 2002 issue of FHM magazine has the headline GASOLINE on page 150, and then dumps on the car for being "completely fake" and "just" an EV, it does reveal in the text that the concept car can actually hit 90 mph and reach 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds with its 500 Kw motor. Not bad for a completely fake car! For more info, contact Lexus public affairs: 310-468-3234. This was their official press release below, dating back from January, with not a hint of the EV specs unveiled in FHM. For builder info, read further below... Remy C. ]] Breaking News: July 10th 2002 - Electrifying Times has discovered thanks to Jim Carlucci at EVUK (do check out their own terrific Lexus 2054 online coverage...) reading the July Pleiades-Enterprises Newsletter that it is a 500 kW midship-mounted motor with lithium-ion solid polymer batteries that powers the Lexus 2054 EV. The patented propulsion technology for this working EV is attributable to Chaz Haba and Bob Anderson from Nu Pow'r LLC. Haba, founder and sole owner of Nu Pow'r provides the 36-volt lithium battery for Lee Iacocca's folding electric bicycle, called the "e-bike. Steve Sanderson, owner of Sanderson Sales & Marketing at 6401 W. Park Blvd. in Plano, California and Lee Eastman, owner of Eastman Energy Group in Vista, also in California, are scouting locations for Nu Pow'r stores, which the company calls Power Stations. Nu Pow'r makes its golf cart at a Las Vegas plant owned by Shelby American, maker of the Shelby Series 1 and Shelby Cobra high-performance sports cars. Haba replaced the combination of traditional lead batteries weighing about 380 pounds in a typical golf cart with a more efficient, 72-pound lithium battery system. For more information call Dave Cutter, editor of Pleiades-Enterprises NuPowr News at (760) 729-8075 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-870-8793, 3915-7 Mission Avenue #322, Oceanside, California, 92054. January 3, 2002 - Los Angeles, CA - For Lexus, it's every Hollywood hopeful's dream come true: a featured role alongside Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's upcoming summer blockbuster. The filmmaker has cast the luxury auto brand as the car of the future in his highly anticipated film, "Minority Report", due to be released by Twentieth Century Fox this summer. But anxious moviegoers and car buffs will get an advance preview of the sports car when it makes its world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show Jan. 5 to 13. The film, which opens nationwide June 28, 2002, stars Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton and Colin Farrell. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, "Minority Report" is set in a futuristic judicial system in which killers are arrested and convicted before they commit murder. When it came time to conceptualize the fantasy car of the future, Steven Spielberg didn't have to look any further than his own driveway for inspiration. "I've been driving a Lexus SUV," said Spielberg. "And I thought Lexus might be interested in holding hands with us and going into a speculative future to see what the transportation systems and cars would look like on our highways in fifty years. The result of that exploration is something that elevates and transforms driving into an environmental experience." Designed as a high-performance two-seat personal sports car for the year 2054, the futuristic Lexus flexes a muscular design with the ultimate in cab-forward seating, a low, enclosed wheelbase for sportiness, aggressive lines, and proportions so unexpected that, at first glance, it's not entirely evident which end is the front and which is the rear. The custom car was created by conceptual artist Harald Belker, whose film design credits also include "Batman & Robin", "Inspector Gadget", and "Armageddon." Spielberg, Belker, Calty (Toyota/Lexus design studio) and a team of futurists met early in the development process to speculate on what the future of automotive travel might hold, with Lexus ultimately providing styling, luxury and performance cues for the car's design. The car was constructed by CTEK, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based technology design and development firm. "We're thrilled to be a part of this," said Denny Clements, Lexus group vice president and general manager. "We had the opportunity to dream about what cars and transportation might be like in the future, and then see that dream played out in the vision of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time -- it doesn't get much better than that." Also featured at the Los Angeles Auto Show will be the 2002 SC 430, LS 430 and ES 300. Lexus.com will host the event live, with a 24-hour Webcast beginning Jan. 3 to 13. In addition to continuous four-camera, live streaming video, Lexus.com will include model line presentations, press conference highlights and dealer locators. A promotional campaign for Lexus and "Minority Report" is also in the works and will include national television advertising, screening programs, in-theatre displays, online presence, additional auto show exhibits and dealership extensions. Lexus markets and sells luxury cars and sport utility vehicles through 196 dealers. Lexus prides itself on providing the best in vehicle quality, service and customer satisfaction. The company's dealers have achieved the highest honors in customer satisfaction from the independent research firm J.D. Power and Associates. Additionally, with record-setting sales in 2001, Lexus is the top luxury nameplate in the industry for the second year in a row. More pix of the car: Read about the editing of the Lexus Minority Report TV Commercial: |
|
Lexus Division Primary Media Contact: Nancy Hubbell National Manager, Public Relations Julie Alfonso Manager, Product News More on CTEK: |
|
Main CTEK Location: 3112 Alpine Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 431-1190 fax (714) 431-1194 Second CTEK Location: 1402 Morgan Circle Tustin, Ca 92710 (714)566-0231 fax (714)566-0234 http://www.ctek-on-line.com info@ctek-on-line.com |
|
|
Eric Adickes President eric@ctek-on-line.com
Also from the LA Times: By KATHY BRYANT, Special to The Times "We started in 1997 with five people making automotive clay models. Our idea was to find new solutions through existing technology. Now, with 50 people working here, we're a pretty diverse group of designers, engineers, technicians and fabricators," says Eric Adickes, president of CTEK. CTEK--the name is derived from Creative Technologies--works in a variety of ways. Sometimes the company both designs and fabricates a project, as in the Ford Thunderbird body kit and the new Breez system of contoured safety glass panels for architects; sometimes people come to CTEK with a plan or model and the firm creates it. The Breez system glass panels, which architects can fit together to create walls, are among CTEK's most recent designs. The firm started producing them after it created contoured glass for Gehry's glass draperies in the Conde Nast dining room in New York City. "It's unlimited what we can do here," says Javier Valdivieso, executive vice president. "We're like a hobby shop in a way. We're the missing link for a lot of designers because many designs cannot be executed without knowledge of technology. Most of the things we do have never been done before." CTEK technicians begin with a clay model, running a 3-D laser scanner over it to transmit the shape into a computer. "Once we have that information, we dump that into a machine that prints the specifications out," says Valdivieso. With the resulting data, a full-scale cast is molded from rigid foam. The foam is then covered with clay to create a hard surface. For some larger works, the firm uses aerospace metal tooling to strengthen the form. The exterior of the piece can be finished in any number of ways, using bronze, paint or another surface material. L.A.-based artist Robert Graham created a small-scale model of the statue of Mary for the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, from which CTEK fabricated the 8-foot-high statue as well as small souvenirs that are exact replicas. The firm also fabricated Graham's 30-foot-high bronze doors, which will stand at the entrance to the new cathedral, and his design for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument now in Washington, D.C. CTEK's customers range from high-culture to populist: The company often works for Disney Studios using similar techniques, enlarging Disney characters to as much as 40 feet high for theme parks. In one section of the 24,000-square-foot CTEK facility, work continues on an energy-efficient motorcycle, the "c2c" (coast to coast) project designed by Doug Malewicki, Len Stobar, Bob Schureman and Joe Valencic, all on the faculty at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. This summer, the three-wheeled two-seater--looking like a small, low-flying jet plane--will drive from Long Beach to New York City on 24 gallons of gas at speeds up to 75 miles per hour. CTEK is one of the sponsors of the prototype. The firm also fabricated two molds of the futuristic cars for Steven Spielberg's science-fiction movie "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, due in theaters this summer. "They gave us a computer design, and we turned it into a drivable unit," says Valdivieso. By using the computer, CTEK can make in three months what would take six to eight months with any other technique, Valdivieso says. "And the accuracy is perfect," he adds. CTEK is especially proud of its work in laminated safety glass, including the large glass boulders that light up in front of the recently
renovated Cinerama Dome theater on Sunset Boulevard, which the firm fabricated for Gensler Architects. It also created curved 14-foot-high glass
walls for the new Shell Museum in the Netherlands and curving glass for the "Many of these projects are very challenging," says Valdivieso, "so we
have to rethink existing technology, tweaking it and combining it with our
craftsmanship to create the designs. Every project is different, but that's
what we all like about working here." |
|
|
The motor was provided by Planet Electric, based in North Hills, CA. Chaz Haba Chairman & Chief Executive Officer J Scott Montana President http://www.cziplanet.com/planetelectric http://www.bpgroups.com/rwp/planetelectric.nhtml http://web.archive.org/web/20011011224559/http://www.planetelectric.com/index.html |
|
|
