The Deliverator

In my post about The Carputer I didn't mention what vehicle would house our techno-baby . . . mainly because we hadn't decided.  2 days after that post I sold my 2002 Jaguar X-Type (which was never in the running for a delivery vehicle since "reliability" was a requirement) and purchased a 2007 Nissan Versa.

Here are the requirements we used when choosing a vehicle:

1. Must have anti-lock brakes, airbags, and a 5 star safety rating.
2. Must be under $16K with our required features.
3. Must get good city mileage - 25mpg minimum, but the more the merrier.
4. Should be comfortable for all driver sizes. 
5. Should have a reputation for reliability (did I mention that Jaguar wasn't on the list?)
6. Should be cool looking . . . at a minimum not be embarrassing for employees to drive.

Armed with these requirements, I spent about 6 months looking on the Edmunds site every week or so.  The short list came down to:

1. Scion xA
2. Honda Fit
3. Chevy Aveo
4. Ford Focus
5. Toyota Yaris

I was pretty sure that the Scion xA was the vehicle for us.  You might notice that the Versa isn't even on the list.  So what happened?

Scion has discontinued the xA and replaced it with the xD.  This is part of their business model -- they want to keep their lineup fresh.  This is a great idea for their target market, but it sucks if you're trying to build a commercial fleet.  So, bye-bye Scion.

The others had problems from "I, personally, wouldn't want to drive one" to "just too small".  As luck would have it, we took my wife's Nissan Quest to the dealership and a salesperson came out and asked if I wanted to sell my Jaguar.  I managed to not break into tears of joy, fall to my knees, and plead "take it!  Oh, please, just take it!"  I gave him the list of requirements and the next day we were swapping keys and signing papers.

A quick note about hybrids, because I'm always asked if I considered them.  I would have loved to start with an all hybrid fleet, but they are simply too expensive.  My hope is that the technology will advance and get cheaper while diesel continues to move along as well.  Maybe in 5 or 6 years when we have hundreds of vehicles and are ready to upgrade the fleet we'll have even more choices on the market.

The picture of the dash above shows the "before" state with the stock radio still installed.  I've popped it out a few times to test the fit of the Carputer screen and should be installing everything within the next week.  So far the Carputer runs a bunch of diagnostic programs (GPS, OBD-II, Wi-Fi) and plays MP3s.  While that's not exactly the "advanced in-vehicle delivery platform" that we've designed, it's enough for me to install it in my car so we can start playing with it.

Comments

[Michael Webb]

As far as the hybrid thing goes, I am increasingly excited about Diesel technologies. IMO, hybrids are simply too expensive and too much of a nascent technology. Yes they are economical as far as MPG (once you pay for the car!); however, if you are going for environmental impact I don't believe hybrids are currently a sound solution. The exotic materials required for the batteries and manufacturing process ramp up the cradle to grave carbon footprint of the little green gems (which personally make me algoreaphobic). Our friends in Europe have enjoyed 40+ MPG diesel vehicles for a while now and several manufacturers are working hard to bring diesel technology to the US in a manner that meets our EPA standards. My father recently purchased a 2006 VW Jetta and easily gets 45+ MPG. Honda has announced plans for a diesel Accord that gets 62.8 MPG by 2010. Check out the details, http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9712548-7.html.

[Andrew Parker]

I never saw a Snow Crash reference I didn't like :)