Please go up to www.commutercars.com

News Archive

Note: This is an archive of old news. Please see our homepage and News page for the latest.

Update 2006.10.26: The Gallery has been updated with photos of George Clooney's black Tango, the first we've delivered.

Update 2006.09.02: Our server was down for a few days last week due to a faulty cross-building ethernet cable and a software upgrade. Everything is back up now. Thanks for your patience.

Update 2006.08.15: Our 4-page brochure has been updated.

Update 2006.04.27: George Clooney and his Tango are featured in the Green Issue of Vanity Fair. "If you're doing a movie about oil consumption and corruption, you can't just talk the talk," Clooney--who drove his fully-electric, zero-emission, two-seater Tango to the cover shoot--told Leibovitz and her crew. "You gotta walk the walk."

See the latest update (PDF) on our News page.

Update 2006.02.28: Rick and Bryan are on their way west from New York City to Spokane with a Tango in tow. They'll be on I-80 to Chicago and then I-90 or I-94 to Spokane. If you'd like to meet up along the way, send us an email and/or call (509) 979-1815.

Update 2006.02.17: The second production Tango T600 is underway. Its carbon fiber body was finished last month, the stainless steel chassis was finished today, and the chrome-moly roll cage will be built next week.

Rick is on his way north from California to Spokane with a Tango in tow. He'll be on the 101 to San Francisco and then take I-5 to Portland. If you'd like to meet up along the way, send him an email and/or call him at (509) 979-1815.

Update 2005.11.18: We just received our Chinese patent, and we received our Mexican patent in July. See our Patent page for details.

Update 2005.08.09: George Clooney excitedly drove his new Tango T600 for the first time earlier today. This sale of the first Tango kit is a major milestone for Commuter Cars. Mr. Clooney is proud to be driving a high-performance pure electric vehicle and intends to drive it regularly.

Update 2005.08.01: The main part of the first Tango T600 kit just cleared Customs from England and is being delivered today to meet up with the drivetrain built by Bert Transmission.

Update 2005.01.20: "Prodrive to build revolutionary electric commuter vehicle." Read the press release at prodrive.com or download the PDF from our News page.

The Tango was featured in the December issue of Wired magazine (Wired Tools 2004, page 139), available for online viewing at wired.com.

The red Tango prototype was air freighted to the Prodrive facility in Warwickshire, England. We have contracted with them to complete the engineering for manufacturing and to manufacture the T600 at up to 100 units per year. We are very excited to be working with Prodrive as they are an outstanding company representing the pinnacle of automotive technology, having won their class in the coveted 24-hour Le Mans race last year, and managing the BAR team to 2nd in point standings in Formula One racing. They are also the designers of the Subaru WRX and many world champion rally cars.

Commuter Cars is now accepting orders with fully refundable deposits for the T600 kit and for the T200 and T100 production vehicles. Delivery of ultimate high-performance, luxury Tango T600s to those who have already placed their deposits will begin in early 2005. They will be delivered as mostly-assembled kits requiring less than a day to complete. The T200 and T100 production vehicles are expected to be available in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

UPDATE 2002.11.23: Things are zooming along, as the final prep is made on the red Tango prototype. Loaded with leather and a 400 watt Nakamichi sound system, the Tango was raring to take it's first trip to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with Congress on September 18th. While there, the Tango stole the show and wowed the government. On its way back home, the Tango spent nearly 2 months in Minnesota having its charging system developed. Now the Tango is back in Spokane for completion of this initial kit car model.

UPDATE 2001.12.18: Our U.S. patent and other patent information is now available on our patent page.

UPDATE 2001.12.16: We'd like to take a moment to thank our suppliers, investors, friends, and families for helping us make this show such a success. We're currently in Palo Alto, readying the new prototype for heavy testing, which will lead to more pre-production prototype Tangos this Spring and production in Summer. Photos from the show are now available in the gallery.

UPDATE 2001.12.11: U.S. Patent No. 6,328,121 was issued on December 11, 2001. An online copy will be posted soon. Foreign patents are pending in All European Patent Treaty Countries, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea.

UPDATE 2001.10.16: We are currently planning on bringing our first pre-production prototype, P2.1, to the EVAA show in Sacramento, CA which runs from December 11 to 14. This will be the first publicly shown Tango since our blue proof-of-concept (POC) car. Most of the exterior molds are finished and the first set of body panels will come out of the molds tomorrow. Side and rear windows have been made of tempered glass. New wheels and most components have arrived. High-power DC controller system has been designed and built. Charger has been designed and is awaiting components. Suspension and steering system have been designed and built. Gear boxes have been designed and cast. Chassis and roll cage are nearly complete--brackets are being finalized for front components including headlights, air conditioning system, windshield wiper motor, etc. Seats and interior panels are being designed and prototyped. Windshield has been designed and will be ordered within 2 days.

UPDATE 2001.09.05: Our U.S. utility patent case for an "Ultra-Narrow Automobile Stabilized With Ballast" has just been allowed. International patent applications are in progress.

UPDATE 2001.08.08: We are currently working with several manufacturers and engineering firms to start limited production of a Tango f kit-car later this year, followed by full production of the Tango and Foxtrot (lower price and performance) in 2003 with FMVSS certification.

For anyone who questions the Tango's stability, we've prepared a short video clip of 2 cars at an autocross--one of the cars has stability issues.

UPDATE 2000.09.07: Having completed our first road trip with the Tango, we are now making modifications to the car to prepare it as a production-ready prototype.