In some areas, due mainly to meteorological phenomena such as flooding or hurricanes, it becomes necessary to evacuate threatened areas.
The TV shows streams of vehicles packed onto major and minor routes to designated "refuge" areas.
On arriving at such areas, the evacuees need to be provided with shelter, food, water and sometimes medical care. And somewhere to park their vehicles.
We propose that in designated areas, residents can lease, for an affordable fee, an "Evacuation Car".
The Evacuation Car has a very simple chassis and suspension, and a very simple low-power air cooled engine with a backup crank or recoil starter. The bodywork is built of heavy duty epoxy coated plywood; the windscreen is perspex or polycarbonate. The seats are basic. The instruments are very basic. Resembling a plywood replica of a cross between an early Land Rover, a VW Campervan and a Citroen 2CV, it is a deeply unattractive boxy vehicle.
However, it is designed with evacuation in mind. Despite being slow, it has good cargo capability, and carries a minimum of six adults. The seats are removeable and can be folded out into chairs. Body panels unclip and/or hinge to form a shelter. In the cargo area is prepackaged food and water. The engine can drive a small generator or provide heating. Everything about it is multi-use, reuseable, recyclable - a small tool kit is provided. The vehicle converts in less than an hour to a semi-autonomous dwelling capable of sheltering and nourishing its occupants for 72 hours, and can be converted back in a similar time..
Some residents may elect to store their EvaCar adjacent to their residence if they have space; others may elect to have them stored in a secure parking facility close to their homes.
Driving an EvaCar on a public highway without proper authority at a time other than when an evacuation order is in force would be an offence.-- 8th of 7, Jun 29 2010 Africar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfricarSimilar [8th of 7, Jun 29 2010] I can't think of too many mass evacuation scenarios where I'd want to be caught in the rat-race in a slow lumbering vehicle.
Zombies run fast, y'know.-- Custardguts, Jun 29 2010 ....So I propose the Eva-Tank. I'll start saving for the deposit.-- Custardguts, Jun 29 2010 I think [8th] is figuring that even at 40mph, he'll be a fair piece down the turnpike before everybody else finishes throwing all their necessaries in the back of their SUVs.-- lurch, Jun 29 2010 Why plywood? Why not just make the bodywork from plastic?-- Alx_xlA, Jun 29 2010 I gotta say, I don't like the idea of having a huge stock of crappy cars sitting around unused. Not only does that take up space and resources but they will probably be in disrepair when there is a disaster. On the other hand if you don't keep tons of them in stock then what good do they do? Maybe a few people have them; it would be easier if everybody would just keep their gas tank filled during hurricane season and an evacuation bag in their trunk.
As for the general idea of a 'perfect evacuation vehicle', many enthusiasts like to build such all purpose vehicles based on Unimogs.-- DIYMatt, Jun 30 2010 "The seats are removeable and can be folded out into chairs." So the seats become...seats? Brilliant!
How long do you think it would be before GM began selling the Humm-Eva? After all, if you're going to evacuate, don't do it like a pussy.-- phoenix, Jun 30 2010 It seems as though the idea is a vehicle that would be kept in storage for a long time, perhaps years or decades, then quickly put into service to escape some calamity that would make conventional vehicles impractical, yet would haul an impressive amount of people and/or supplies.
Vehicles in storage tend to deteriorate, but there are strategies to slow the rate of deterioration: use of the product Stabil in the fuel tank and storing the vehicle in a nitrogen-filled plastic bag, for example. It would help if the vehicle folded up, to take less space during storage. Still, it's not going to be reliable after being stored for a long time, and may take a day or so, or longer, to get it running.
Or, simply buy a vehicle that gets good fuel economy and yet can haul a lot of people and stuff: they're called "minivans." Keep it in good tune and always have the fuel tank at least half full. Some do have removable seats.-- whlanteigne, Feb 06 2013 I'm not sold on this one, [8th]. In a recent flood near my home, one of the survival stories was quite extraordinary:
A woman awoke at about 1am to the gurgling sound of floodwater passing through her house. She opened the door to see what was happening and was swept across her front yard, over a couple of fences and into a tree about 400m from her home.
She found she was sharing the tree with a large, venomous snake, so she moved as far as possible from it, in the tree.
By sheer good fortune, she found she was very close to an emergency lighting beacon that had washed off a river weir about 5km away and lodged in the tree next to her.
The crew of a rescue helicopter, investigating the flashing light of the beacon, spotted her in the next tree and winched her to safety.
After sunrise, another 1200 helicopter rescues were performed in her area, with a further 2000 people rescued by boat and surf lifesaving dinghy crews.
Since then, as waters have subsided, some 500 pigs from a local piggery that was swamped, have also been rescued from the branches of trees in the same stand of timber that saved her life.
I'm not sure what your rickety plywood cars would achieve in a flood of that nature?-- UnaBubba, Feb 06 2013 Like I said... Lipstick on a pig.-- UnaBubba, Feb 06 2013 random, halfbakery