The Dream Car 123 by Greg Zanis

The Frame

The Frame

A Car Whose Time Has Come

www.dreamcar123.com

By Pam Beckmann

27W341 Mack Rd. Wheaton, Il 60187 Phone: 630-681-0984

Rewired to the website by Chris Zanis The Web Designer

Dream Car 123 - For Greg Zanis, an inventor from Sugar Grove, Illinois his recently patented Dream Car 123. is an invention whose time has come. The genius of this futuristic, electric car is that it uses today's technology, but eliminates many traditional car systems to produce a car that is more efficient, faster and safer to drive than today's mechanical car on the street. The biggest plus for consumers, however, is the gas savings. This car is designed to use wind and solar power as its energy source.

The car is a one-person safety vehicle and the numbers one, two, three, that come after the name Dream Car represents the steps of the development of the car. Future plans actually go beyond it's development. It includes a rapid transport system for the car using a small tunnel and modified train or other tracks. This system would allow people to safely drive their cars from one city to the next at speeds over 300 miles-per-hour.

A Car Whose Time Has Come

With the country buzzing about global warming and oil independence, Zanis's car seems to be converging with time and destiny. And on a personal level, he feels his time has come to pursue this dream, which started years ago.

The son of immigrants from Greece, who spoke no English in the home, Zanis began dreaming about the car at age five when he began school. The first song he learned there was "GOD Bless America." As his dream took shape over the years, the tune to this song kept playing in his mind, only the words were changed to "GOD gave America wind and solar power form above because he loves her and protects her." Zanis made a drawing of the project then and added to the idea over the years, but it wasn't until recently that he became passionate about completing his dream.

He is convinced it is one of the purposes GOD has laid out for his life. "I feel inspired to go completely after this car," Zanis explains. "I feel the Lord wants me to complete the car, otherwise he wouldn't burden me with finding a way to do it. It's been a day-by-day project of going forward and trusting that it's the Lord's will."

Unlike many inventors whose main goal is profit, Zanis has lost sight of the bigger picture, Even reluctant to consider himself an inventor, he says "I'm giving credit to the Lord as being the Father of all inventions, Zanis continues, "He has always revealed his inventions to the inventor at the precise time He wants them. He knows every invention even before any man has been given that invention."

Not alone:

Besides the strength he receives from Christ, Greg has the help of his two sons, Gregory and Chris who have been extremely instrumental in the project by helping with many of the mechanical and electrical systems. Gregory has been handling the paper work and obtained a patent in a relatively short time and also wrote their business plan. Chris is the web- builder - visit their site at www.dreamcar123.com - to see his handy work.

Awards

After entering two model cars in HobbyTown USA competitions, Zanis received a first place in the Four-Wheel-Drive Electric Car Prototype category for his solar powered car in a fall of 2006 competition held in St. Charles, Illinois. He also received a first place in the design category at a Naperville, Illinois competition, held on October 7. 2006. Both cars were entered in an all-category rally race.

Nuts and Bolts: How the Car Works and Looks

Safety is a key factor in both the form and function of the car. Shaped like a pyramid, the car looks like it's escaped from Egypt. It's form, however, serves a very practical purpose. "It's aerodynamically correct," Zanis explains. "The shape forces the head winds down onto the car holding it tight to the road.

"The "windshield" is in the form of a nose-cone and is made of bullet-proof glass which surrounds the passenger on all four sides and closes down over the passenger once he's in the cockpit - similar to jet-fighter planes. The wind-shield is tinted and the car comes complete with mirrors and sun visors.

Lining the nose-cone is three-inch layer of clear plastic bubble similar, in concept, to the wrap used for moving. It has individual, honey-combed air sacs. Because the wrap completely surrounds the entire nose-cone and interior of the car (including the instrument panel) it provides protection. Unlike an air-bag, however, "it is pre-inflated and already there to save your life," Zanis says.

Since the passenger sits at the center of the car, just like today's new style NASCAR racers, Its much safer. "the passenger is two feet from the steel frame," Zanis explains, "rather than sitting next to a six-inch door." And the care comes complete with heat. air-conditioning, two side-windows that roll down, radio, defroster, and wipers with squitters.

The outside of the car body, is covered with white, bullet-proof, half-inch plexi-glass. This glass allows for a unique light system. Surrounding the inside of the bottom frame, and traveling around the bumper (which encircles the car) is a circle of 15-watt neon lights. These lights produce a glow from inside," making it the safest car possible at night," Zanis declares. The car also has the standard, head, tail and dome lights, side-reflectors, blinkers, license plate and brake lights.

The bottom frame of the car is made of heavy,  twelve-inch, I-beam steel. This square of steel is then laced, tic-tac-toe with metal, creating a framing system that is doubled in strength. For further protection, the steel is even used around the wheel-wells. The body of the car, protecting the passenger, made of four-inch square, steel tubing.

This steel is also used for the square roll-cage that is attached on the outside of the car. "This combination of steel and plexi-glass together makes it impenetrable," Greg explains. "And the Dream Car 123 with one occupant weighs about as much as my 1927 Cadillac with seven occupants," has adds.

The beauty of the car is in the simplicity of its design, which allows the elimination of numerous mechanical car systems - such as mechanical steering, gas petal, brakes, seat belt and air bags. "this is really a simpler car that functions better," Zanis says.

The car's "motor" is actually a series of four motors which run on 80 lead-acid batteries that are housed within the I-beam frame. Because the motors are inserted in the wheel hubs, the car is capable of turning around (360 degrees) in place. It also has four-wheel drive. One motor is attached to each wheel and then bolted to the frame. It can also reach speeds of 200mph. With future revisions, Zanis is hoping for higher speeds reaching up to 300 mph. the wheels are forklift tires that are air/silicone-jell inflated.

The motor-to-wheel construction allows the car to be controlled by a joystick, which is made of a horizontal pipe that closes down in front of the passenger when the nose-cone is lowered. "Its makes the design simpler," Greg says. "the drive shaft. differential and brakes are gone." Electric brakes slow the motor down. As the amperage is decreased, so is the speed. "The motor responds directly to the amount of electricity," Zanis explains. "It's ten times more powerful at stopping than a disc brake," he concludes.

The joystick, which runs across the lap of the passenger serves as a seat-belt. To accelerate the car, the joystick is pushed forward. To reverse it, it's pulled backward. To turn right, the passenger simply slide the pipe to the right, and vice-versa for left.

An unusual garage

With the Dream Car 123, there will be no more pulling up to gas pumps to refuel. Instead, when the passenger pulls the car into the garage, the recharging begins. The garage, however, is not your usual building. It's a combined solar and wind tower that harvests both sources of energy: sun and wind by day and wind by night.

The tower is 65 feet tall with a wind turbine at the top that has a four-foot wide by 16 foot tall blade -- complete with a blinking red-light to warn air traffic. The outside of the tower is covered with 16, eight-by-eight foot solar panels on all four sides of the tower. There are four separate levels of battery storage in the tower. Each level of storage has 48 batteries.

Although the car in its current design will go about 200 miles per charge, Zanis's goal is to produce one that will go about 1,000 miles per charge by using lithium batteries.

Tunnel

Looking further down the road, Zanis's plan includes a repaid-transit tunnel which can quickly (up to speeds of 300 mph) transport people form one city to the next using the Dream Car. The tunnel could be built over existing rail lines with moderate changes or between interstate highways. "Our country desperately needs a fast, single-pod, ground transport," Zanis says. "Eighty- percent of drivers are single occupants of their vehicles."

The tunnel would be a precast concrete unit 24 feet long and ten feet wide and eight feet tall; shaped like a pyramid to accommodate the car. Rather then use its' batteries when the car is in the tunnel, it would pick up electricity from strips bolted to the floor - similar to Chicago's elevated trains. An extra set of wheels would serve to keep the car locked into the tunnel, so it would be riding on eight wheels while cruising trough the tunnel.

Two lasers attached to the top of the car serve as a visual guidance system that helps in navigating the car. With these pointers aimed 80 to 100 feet in front of the car, the passenger can see the lane and other objects ahead. The guidance system can be used within or outside of the tunnel and is meant to be used along with your natural eyesight.

Cost

Zanis is hoping to offer the car for sale at $24,000 dollars. Because or rebates for electrical car from the State of Illinois, however there's a potential of reducing the consumer's cost to $16,000. The rebate is for the consumer of the electric car.

There are two models of the dream car available. The city car model, which is for commuting to work and around town, uses half the batteries decreasing the cost by at least $4,000 dollars. This car would have half the range as the standard model because it has less battery power.

The solar/wind tower which, serves as the garage, would be about the same cost as the standard car and the rebates would also apply.

Business Plan

With 210 electric cars licensed to drive in the State of Illinois, Greg is hoping that within the nest few years, 100 more Dream Car 123's will be cruising around. His business plan has all the details and numbers projections. By the fourth year of production, the goal is to have 10,000 cars on the streets.

Benefits

With all the hub-bub about global warming and oil independence, the benefits are obvious an has mad the Dream Car 123 an invention whose time has come. "We need to look at what we're leaving our children," Zanis says. "what are they inheriting?" "It's our obligation as servants of Jesus to leave a better world." People need help in changing their thinking to clean-running cars. "We must try new inventions if we want a clean Earth," he says.

Completing a project f this size cannot be accomplished unless people partner together to achieve its goals. It needs people who are willing to step up to the bat and say we helped do something about it.

If you would like to learn more about the Dream Car 123 project visit Greg Zanis's website, which has u-tube videos, at: www.dreamcar123.com or call 630-466-7170.

Specifications:

Curb Weight - 8,000 pounds

Speed - up to 200 mph

Miles per charge - 300 and up

Passenger - one or two depending upon size of occupants

City Car Model - $21,000 After rebates the cost is $14,000*

Standard Model - $24,000 After rebates the cost is $16,000*

* Cost does not include delivery or taxes

Alternate lead/Introduction:

Who needs oil? Not America if inventor Greg Zanis of Sugar Grove, Illinois, has anything to do about it. Zanis has recently patented an electric car, he calls Dream Car 123. The genius of this futuristic, one-person, safety vehicle is that it uses today's technology, but eliminates many of the traditional car systems, producing a car that is more efficient, faster and safer to drive than today's mechanical car on the street.

For America and the consumer this is good news! With Zanis's electric car the consumer doesn't just plug into the garage electricity for recharging. Instead Zanis has developed a unique garage that allows the consumer to drive in and recharge using energy that was harvested from the garage itself.

The Dream Car 123 actually began as a childhood dream when Zanis - the son of Greek immigrants who spoke no English in the home - started thinking about sketching out the car. When he began school, the first song he learned was God Bless America.

Fist Right Offered About 2250 Words Pictures on request c 2007 Pam Beckmann

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