Electric Car That Never Needs To Be Plugged In?

Next, we'll repeal the law of gravity! Or better yet, REVERSE it so things fall UP!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jeffelectric @ Nov 23 2007, 12:17 PM) [snapback]543240[/snapback]</div>

Jeff - Brutal? - Maybe. But you have to admit you left yourself wide open for attack suggesting a perpetual motion machine.

I do want to genuinely thank you though, for the link to the article about Goodwin. I hadn't heard about him before reading the article from your link.

Although the perpetual motion machine thought isn't going anywhere (don't worry - you're not the first to raise it, and certainly won't be the last), I think you're right on challenging the establishment on the lack of automotive technology advancement. And that should be the real emphasis in this thread (but I guess we'd have to change the title first). The article and Goodwin himself made a lot of good points. But this paragraph pretty much sums it up:

For his part, Goodwin argues he's merely "a problem solver. Most people try to make things more complicated than they are." He speaks of the major carmakers with a sort of mild disdain: If he can piece together cleaner vehicles out of existing GM parts and a bit of hot-rod elbow grease, why can't they bake that kind of ingenuity into their production lines? Prod him enough on the subject and his mellowness peels away, revealing a guy fired by an almost manic frustration. "Everybody should be driving a plug-in vehicle right now," he complains, in one of his laconic engineering lectures, as we wander through the blistering Kansas heat to a nearby Mexican restaurant. "I can go next door to Ace Hardware and buy a DC electric motor, go out to my four-wheel-drive truck, remove the transmission and engine, bolt the electric motor onto the back of the transfer case, put a series of lead-acid batteries up to 240 volts in the back of the bed, and we're good to go. I guarantee you I could drive all around town and do whatever I need, go home at night, and hook up a couple of battery chargers, plug one into an outlet, and be good to go the next day.

"Detroit could do all this stuff overnight if it wanted to," he adds.

It's just like they said in the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" - "They (the auto industry) make too much money on their technological stagnation and the internal combustion engine." It's a shame. In fact, it's insanity when you look at the impact the dependence on oil is having on our society, whether economic, environmental, or domestic and foreign policy. Silicon Valley culture is such that companies need to obsolete their own products in a few years, or somebody else will. If there's one thing we're very good at in this country it is innovating and commercializing new technology. But that hasn't been the model for the auto and oil industries. The only way that will change is when some "game changers" enter the arena. Somebody's going to have to start eating their lunch. That won't happen overnight. You can argue that maybe this is starting to happen. Toyota is cutting into GM's market share, vying with them for the top position. And they're doing it while generating strong profits. But I wouldn't consider Toyota a "game changer". They are part of the auto industry establishment. Note that Tesla Motors is born out of the Silicon Valley culture. I hold out hope for companies like them and others that might follow in their footsteps.

The answer is not a perpetual motion machine. But I think the point you're trying to make is that the technology to do better - much better - is not out of reach. And that is something that I would strongly agree with.

Thanks for the thoughts, and the link.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danatt @ Nov 25 2007, 10:35 AM) [snapback]543928[/snapback]</div>

At the risk of being an apologist for GM, Goodwin sounds like those guys whining about 100 mpg carburetors 30 years ago. Yeah, any body can make an electric go-kart, but I assume the people of Kansas have a pickup for a reason, besides hauling Pb around. I suspect the newest engineer at GM knows all about innovative automotive technology and then some. The truth is, GM doesn't owe you diddly, unless you have some stock. And while the stock holders aren't thrilled, I doubt there ready to fire all the MBA's and turn the company over to the engineers. I, for one, just as soon not jump off some Li ion cliff following the Silicon Valley culture. Want your car to run like your PC? Get sued when you paint your car? Go back a year later for a part and find out Adobe bought them up and is charging O(1) more?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RonH @ Nov 25 2007, 11:25 AM) [snapback]543942[/snapback]</div>

A "Li ion cliff"? Is that kind of like the edge of the earth? People used to be scared of falling off that too. They got over it.

Get over it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Nov 23 2007, 01:35 PM) [snapback]543269[/snapback]</div>

While the dream of a mechanical perpetual motion machine is just that.

There is such a thing as perpetual motion...in fact I just saw it in action. His name is Franklyn, he's my two-year-old son and there is no stopping him!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ken S @ Nov 28 2007, 01:44 PM) [snapback]545292[/snapback]</div>

If you put him on a treadmill with a dynamo you can generate electricity to charge up your batteries.

 

most of the ellipticals at my gym are self powered (actually that would be HUMAN-powered) ... you have to get on and start pumping to get the display to turn on...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RonH @ Nov 25 2007, 11:25 AM) [snapback]543942[/snapback]</div>

Love it. I, too, am not going to stand up and declare some allegiance to GM (or anyother automaker, though I have a certain affection for Toyota!), but there is some value in checking your perspective when entering into this discussion.

Most of you have heard about the "If Microsoft Built Cars . . " list. I don't know who originally generated it, but please follow this link to get a laugh or two and gain an interesting perspective on things. My favorite: "If Microsoft Built Cars . . . Occasionally your car would just die for no reason,and you'd have to restart it. For some strange reason, you would just accept this."