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Will EV Startups go the way of the Tucker?

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by jonathanrohr, Apr 23, 2007.

  1. jonathanrohr

    jonathanrohr New Member

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    All the news about the startup EV companies like Tesla and Phoenix, as well as they way in which they are collecting revenue BEFORE the product goes out has gotten me to thinking, will they sadly go the way of Tucker Automotive?

    For those of you who don't know, Tucker Automotive was a company that had developed a quite revolutionary, and yet very affordable vehicle shortly after WWII. It had a 6-cylinder 166 HP rear engine, disc brakes, seat belts, aerodynamic styling (drag coefficent of just .27), as well as other innovations like a headlight that swiveled to point where you were turning.

    The car was much safer than its counterparts, one time during testing it was rolled at 100 miles an hour and the driver walked out unscathed. It also reportedly got 20 miles per gallon and did 0-60 in 10 seconds (beating out the majority of domestic sedans from the 80's.. save maybe for the Taurus)

    In addition, he moved all instrumentation to within the view of the steering wheel, as well as developing (out of necessity) a transmission with about 90 fewer moving parts than others in its day.

    To fund all of this he sold stock, dealership rights, and vehicle accessories before the cars were actually built. In my opinion, the vehicles would have gotten built and his company wouldve been successfull and probably eventually grown to dominate the auto industry given the right ammount of time.

    However, a few problems hampered the project at first, and as investors and the country grew restless another hurdle emerged. Corruption through the Big 3 and the US government led to a Howard-Hues-Esque trial as well as the eventual demise of his company, even though he was aquitted.

    So, now that we are done with the history lesson, could we see this happen to the EV companies? Some scared investors, a potential slip-up, then add in some big corporations and a questionable government - could they go down?

    I hope not, to paraphrase Mr. Tucker - "Competition is the driving force of this country. If we stop striving to improve then the day will come when we buy our radios and automobiles from our former enemies [japan]"

    Looks as though he was right.. hopefully the same mistake wont be made this time around.

    This story was actually made into a movie, check it out here:Tucker - The Man And His Dream

    Heres the wikipedia article for his car - Tucker Torpedo
     
    #1 jonathanrohr, Apr 23, 2007
  2. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    The rules of the automotive game which are written by the government and very large corporations are written to preclude new entries and competition. Sadly, I believe the best that can be hoped for is that they are bought up by a major player and their technology eventually trickles into some of the designs. I won't bet money on it though.
     
    #2 JimN, Apr 23, 2007
  3. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    While I would not try to predict the future, my impression of Tesla is that it is pretty sound. It's true that they'd be in deep doo-doo if the "members" all demanded their deposits back. (Members are those people who have put a $50,000 or $30,000 refundable deposit towards a car -- the money goes toward the Tesla project.) However, the Tesla appeals to such a special kind of enthusiast, and is the only car in this particular niche, that I believe the only thing with a real chance of scuttling it would be unsurmountable technical problems, or a bigger company coming out sooner with an equivalent car. Also, the founder of Tesla is in it because this is the car he wants for himself, and I suspect that is the case with his major investors as well. I give them a good chance to succeed.

    I think the most likely "failure" mode for Tesla would be that they build their first production run, it's a whopping success, and GM makes them an offer they cannot refuse, buys them out, and scuttles the project.
     
    #3 daniel, Apr 23, 2007
  4. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    Oh man, don't go raining all over my parade! :)

    Yeah, it can happen. No question about it. In fact, for this to really work, the small companies need to produce fabulous cars that basically humiliate the "big" players. You know - the ones with billion$ in capitalization who say they can't afford to make these cars. And that right there is a pretty big risk. Playing with the sharks.

    If the public is finally aware of the benefits of EVs, and the need to get off of oil finally becomes important enough, and these little companies have something to offer - eventually there will be public outcry, and demand for these cars from the big boys and a lower cost/higher value. And I can tell you with some amount of certainty that this is already a VERY real threat to the big boys. The Volt announcement is one very tangeable response from this whole situation.
     
    #4 darelldd, Apr 23, 2007
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