|
|
|
|
|
|
Mister ImpossibleBy Bill Moore Open Access Article Originally Published: May 31, 2003
I think every one of us has people we admire and hope to meet some day. Dr. Paul B. MacCready is just such a person for me. He can rightly be called the "spirit" behind the modern electric vehicle. His personal journey toward this distinction began not in a garage or on a race track somewhere, but in the air. It was MacCready's experience with solar electric systems and aerodynamics that directly lead to development of the modern electric car. In 1977, his Gossamer Condor -- which hangs in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum -- accomplished one of mankind's most long-sought achievements: human-powered flight. It was quickly followed by the Gossamer Albatross, the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel. The pioneering work of Dr. MacCready and his Monrovia, California-based company, Aerovironment, culminated in the Solar Challenger, the first aircraft powered entirely by the light of the sun which flew from Paris to England in 1981. So how does the consummate aerodynamicist get from solar planes to electric cars? "The airplanes put a big focus on efficiency," MacCready explained. "A human is a pretty heavy, inefficient power source putting out for a period of minutes a quarter to a third of a horsepower, so you really get to thinking about efficiency, and finding to your amazement that you can make vehicles do things on low power more than one realized." MacCready also credits his involvement in the International Human-Powered Vehicle Association, "which emphasized no rules, just go as fast as you can peddling a bike-like device." These vehicles were getting up to 55 mph (88 km/hr) which has since be increased to 68 mph (108.8 km/hr). Having no rules and the freedom to experiment, MacCready was able to look all options including electric motors, servos, and solar cells, all with the aim of "doing more with less," as he put it. This "doing more with less" approach directly contributed to MacCready and company getting the call to build the solar-powered Sunraycer for GM in 1987. "It was really quite logical," MacCready said, "that we were able to jump into the Sunraycer when asked by GM. In fact, when I look back at that moment, probably little Aerovironment with its odd bits of experience behind it was probably the best group in the world to do a solar-powered car."
Reader Comments
A valid email address and confirmation is required before your comment can be posted. Comments not confirmed within
24 hours are automatically deleted.
1 comments so far...
|
a d v e r t i s e r
September ePOLL
Do you agree that the $100 billion invested in technology innovation was an appropriate expenditure by the American government?
RELATED ARTICLES
a d v e r t i s e r
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Learn How Your Organization Can Appear Here Too. Click the Advertising Link Below
| |||
|