As a former auto engineer and someone that has actually built and driven an electric car, I know we have a ways to go before the technology can become practical. It will take years of tedious drudgery, of mundane data collection and boring frustration punctuated by technical breakthroughs. Some people will not wait for this. They will use their PT Barnum talents to promote a technology before its time with them as the savior of the human race. I might believe this from Honda and Sunpower, but when unknown hucksters start peddling their BS it is time to take a deep breath and hope sanity prevails.
The first bit of hucksterism is an electric car huckster that has sadly convinced former heroin addict Neil Young to give him a hundred grand to convert his Lincoln Continental to electric power. Now my friend Otmar (Ebenhoech) could actually do this for Neil, what with having an electric Porsche 914 parked in his driveway. But even the general public bloggers like the Daily Kos can see that this fellow is a fraud. No further info is needed about this fellow other than this article about the last “next thing” he was promoting. Jet engines in cars. Yeah, I was with GMC Truck and Coach in Pontiac Michigan in 1972 when they put an Allison turbo-shaft motor in a buss. Guess what? It had horrible specific fuel consumption because a jet cannot idle, and horrible acceleration since the jet needed to spool up. If you want to get three miles to the gallon just listen to what this huckster has to say. When it comes to electric, it sounds like this guy is a couple decades behind the true pioneers like Otmar and that guy from AC Propulsion. And look who get the press—the huckster.
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5 comments so far...
05-Jun-2008
62087
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Your article may be right on many of its points, but describing Neil Young as a former heroin addict is just plain wrong. You lose credibility by even throwing that phrase in there.
Young is an accomplished artist who has written songs about the pain of addiction. That doesn't make him an addict. You need to get your facts right before you publish them.
His concert tours in recent years have trucked around the continent on vegetable oil. Whether he has the right approach now, or not - at least he's been implementing alternatives to petroleum. Gotta give him credit for that.
Posted by: Marge Inoferror
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05-Jun-2008
62093
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The "pipe dream" of solar power satellites was studied extensively by NASA during the 1970s. They concluded that it was possible, but they just weren't able to make the economics work out with the energy costs and competing energy sources of the time. Whether it would make sense today, in light of global warming and other factors, is unclear. Probably it's worth taking another look at the idea rather than dismissing it out-of-hand as hucksterism or science fiction.
Posted by: Tony Belding
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05-Jun-2008
62096
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Calling people fraudes and hucksters is the kind of propaganda that the big three and big oil do.You say you are an engineer, If that is so then get off your dead center and make electric cars go.You can be part of the cure or part of the problem. At this point in time you don't look to be part of any cure. Individuals,high school students and small startup companies can do it ,so what is your problem. The only people that are down on electric cars are the ones that could profit from them the most, if they would get their collective heads out of the sand. I forcasted several months ago that GM was going to go belly up if they didn't get on the electric band wagon. Sure enough day before yesterday they announced the closing of four plants. This is just the beginning of the end of GM. Will they listen to anyone with another idea, NO! The only good part of GM closing their operation here is that leaves a big factory and a bunch of employees available to build the Think City should they decide to locate here.
Posted by: David Loll
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05-Jun-2008
62097
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Thats exactly what I'm talking about. We need to get off our collective gases and start making this happen. You can name call and put down lead sleds all you want but the reality is the gas is finite in our human scale and rate of consumption. Solar, wind, tidal and geothermal are far more lasting means of power generation at much reduced collateral costs. All you have to do if flip through the pages of the Austinev.org conversion album to see that its possible to convert every single vehicle on the road to electric, today! This is utter madness we are perpetuating in this country. The inertial mass just may be to great to overcome in this instance.
Cheers
Posted by: Mike Frost
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08-Jun-2008
62136
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Please excuse my frustration, but reading this complete BS from this "E N G I N E E R", Paul RAKO, just makes my stomach turn. If this genious new anyting about electric cars, he would then know that you don't need more than 10-12 "regular lead acid" batteries to make a 1800-2000 lb car go about 175-200 km's. Technology like Radiant chargers, no only desulphate batteries to make them last much longer then normal, but chemicaly changes their composition to store 50 to 75% more power. People need to stop listening to the so called experts and do their homework. Another previous surpresssed technology exists, now in public domain that is making a few cars run about 1200+ km's from "repulsion electic engines" running from a special power supply off 6 batteries. GM and the other useless cat makers will soon be put aside and make room for a few that will make history as it should of been made decades ago. W.E
Posted by: W E
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