70,000 Watt Electric Cart – 97MPH Drag Cart Beats Gas! [VIDEO]
Tags: 1/4 Scale Racing, drag racing, electric beats gas, electric car versus gas, electric cart, Electric Cart Race, electric cart racing, electric drag, electric kart racing, electric vs gas, EV vs Gas
The Amazing $2500 Car!
An unbelievable car. The Tata Nano costs only $2500!
Tata Nano: The Amazing $2500 Car!
PHOTO SOURCE: Tata Nano Website
Though not an electric car I have to say something about this car. If a car manufacturer from India can build a car that costs only $2500 brand new, then what’s possible, given our resources, here in the United States?
At a time in history where the economy of the world is at an all time low, now is the time to pool resources and build something truly amazing. It’s been done already in India and they did a fantastic job! Take a look…
As Americans we should really be ashamed. Not that we were outdone by a foreign car maker, but because we won’t get off our lazy bums and work together to build a car for the people who really need them. Why build a car that costs $25,000 that only the upper middle class can drive when you build a car for $2500? OK so we probably can’t build a $2500 car… But we can probably build one that’s $10,000 can’t we?
Couldn’t someone build a car in the USA for under $10,000? Is that possible? I realize that’s 4 times the cost of the Nano but it should be possible. The average American makes $30K+ per year, and lots more Americans make considerably less than that. If there were a $10,000 car available it would sell likely sell like hot cakes. But alas there’s no such American made car.
Now I realize the Nano is a very basic car, and compared to some of our standard off the line cars here in the states it’s not quite luxury, but who cares? The point is they built one and we didn’t, and we should learn by their example.
Maybe we should form a company or research and development organization that will try to build an affordable extended range EV with an MSRP price point around the $10,000 range. Maybe this isn’t possible, maybe it’s “CRAZY!” to even try. But who the hell else is going to do it? Imagine the jobs you could create, and the money you can save. Not to mention the exponential growth of a company that could do it.
My question is, is it because we can’t, or because we won’t? American’s are spoiled in my opinion. We are used to sitting around watching TV and we have everything we’ve wanted for a very long time. Now that the economy is hurting we’re whining because our luxuries aren’t there any more. Big deal! Get over it!
Let build something together instead of whining about what we can’t.
Tags: $10000 Car, $10K Car, $10K EV, $2500 Car, India, Nano, Nano Car, Tata Nano
Solar Powered Slip & Slide Or Revolutionary Idea? VIDEO
Solar Roadways has proposed the idea of solar powered roads! And they’re getting a LOT of press. The idea at first glance seems far fetched, and it’s likely to work. Eventually. But is it cost effective and efficient. In other words is it really practical, and will it ever happen?
Besides the obvious prohibitive costs of manufacturing, converting, and installing, not to mention the maintenance involved with replacing bad or worn out areas on road. Is this really a viable solution? And is it a solution for anything, or just a BIG problem waiting to happen. I personally believe it’s a novel idea. But even if they find a way for it to be cost effective, will it be safe?
Read More About Solar Roadways
Let’s just say for sake of argument that they are able to build the system, and cover the safety issue, and the logistical issues, and the cost. This type of technology likely could provide the much needed infrastructure needed for EVs to become mainstream.
Tags: charging stations, Electrci Vehicle Charging Stations, EV charging, EV charging technology, EV infrastructure, EV road, solar arrays, solar panels, solar power, Solar Roadways
Worlds fastest street legal ELECTRIC CAR [VIDEO]
Tags: EV Car, EV Drag Race, EV Dragster, EV Hot Rod, EV racing, Fast EV, Racing EV, World's Fastest EV, Zilla, Zombie EV
Audi E-Tron
Tags: Audi E-Tron, Electric Audi
BMW Slams The Brakes On Hydrogen!
BMW Slams the brakes on Hydrogen!
Electric Vehicle Fear Factor. EV Range Sucks!
I think this is the single biggest reason why 99% of the companies producing or trying to produce EVs have failed in bringing a production EV to market.
The Fear Factor!
Most people drive 60-100 mile in a day. But… Most people don’t care for, and they won’t EVER buy an EV that only does 100 miles REGARDLESS of how much carmakers tout that “*most people only drive 60-100 miles a day*“.
Who cares!?
Sorry but a 100 mile range does not matter. People may drive back and forth to work everyday, but what car builders fail to see, or they are wearing self imposed blinders, is that most people go on vacation or longer trips a few times a year. They don’t want to worry about stopping to recharge! That is a fact. And that fact is unequivocal and unarguable.
I mean come on. We put an electric vehicle on the moon back 37 years ago! Are you telling me that in the 37 years since we couldn’t design an EV that would allow the average American to commute to and from work and travel too? Bull!
Consumers know that they can get into and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) powered car, drive to the next gas station, and the next gas station, and the next gas station… You get the point. What EV makers need to do is change their marketing strategy by changing the vehicles they are building.Increase the range of EVs.
Increase range, and you increase sales. Then EVs will be more viable. Right now they are not save the small niche of green car buyers in the city! Most people live in the Suburbs and like to travel on weekends. What about weekend warriors? They travel hundreds of miles on weekends to go riding in the desert or to rivers for fishing trips, or hunting trips, or any other recreational activity you can think of.
People don’t want to focus on their work. And when you market an EV to the masses and tell them that the average person travels only 100 miles to and from work, and that they can use the car for work, they don;t want to work, they want to play. This takes the “fun” out of EVs, and in my opinion makes for a very dull outlook for the sale of a limited mileage vehicle.
Make it FUN and remove the worry about range. THAT will bring a real production EV to the main stream.
Tags: Apollo Moon Rover Electric Vehicle, charging technology, electric vehicle, electric vehicle research, EV, Hybrid, NASA, NEV, PHEV, Plugin Electric Vehicle
Hybrids! A Nipple For Automakers
I often wonder why GM, Ford, Chrysler and the BIG imports haven’t done anything more than bloviate how they’ve tried, or are researching it. Wait. They have and failed…The question is why they failed.
Just like IBM did when Bill Gates created Windows, the big wigs in the auto industry are still looking at pure EVs in a “whatever” and then “oh crap!” kind of way. They are trying to figure out how to profit best from it, while not losing their collective shirts switching their companies to EV production. Hence the fuel-cell research, hydrogen, bio fuels, etc… Enter the Hybrid… A nipple to ween the auto maker off oil. A whole bunch of people are losing their money because the renewable energy sectors are encroaching on their markets and squeezing the life out of them.
How do those big companies charge for electricity that will eventually be free from the sun and wind. Solar and wind energy are well on there way to powering future homes, and our vehicles from that. No more oil, no more ICEs except in the major transport industries which I suspect will shift to a biofuel. The whole of the worlds infrastructure will change, the economy will change.
Automakers will have massive amounts lost revenue from service of ICEs and parts over time. That where the big money is for the automakers, not in the sale of the vehicle.
A BIG breakthrough pure EV product. That’s what’s going to launch EVs into the main stream. A “Windows” like product that will CAPTURE consumers interest, not just pique it.
Not that I have that miracle product, or a magic elixir, but it’s out there, and I’d like to at least attempt to find it.
Tags: automakers, Car Makers, Chrysler, engines, Ford, fuel cells, gas, GM, hybrid cars, hybrids, ICE, motors, oil
The Problem With The EV World.
This is a post I recently made to the EVDL list and I figured it noteworthy to repost here on my blog. Some of you may or may not agree. This is simply my opinion.
People are concentrating on building homemade cars and trying to market them to consumers.
Perhaps this is the main problem with the EV world. This might upset some but please don’t get upset. Give me a chance to explain what I mean.
Let’s take a look at look at kit cars. Specifically speaking, the relationship that kit cars have in the auto world as a whole. It’s fringe. It’s been fringe for a LONG time, and it will most likely ALWAYS be fringe. NO offense to kit builders and hobbyists. It’s a niche market. Small and segmented.
My point is that people are trying to pursue the development of EV technology for the inclusion into the main stream auto market from the “kit/conversion” perspective thinking in my opinion wrongly, that this is the way into the mainstream and how to get more people interested in EVs and consider them as a viable alternative for gasoline powered transportation.
This in my opinion is flawed in every way. From a consumer and marketing perspective it’s failure waiting to happen if the main goal it to be taken seriously in the auto world and I liken it to being stuck in the mud with the accelerator at full throttle. You’re most likely going to burn up your motor getting nowhere fast.
I may be new to EVs, but I’m not new to marketing and sales. People want to walk into a store an buy a car. They don’t want to build one. If the ultimate goal is to get “everyone” into EVs then wouldn’t it make sense to take something similar to a top down approach like the X1 and Tesla car are doing. They’re targeting the high performance customers and race circuits to promote the technology. These are the cars that get press, not your home grown kit car. Sorry…
Now, so I don’t ostracize myself and paint myself into a corner I have to say I’m extremely excited about kits and conversions. I’ve always wanted to build a car from scratch and I can only imagine the satisfaction of building something with your hands from the ground up and then driving away in it with a huge sense of accomplishment and joy. WOW! That must be a great feeling! And I still want to distribute components for manufacturers and parts suppliers.
But, satisfaction of self doesn’t sell cars, nor the idea of EVs to your average consumer. Isn’t that who we’re all really targeting? Aren’t we targeting the auto market as a whole? Don’t we want to see EVs in every driveway in America and ultimately the world? And don’t we all who are in this industry know that that’s where this industry is headed?
Then why are people trying to market ice to an Eskimo by trying to get people to buy a “build it yourself” kit or conversion? Sure some will want to, but will they?
That’s fine for me, you, and the odd guy down the street, And there’s a great niche market for it with the increase in DIY home projects and home builders, clubs, and associations. But the average person wants to walk into a store, pick out a vehicle, and drive it home. Perhaps. We should instead market water to a thirsty and dehydrated industry.
The high-end performance sector and the conversion DIY’er niche market will eventually meet in the middle with a solid production car. Not a hybrid, not biofuel, not fuelcell, not hydrogen, not ethenol, but and EV! Electricity runs everything else in our lives from our cell phones, PDAs, laptops, homes, and businesses. Communications and economics already run on electricity, the only thing left is our transportation.
There are thousands of companies pursuing their own goals. The industry is fragmented, and EVs are still fringe. The Solectria, EV1, Tesla, and X1 have started what we all no will be inevitable, the introduction and domination of the auto world by the electric car. Automakers saw the writing on the wall a long time ago, now it’s time, after 175 years since the first EV that EVs become the dominant force in the auto industry.
The question is who is going to be the next Microsoft or Google or Ford of the auto world?
Garage builders who expand into the autoworld will work. Eventually…
I’d like to skip all that and go for the production model straight off. And I believe I’ve got a business model that will do it or at least get the company going in the right direction. To get there you need cash. You need knowledge, and you need people with the same vision. People who can see that point, and are willing to work together to get there. I know that’s what I’m looking for.
What are you looking for?
Tags: auto market, car sales, carmakers, Chevy, Chrysler, Electric Cars, electric vehicles, EV, EV components, EV marketing, EV Parts, EV sales, EV world, EV1, EVs, Ford, GM, Tesla, X1
History of the Electric Car
Have you ever been curious about the history of electric cars? How long have they been around? Who invented them? Why isn’t everyone driving them?
The Electric Auto Association has a nice summary of electric vehicles and their history. As does this page A History of Battery Electric Vehicles from 1834 .