Next generation automobiles?

[Bill Glasheen]

Now and then the car lovers amongst us get into discussions about our passions. And lately I've been talking a bit about new electric technology which may lead to cars of the future.

Tesla motors is a newly-started company I've mentioned. They now have two fully electric vehicles - an expensive 2 seater and a 4-door sedan - which they are gearing up for production which provide both power and reasonable range. The mention of the company and their technologies has brought a certain amount of skepticism, as you might expect. Well... it appears they are getting a vote of confidence from the government in terms of considerable loans to help ramp up production capacity.

A NEW American automobile company making it? Imagine that!

- Bill

By Kimberly S. Johnson And Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writers

DEARBORN, Mich. — The Energy Department said Tuesday it would lend $5.9 billion to Ford Motor and provide about $2.1 billion in loans to Nissan Motor and Tesla Motors, making the three automakers the first beneficiaries of a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the loan recipients at Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn. The loans to Ford will help the company upgrade factories in five Midwest states to produce 13 fuel-efficient vehicles.

Nissan is receiving $1.6 billion to retool its plant in Smyrna, Tenn., to build advanced vehicles and build a battery manufacturing facility.

Tesla would get $465 million in loans to build electric vehicles and electric drive powertrains in California.

- USA Today

[Topos]

"Tesla would get $465 million in loans to build electric vehicles and electric drive powertrains in California."

Where is the energy to charge the cars coming from? Nancy Pelosi's mouth hooked up to a generator?

Silly me, just plug into the wall.

Since there will be no 'evil' unsafe nuclear power ... as in the Air Craft Carriers and Nuclear Subs ... perhaps the happy mythic thinkers hope for solar .... ooops, it has been raining in New England for how long??

Bernie Madoff, The Next Generation. What a gas!

[MikeK]

Don't worry Topos, we'll use clean electricity from coal burning plants. Good thing there's nothing like cap and trade on the table.

The problem in my opinion is that the Obama-nation folks have some conflicting plans. On one hand they want us to be less dependent on oil (or so they say), so we get the electric car idea. On the other hand they want us to be green which means punishing the power companies, who will then pass that cost along to us.

[Bill Glasheen]

Topos

This one has me chuckling a bit. It seems that a recent cap-and-trade environment bill they're pushing through Congress is attempting to tax CO2 production. It also calls for the encouragement of "green" energy sources such as solar and wind. But nowhere (that I have seen) is there mention of the one most reasonable source of energy with no (none, zero, zilch) production of CO2 - nuclear power. Oops!

I love it when the greenies paint themselves into a corner of their own making. Al Gore science pushing nuclear energy? Gotta love it!

I'm all for a renewed interest in nuclear. Believe it or not, France is one country that has decided to go all out with this as a source of their electric power. Currently they produce 80 percent of their electric energy with nuclear.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

The problem in my opinion is that the Obama-nation folks have some conflicting plans. On one hand they want us to be less dependent on oil (or so they say), so we get the electric car idea. On the other hand they want us to be green which means punishing the power companies, who will then pass that cost along to us.

Make no mistake about it; we will pay more for energy in the future.

The Obama/Gore/Pelosi crowd preach energy independence, but truthfully they consider the "dependency" issue to be a red herring. If they didn't have their heads so far up where the moon doesn't shine, they'd see that this is the one and only reason to rally everyone around a cause.

• Electricity is the must fungible source of energy. Once produced, it can be transferred to any point with relative ease.
• With just a little more R&D in battery technology, we'll soon have enough range to match internal combustion engines. Prototypes already exist. Right now they are just hooking thousands of laptop lithium ion batteries together. Packaging and production exclusively for auto use would make this a less expensive, more reliable, and longer lasting technology.
• Nobody really wants to give more money to people and cultures that want us and our way of living to go away. Let them eat sand.
• We are presently subsidizing petroleum energy with our military budget. It costs us a lot in tax dollars to keep the oil flowing through the Persian Gulf. Considering that "minor" detail, our cost of energy for the traditional internal combustion engine is more than the price at the pump.
• Competing energy sources are a good thing in a free market economy. It'll drive the price of oil down. That will spur the global economy, lower inflation, and shrink the trade deficit.

Forget anthropogenic global warming. Electric cars are a good thing, and a way we're going to have to go sooner than later. The sooner we start production, the more likely we (as opposed to Asia) will be driving and making money off of this technology.

Oh and by the way, I don't have any problem with coal-fired plants. Clean 'em up and keep 'em running. We have at least a 2-century supply of the stuff. The same is true for natural gas. All of that can be converted to electricity.

- Bill

[gmattson]

Sue and I were visiting friends in Sarasota, FL two weeks ago and while having breakfast in a local eatery, a beautiful red/orange colored Tesla drove by and parked near the restaurant.

Didn't see who owned the car, but we did get a chance to look it over. Very nice! If it performs as is being promoted and the batteries last awhile, it should sell well to the remaining "yuppies" who didn't give all their money to Matloff for safekeeping!

I understand there is a company that sells a sound system that can be hooked up to your car, that can make your "quiet" electric car (or tame Yugo) sound like a Ferrari on steroids. . . A nice option for the Tesla. . .

[Bill Glasheen]

I understand there is a company that sells a sound system that can be hooked up to your car, that can make your "quiet" electric car (or tame Yugo) sound like a Ferrari on steroids. . . A nice option for the Tesla. . .

Believe it or not, groups lobbying for the blind have asked that electric cars be made to make more noise so the blind can hear them when crossing the street in traffic. Go figure...

On this side of the pond...

The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 was introduced in the US Senate several weeks ago. The intent is to require electric and hybrid vehicles to make a "minimum level of sound" that disabled pedestrians may hear them.

- Technovelgy.com

On the other side of the pond...

Under new proposals, the European Union is set to follow America's lead in forcing manufacturers to fit the vehicles with a simulator to make the same noise as the throaty revs of a petrol engine.

Prototypes of the simulators, which mimic the sound of a sports car, are already being tested in Britain.

Trials are being conducted by Lotus, the sports car maker, in conjunction with Guide Dogs for the Blind. The technology consists of a speaker under the bonnet which is wired to the accelerator pedal, which simulates the revving sound of a petrol engine and becomes louder as the car accelerates.

In order to generate the engine sound, recordings of a suitable donor engine were made and analysed to establish the characteristic frequencies at different engine speeds.

Supporters want the devices introduced before the increasing number of electric vehicles cause serious injuries.

- Tekegraph.co.uk

Imagine this. A young lad wants his electric car to be stealth - maybe to sneak over to his girlfriend's house at night. So he disables the sound box. He subsequently is pulled over and ticketed for improper equipment because... his car is too quiet.

You know... if you want really good fidelity for an auto sound, it's gonna cost you some battery juice!

- Bill

[f.Channell]

Here it is.

http://www.vroombox.com/vroombox/

[Bill Glasheen]

I don't know...

That's what I call a sheep in wolf's clothing. It's like trying to make healthy food taste like nasty food. I'd rather forget what the nasty food tastes like, and readjust my taste buds.

If you drive a van, you drive a van. Making it sound like an V-8 muscle car isn't going to make it drive faster. I'd rather save the money and turbo the engine or something.

I DO understand the need to have an electric make more sound. But what should that sound be like?

Somewhere along those lines, I grew up playing little league with bats made from ash. Now they're aluminum and other assorted alloys, with the wood bats reserved for the professionals. The metal bats in some ways are better, but... I've always had a hard time transitioning my ears from "Crack!" to "Boink!"

- Bill

[MikeK]

I DO understand the need to have an electric make more sound. But what should that sound be like?

How about, "LOOK OUT!!! GETOUTATHEWAY!!!"

I'd be embarrassed to drive an electric and have a recording of a '69 Chevelle SS playing.