If a little guy in a home garage can make this, what are all the big car makers doing in all their giant labs? What have all the Detroit automakers been doing?





www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/56-Electric-Drag-Racing

 

It's all politics and money. Could you imagine all electric cars, how much money will the big shots lose, how many jobs are gone in the oil industry, starts from the oil companies, refineries, fuel trucks, and gas stations. It goes on and on.So the old saying applies, you scratch my back, I scratch yours

 

Sorry, but you guys don't appreciate how much work is required to develop and sell a new technology while being sure that the car will work for 200,000 miles under the full range of environmental conditions while driven by complete idiots who will sue at a moment's notice. One guy in his garage building a car that only has to run a quarter mile at a time and who can fix the thing is NOTHING like building a mass market product.

 

It's all appreciated, but how many cars now are ever going to see 200,000 miles. For instance up here in Canada we have cash for clunkers, get $3000 for a car that is 2003 which you guys had too.

 

A lot more than you think. My 1999 crewcab dually has a quarter million miles and it's just getting started. The 454 is untouched except for new injectors. My wife's 1990 Civic is just under 200K.

And even if you change that number to 100,000 miles, it still doesn't change what I wrote.

 

Well that is fine, us older people will hang on to the older cars but the new generation of drivers coming out are not going to keep a car very long. Today's world is a throw away society. If it's broke, don't fix buy a new one. For instance I have an 07 chevy dually , 70,000 miles or so. Any thing breaks on that truck, they don't repair the broken part, it is thrown out. look at your 99 dually, if that was a diesel, lets say the injection pump blew. That isn't fix, in the dump it goes and for $2500 you get a new pump.Technology, why can't they get 50/60 miles a gallon, it can be done, it's been done before.

 

sure you can get 60 plus mpg. but then you have to meet all the EPA requirements, oops now you are down to 50, now you have to meet all the safety requirements for the gov. that adds 800 pounds, oops now you are down to 40. now do it on ethenol based fuels that have 70% the btu's per gallon vrs real gasoline and you are down to 35 mpg. as Joe said it is easy for someone in their garage to build some thing, it is another to build it so it can actually be sold to the public. as to the life of a car if they are such throw aways the factory would not warranty so many for 100,000 miles if they didnt think they would be around for far longer than that. my 96 GMC dually has 270,000 on it and my Lexus has 131,000 on it. most people I know have cars with over 100k and none of them are considering trading for new even with the incentives.

 

okay point taken, but then the one question I have is that we have all these emissions to meet,before we were getting 30 mpg before all this emission control, now we are getting 15 if lucky 20 mpg. To me the math doesn't add up, we burn more but have less emissions? Some thing doesn't make sense.

 

im just speaking for myself but many veichals last 200,000 miles easily. i got a 1993 grand marquise with just under 300,000 and runs decent and and burns oil. Im in highschool and many kids that there parents buy them a veichal and they leave the parking lot and have there cars/pickups 5000 rpm and there is a few that have way over 200,000 and still get them around somewhat decently for being beat to hell

 

Agreed - lab and garage work is much different than mass production for the masses.


I never thought my company (TI) would get involved with any vehicle racing, but we are now!
Hi current battery management, motor controllers, and charging circuitry.

This is a completely electric motorcycle with one gear, no clutch, and can go over 160MPH. 141HP and 115ft/lbs of torque. Really cool.
http://ridemission.com/motorsport/mission-r

Note the TI Badge emblazoned on the side of the bike...
Of course the batteries only have to last a mile or so for racing. Maybe later the technology would make for electric mopeds for congested areas.

TI - not just calculators anymore...
Watch for us at a race track near you...

 

What's the deal with the mpg? When I was 16 I had a 69 Chevelle that got 25 on the highway on a great day. Tailwind, etc. My friend and I used to see who could get the best down to school while in college. Now I have two ford taurus that get an average of 19. They can't get out of their own way! Boring as hell. One would think that by now the mpg would have gotten better. Safety is way better but efficiency is lower IMO.