It's Electric and it's FAST!

We WheelsTV bloggers are pretty much a bunch of gearheads with the skinned knuckles and grease under our fingernails to prove it. So, you'd think we were married to the gasoline-powered infernal combustion engine. I say infernal (of or related to hell) because, when you think about it, there have been countless wars over oil and too much misery.

Now back when domestic oil was plentiful and cheap we blissfully spent our weekends working on our cars, customizing our cars, driving our cars, racing our cars and occasionally smashing our cars, never really giving much thought to the future or to other ways of powering our metal friends.

With the shock of the '70's oil crises and now the middle east mess, everyone is looking around for other ways to get from zero to 60 in under five seconds. Well, as the guys here at WheelsTV have pointed out, electricity...and particularly electricity from wind and solar, is a real answer that is here now.

Sure, GM's EV1 was a victim of bad timing but sometimes it takes an entrepreneurial startup to make people realize that there are answers to problems right under our noses.

Tesla Motors is a good example of what can be done with some guts, brains and courage. With the sum of just $25M, this Silicon Valley startup has developed a two seater that will do everything we car buffs love...go from 0 to 60 in just 4 seconds, travel a respectable 250 miles on a single charge, and give a ride that is fun and exciting.

Martin Eberhard, the company's founder and chief executive, is a visionary and also a shrewd businessman. He named the company Tesla after the great Serbian pioneer in electricity, Nicola Tesla. Tesla's work forms the basis for modern alternating current and the AC motor. Although he is also credited by some as the inventor of the radio, (most credit Italian inventory Marconi) he never gained significantly from his inventions and died penniless in New York City in 1943 at the age of 86.

I don't see this happening to Eberhard or to Tesla Motors. The Tesla Roadster uses a carbon fiber body that was designed in the traditional fashion from quarter-sized clay model to full-sized prototype. Its battery pack of thousands of consumer grade lithium-ion cells feed an electric motor that weighs just seventy pounds! For those who are familiar with electric motors, the weight savings alone is amazing. As with all electric motors, torque is as strong at one rpm as it is in the high ranges, unlike gas or diesel engines that require rpms to build torque. And the Tesla Roadster's engine can wind up to 13,000 rpm. Try that with any gas-powered engine!

So, here is a car that will cost about a penny per mile for fuel, has head-snapping performance, turns on a dime and burns no gas! Rumor has it that Tesla may be adding solar cells to the roof for charging while you work (as I suggested in an earlier blog). At $85k-$100k, the Tesla Roadster is still a car for high-rollers. But, with volume will come economies of scale. And who knows, maybe the company that bought Hummer will be smart enough to align themselves with a true visionary and crank out Teslas at prices we can all afford.

Now, if we can all put a windmill on our roof or in our back yards, we won't even need those big oil fired power plants and maybe we'll finally wean ourselves off our dependence on foreign oil!

For more information, go to http://www.teslamotors.com/.

Plug-in Hybrids on the Way

It looks like Toyota is once again going to eat GM's, Ford's and Chrysler's lunch. Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America Inc. spoke at the National Press Club on Tuesday, July 18th and let it be known that Toyota won't stop at straight gas-electric hybrids but plans to explore going further in the direction of battery power with development of a plug-in car. Now unless the electricity comes from hydro, wind or nuclear, we probably won't cut down on our use of oil. But, with a plug-in hybrid we might approach the magic 100 mile per gallon mark! I'd end up using 4 gallons a week vs. 22 gallons and saving over $50!

I guess what I don't understand is why the not so big three are not moving more quickly to provide more efficient vehicles. Instead, they are laying off workers, moving plants to Mexico and building a new generation of muscle cars. Honestly, I love the new Mustang, Camaro and Charger. But, the average family is getting squeezed by gas prices and that affects the American economy. $50 a week will buy a lot of groceries, pay for a dinner for two in a family restaurant or for those less fortunate, pay the heat bill in the dead of winter.

Electric power has been around since a teenaged Ferdinand Porsche was winning races on Austria's Semmering Highway with his front wheel drive electric back in 1900. Not only that, but Porsche actually created a gas/electric hybrid, the "Mixt", that ultimately saw service on fire-fighting trucks in Vienna and London.

So, here we are over 100 years later, with Toyota leading the way back to battery power while the domestic OEM's scratch their heads and wonder why sales are down. What's wrong with this picture?

Why not Solar???

Back in the seventies when fuel shortages caused a general panic in the U.S., solar energy got very hot. Solar panels and electricity-generating solar cells suddenly appeared to be the answer to all of our energy problems. Of course, once the oil began to flow again, Americans quickly forgot about solar and just lined up at the pump or waited for the oil man to deliver more liquid gold. Solar heat and solar powered cars became curiosities relegated to Popular Science Magazine and World Solar Challenge races.

So, here we are 30 years later getting pinched at the pump thanks to trouble in the middle east and a lack of interest on the part of the public.

While biofuels and hybrid powered cars are taking hold and proving their worth, there does not seem to be much going on with solar energy even though, technically, every form on energy on the planet starts with the sun.

With the price of solar cells at about 10% of what they were 20 years ago I would think that someone could come up with an efficient way to power a car. We drive to work, park in a big open, sunny lot for eight to nine hours and then drive home. That big roof panel and trunk lid could be scooping up power to get us around. But, I guess we'll have to wait for some additional incentives to come from Washington or for gas to hit $5.00 a gallon before we take off our sun glasses.

CARS Worth the Trip

I finally got around to seeing the Disney/Pixar movie, Cars. No, I don't have any kids under age 19 and yes, I went with just my wife...no children. There were about 50 adults in the theater and 10 kids. I have to tell you that I have not seen an animated feature since 1999's Iron Giant, which I saw with my nephews..and enjoyed!

Back to CARS...I wanted to check out what all of the talk was about and see if there actually was some fun to be had for adults with animation and cars. The answer is...it's up to you. If you can REALLY suspend disbelief, its worth the drive. If you need real people doing real things on the screen, you might want to wait until CARS is available via video on demand.

The animation is great. The story line is fun. The characters have personality. I have always felt that our cars are extensions of our personalities. But, I had a hard time with the lack of human presence in the film. With this said, about half-way through the movie, about when Lightning McQueen is befriended by Doc Hudson, (a '51 Hudson Hornet voiced by Paul Newman) who prefers to keep his former racing fame a secret, I found myself being drawn into the plot and actually caring about the characters. Doc's tips on racing ultimately help Lightning in a showdown with Chick Hicks and "The King."

Once the cars came to life for me, Cars also came to life. Lightning's blossoming relationship with Sally the Porsche touched me. His new pal, Mater, was a tow truck worth listening to. The storyline is a classic story of pride coming before a fall, adversity bringing out the best in someone...or some car, and in true Hollywood tradition, redemption and a big, happy ending.

I particularly enjoyed the attention to the little details. Watch for the tire track clouds and "natural" stone formations in the shapes of hoods, quarter panels, hood ornaments and Cadillac tails ala Cadillac Ranch of Amarillo, Texas. Lightning gets a makeover while stuck in Radiotor Springs and goes from looking like a C6 Corvette to looking more like a 55-56 Vette.

One detail that worried me going in: Guido and Luigi, who run the local tire store got my attention, primarily because I'm Italian-American and am pretty tired of charicatures based upon ethnic stereotypes. But, even here, although they treaded very closely to thin ice, for me at least, the Pixar gang pulled it off with humor and respect.

Having driven the Route 40 Interstate that parallels Route 66 and driven the Mother Road, I found the historic accuracy right on, as well as the many little details: from Doc Hudson's racing tips to Richard Petty's #43 1970 Superbird.

Cars took on a big job: Creating an animated feature that entertains "kids of all ages." To my way of thinking, they get an A for effort. Everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy it. Check it out and let me know what you think. Here's a tip: If you go, be sure to stay through the credits. There are some great "out-takes" that you should not miss.

That's all for now from The Driver's Seat!
Thanks for reading and please drive safely.
Jim