http://www.winonadailynews.com/special-section/progress/article_ac92c976-ddaf-11e2-be64-001a4bcf887a.html From electric cars to the weed eater, Alma man has turned inventing into a lifelong career By Mary Juhl [6/30/2013]
[image / (Andrew Link/Winona Daily News) http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/winonadailynews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/1e/b1e8a255-83f6-5fde-924b-d1714b559cd3/51b0a7d95a4f7.preview-620.jpg Inventor Bob Albertson of Alma, Wis., has an all-electric Ford Ranger he's been working on for car makers ] ALMA, Wis. -- Whether he’s awake or asleep, Bob Albertson is always working. The 76-year-old inventor “programs” his thoughts each evening so that he’ll continue to create new ideas in his dreams ... Albertson’s ... 50-plus year career, he’s created numerous prototypes and secured more than 200 patents, 48 for products currently on the market. And he has 12 products in the works waiting to be licensed. Albertson’s work includes patents on ... an ATV electric vehicle ... His philosophy is simple. “Find something that bugs you, and figure out how to make it better,” Albertson said ... One invention he spends a considerable amount of time on these days has been in the works for about 40 years: the electric car. Albertson’s electric version of a 2011 Ford Ranger eliminates 29 traditional car parts--no need for sparkplugs or oil filters. It can travel up to 80 miles per hour, and has a re-chargeable battery that lasts 100 miles and can be purchased at one-tenth the cost of the lithium battery found in hybrid cars. The vehicle is a money-saver all around: Albertson estimates the retail value would be about $20,000. At one point he was working with the Ford Ranger plant in St. Paul, Minn., on possible plans to make the truck, but they never came to fruition: Ford closed the plant in 2011. While he’d like to see the vehicle hit the market within the next three years or so and has several interested buyers, Albertson continues to deal with roadblocks presented by politicians and private industries, he said. “Electric is the future--don’t you want to get with the times?” Albertson said. “The table is turning. They can’t fight it any longer--it’s here.” Albertson works and lives out of his shop near Alma, and he’s not the only inventor on the premises. His wife of nearly 50 years, Patricia Albertson, holds patents for a refrigerated cooler, gluestick dispenser, and a spray bottle. “She put up with me all these years,” Albertson said ... Whatever the future holds, Albertson will continue to create and innovate. “I’ve had a 100-percent batting average on everything I’ve come up with,” he said. [© 2013, Winona Daily News] For all EVLN posts use: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date Here are today's archive-only EV posts: EVLN: Beijing's BMW ActiveE project, 20 residents participating EVLN: Shocking Little Electric Motorcycle Ads EVLN: Westland electric tiltrotor quadrocopter (video) EVLN: "We fill our cars with sunshine" in Santa Cruz, CA + EVLN: UCM auto-program students study Smith e-trucks, & hybrids (video) {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Inventor-Albertson-s-2011-Ranger-EV-conversion-r-100mi-ts-80mph-tp4663947.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
