We had a leading edge battery development company in the next town over. It
went to Mexico under NAFTA. All the 'Mericans were fired. Starting with the
engineers. I have the shop tables and some of the maintenance goodies in my
shop now. If those promised batteries were going to happen as the politicians
have planned, it wouldn't have all been given away. I hope those politicians
are at least greedy enough to understand this. Oh, and NOTHING further has
happened in Mexico. No surprise there, right?
In the end, NO batteries have been developed that hold even 1% as much energy
by weight or volume as gasoline. This is NOT going to change soon no matter how
many nonengineering types wish it so. Also, a battery is just an energy storage
device, not an energy source. A cell phone is a way lighter mass than a person
to haul around. Golf carts are about as big as batteries really are effective
for. There are some forklifts and of course locomotives that run electrics, but
they are far from what a Miata is, and they are not new or magic.
During the Carter scare my buddy and I converted a VW to electric power. We
bolted a forklift motor to the transaxle and filled it up with car batteries
until the tires wanted to burst. It sort of ran for about 30 miles, then needed
a couple of days to recharge and was great fun for about a week. We pretended
that we would stick a portable generator in the car to charge the batteries.
Hey, we were 30 years ahead of that! Maybe better yet a third motor of some
sort would be good! Haw about a jet powered freeway merge system? Then we were
back to our "horse and buggy" real cars. Can you show any real effort on your
behalf to justify this lecture/ debate?
Batteries and steam were more popular than gasoline until Mr Ford made it
far otherwise [in spite of very little infrastructure to source gasoline], not
a good debate point for you maybe to cite Ford.
Maybe we all ought to pray for Doc Brown's Mr Fusion box. And Unicorns.
Dennis Hale
From: Donni Howell <[email protected]>
>To: Dennis Hale <[email protected]>
>Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
>Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 11:34 AM
>Subject: Re: Miata electric conversion
>
>
>I wish we had email records from back when the "horseless carriage" was
>introduced. I'm sure many considered it stupid, since most people that could
>afford them probably already had horses. Why bother changing anything, ever?
>
>There will be battery technology innovation that makes it more viable, and
>there will be a Henry Ford (more likely a corporation of one sort or another
>of course) that can make it all affordable. I heart the internal combustion
>engine and it's glorious symphony of mechanical and combustion noises and
>complexity; but it isn't infinitely sustainable. It won't disappear from the
>earth for a good while yet, but it will be replaced over time just like all
>technological marvels.
>
>You don't have to embrace it, but change is the only thing you can count on to
>stay the same.
>
>
>On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 1:40 PM, Dennis Hale <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Will it be so fuzzy happy after "they" figure out that you owe $2500 a year in
>"fair" road maintenance tax you're not paying at the pump? Will "they" just
>add road tax to all electrical bills? And when "they" delete the $7500 subsidy
>to the folks rich enough to play the electric game will it still be so good to
>putt along in the truck lanes in a heavy short range sled? Is this the Miata
>list or the Toyota Pious list?
>>Dennis Hale
>>
>>From: Brian Pifer <[email protected]>
>>>To: Larry Alster <[email protected]>
>>>Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; "[email protected]"
>>><[email protected]>
>>>Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:14 AM
>>>
>>>Subject: RE: Miata electric conversion
>>>
>>>
>>>I don’t normally chime in because others have more knowledge and are faster
>>>than I. But I take issue with your assertion that “battery electric cars
>>>are still a stupid idea.”
>>>
>>>Yes, they have drawbacks (limited range & higher initial cost), but they
>>>also have advantages (lower operating cost & less foreign oil dependence).
>>>Current electric cars are not for everyone and you really need a second
>>>“long distance” car for road trips.
>>>
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>>[email protected]
>>http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower
>>
>>
>
>
>--
>"It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue..."
>-Queen Elizabeth II
>
>
>
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