Andy Grove plugs in to electric cars
Driving the point home
INTEL’S RETIRED CHAIRMAN, Andy Grove, has found himself a new retirement hobby in the form of electric plug-in hybrid cars.
Talking to AP, 71 year-old Grove talked about how essential it was to find alternatives to ever-expensive and polluting petrol, saying "It is urgent. It is important that everything else is secondary."
The technology Grove is pushing is already under development in a few major car manufacturers including Toyota and General Motors, who have already built prototypes of electric plug-in cars which can drive about 65km before needing to charge up again.
Some of these electric plug-ins should be finding their way to market by 2010, but Grove reckons the US should be doing more to convert cars already on the road to "dual fuel", so that they would be able to run on either petrol or electricity.
Grove reckons that a little government push could kick start the engine of electric car take up in the US, and has called for government tax incentives which would lower the risks for battery developers as well as partially fund conversion kits.
He also reckons utility companies could do their bit by offering free electricity to plug ins for the first year and a half.
Drawing comparisons between the plug-in hybrid movement and the Homebrew Computer Club of the 1970s, which went some way for laying the groundwork for PCs, Grove noted: "The personal computer [...] went to individuals first before it went to corporations". He added "Electric cars, [...] the corporations are sitting, wishing this whole friggin' thing to go away. Which is exactly what the computer companies' attitude was to personal computers."
Grove who, when he’s not playing with electric cars, teaches at Stanford University, says he will be teaching his next year’s students all about electric cars in the hope that they will share his enthusiasm. He concluded: "I think technologically it's doable. I think the logic is pretty compelling". Sadly, we’re not sure it's logical for the oil companies who still want to squeeze us for billions and billions for a good few years to come. µ
L’Inq
AP
Comments
Light Cars That Kill
Almost as 100% fatal as Motorcycle, Electric Cars often are in Near 1,000 pound range. Truck zooms by, You & Your Vechile Look Like Piece of Trash Swept Off Highway By Wind.Motor GetsSo Hot Its Got To Be Some Joke To Expect It To Continue, Lamps (Head & ACC+Stop) Eat So Much Power, Driving Might Be Less Than 20 Miles. power Field given Off By Stator Wipe Your Mind Out, Permanently of Past Memory. Does Msr. Grove Claim To Actually Use Such Mess For Daily Useage For Years? Probably NOT.
Maybe sJet HumVee? Or Even Ultie Running Shoes, NOT electric Vechile of Any Sort. Unless fork Lift is Vechile or Sego,Both of Which Only kills Public, NOT You. Resultant Mess of ANY Electric Vechile is Unforunately Impossible To Repair:Its DOWNER Thingie.Remember:First To Accident Site Gets d' Kill.
Electro drashek
It IS SO logical for energy companies to support e-cars
Do you really think they CARE whether we pay at the pump, or monthly based on meter readings?I find that hard to believe... They get their $$$ either way, and to suggest that they'd rather ship physical product to hundreds of thousands of small locations, rather than to a few large generators, is kind of silly.
There might be some fallout re: comparative margins, as well as sunk cost into existing infrastructure, but over the longer haul, they get the $$$. Don't you worry about that!
What ever happened to 48 volt electrical systems
With all the silly hype about all electrics and hybrids I ask, whatever happened to 48 volt electrical systems. These puppies were supposed to be out by now and would (will) stop and start the gas engine when the car stops (seamlessly).Wouldn't these cars offer comparable gas mileage to hybrids? (Of course, on a hot day it would be nice to keep the AC running).
Interim
After bashing battery life, battery disposal and batteries in general, I've learned that local power plants produce electricity more efficiently than using gasoline for driving so plugging in your vehicle for charging is not all that bad.Re: What ever happened to 48 volt electrical systems
{With all the silly hype about all electrics and hybrids I ask, whatever happened to 48 volt electrical systems. These puppies were supposed to be out by now and would (will) stop and start the gas engine when the car stops (seamlessly). }Its 42v,
there are several on the market already, just not well Publicized:
http://www.hybridcars.com/shop-by-technology/stop-start
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/citroen-c3-1.4-16v-stop-and-start-1004467.html
Do you want baloney with that?
With many utilities around the country begging their customers to curb the demand of electricity (e.g., mandatory remotely controlled thermostats in CA), I have to wonder how asinine are these supporters and these reporters to miss the elephant in the room.