33Nick

Why Ford Is a Goner

Mayb part of the answer could come from France that is subsidizing Renault and has the Peugeot/Citroen group on its own. Somehow they both manage to operate.

Ford could become the U.S. Peugeot and continue its lead, IF it reworks intelligently its business model and finds the right investors.

The Electricnick.com team.

Auto Manufacturing - An Industry Whose Time Is Up

Unfortunately, most modern big businesses have no contingency plans, a reality we all too often see. It shouldn't be too shocking to see that happening with the likes of GM and Chrysler. It is not surprising to see their business plans not having backup plans. What is surprising is why then did we have financial and business man run these car companies then?

Yes, the 2000s are for more nimbler companies that have exit strategies and contingency plans.

The Electricnick.com team.

The New Detroit Isn't in Detroit

It seems it will have to be a joint venture whereas the startups will bring innovations to the table and hopefully the mainstream companies will use their mass producing infrastructure to create them. It will have to happen this way.

In the meantime, California has been the hotbed of automobile innovations for decades. Just look at the skunworks neatly tucked away in hidden hangars there.

The Electricnick.com team.

Toyota Far Surpasses GM When It Comes to EV

It goes back to the same point many people are making, there are many types of batteries for EV, depending on your needs.

Although, we would like to point that Toyota is no angel when it comes to EVs, having quoted some of its top managers saying when they built the RAV4 EV, they built too well and couldn't make money off of them. Indeed, there was very little maintenance cost. What did Toyota do, instead of "developing" this great technology? It simply yanked out the vehicles, despite a very strong following.

In the end, we believe lead-acid and their derivatives are great for city dwellers and heavy equipment, NiMH is a good compromise for performance/range/price and when it comes to pure performance, lithium tops it, albeit at a price premium.

The Electricnick.com team.

Will Green Cars Make Detroit Profitable?

One of our staff member has a 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider with a supped up engine that gets 25mpg and can still hold its own next to bloated Beemers. And who needs AC anyway? We've grown to become such softies.

Electricnick.com


On May 04 09:11 AM john s. gordon wrote:

> i have a small green car (green paint was redone a couple yrs ago).
>
> it has a 2 litre engine.
> it gets 33 mpg if i keep rebuilding the carburetor.
> it has a 5-speed manual xmission (automatics waste gas).
> it has no a/c (they waste gas too).
> i bought it new in 1974. i had to fight off other would-be buyers
> because the dealer couldn't get product from the factory (he would
> have sold it to someone else for 500 over list).
> it was built in japan.
> i think i'll keep it.
> am i ahead of a trend somehow?

GM Default: Who Didn't See This Coming?

We wonder what happens to the bailout loans it received from the government?

Electricnick.com

The Debate Continues: Why GM May Survive

Unfortunately, politicians are often more the root of problems, which they ravel in creating to then be seen as saviors when trying to fix them. Ultimately, consumers do have the power neatly tucked in their wallet in the shape and form of a plastic card, otherwise known as a credit card.

By buying what we like, gauge the quality versus desire, we make strong statements about what we want.

In the meantime, we're for electric cars and solar panels on our roofs.

Electricnick.com

Six Cars That Represent the Future of Driving

We have practical solutions now that don't require far out, decades away hydrogen technology. Plug-in hybrids are being driven right now and if well used, mostly on electricity. Finally, electric cars are available and outperforming their dated gas cousins.

What we need to do is keep a clear focus, electric car, develop battery technology and build an infrastructure.

Electricnick.com

For Your Amusement: General Motors' Restructuring Plan

What we are worried about at this stage is the lack of long term plans, or even second stage plans. Throwing money at companies that were mismanaged is puzzling but the fact that we are cutting funds for education, when we need more engineers for tomorrow is downright frightening.

Nick
Electricnick.com

What's an American Car These Days?

There is almost no such tings as "Buy American" or "Buy French", or buy anything where almost all products have components part made all around the planet. It's a nice way to keep attention away from more important things happening.

Li-ion Batteries: A Speculative Field of Dreams

Hi John,

The idea is not to find an end in itself but to keep open to new technologies and realize that nothing rests, everything changes. Car companies are not addressing core problems of having a business model that relies too heavily on car maintenance.

We need to look down the road at new technologies. Apparently we are moving more and more into hybrid batteries, which makes perfect sense using lithium/ultracaps for small sports car, while using lead acid based or similar technologies/ultracaps for heavier vehicles.

Electric cars require much less maintenance than gas cars. On the flip side, switching over to lithium means costly battery pack swaps every few thousand miles or so. It seems we are trading one hostage for another.

Li-ion Batteries: A Speculative Field of Dreams

Hi John,

The idea of thinking 20 years down the road is not to find a solution for everything but keep open to the fact that nothing rests, everything changes. If companies adopt that thinking, then we can progress instead of staying stagnant for decades as we witnessed the car industries for past decades and be held hostage. It's a question of using what we have now for the short term while working on solution to get us into the future.

In this sense I like what you wrote about the use of more conventional batteries. It makes perfect sense now to work on hybrid batteries with small sports cars using lithium and ultracaps, while heavier vehicles could used lead based batteries and ultracaps. The idea is to get to work on future systems while using what we have today. And while we are at it, work on a business model that sells car with little maintenance.

Li-ion Batteries: A Speculative Field of Dreams

The problem is that again, no one is looking to solve the core problem, that of building a fundamental business model selling electric cars. In theory, normal battery cars require close to no maintenance and car makers cannot function on that, since they heavily rely on maintenance. They see Lithium batteries as replacing the easily worn out gas engine.

The sad part is that no one seems to be thinking more than two decades down the road. Lithium might be good for some cars, some of the time, but certainly everything seems to be pointing at hybrid batteries. Thanks John for your work :) And did we mention where most lithium metal deposits are? Countries that are not always aligned with the rest of the world.

Incredible how some companies never really fundamentally change.

Nick
Electricnick.com

Toyota, GM, Ford: Showing Off Green Cars Amid Economic Gloom

Beyond dissing Toyota and all, when you say: "Rav 4 in the early part of the decade, but it didn't sell well" Beg to differ. Have you seen the resale values of those things? In fact on our blog, electricnick.com, we quote Toyota management finally admitting they couldn't make money on it, not that they couldn't sell it. They built it too well.

The problem with big companies and hybrids, and electric cars, is that the current business model relies too much on maintenance and after sales service. That won't work well, especially with electric cars that have close to no maintenance. Just google RAV4 EV owners and see what they have to say, nothing until the shocks needed changing at 60,000 to 70,000 miles. Not many gas cars can say the same.

These companies need to figure out the business model before they come out with the technology, which, by the by, is already here...

Bush's Auto Plan Will Test Obama's Union Loyalties

It's really sad that ultimately, beyond the surface, it is yet again another political gang war where people will get hurt. Enough with ideological politics, we need to get a move on now.