Hi. My name’s Brent and this is my second attempt to start a site that tracks my progress in building an electric car. Yes yes, GM’s done that, and is getting ready to do it now [again]. And yes, Tesla Motors and Phoenix Motor Cars have done fantastic work at producing solid proof-of-concepts and as soon as I see one for sale to regular people, I’ll be dancing in the streets.
In the meantime… I think I can come up with something that doesn’t cost fifty large (or 100, thank you very much Tesla) and that still meets and exceeds my needs.
If you’re reading my site, you already know all about the dozens of people who have built electric cars based on Geo Metros, forklift motors and car batteries. Personally, I think they’re pretty damned cool. And for how much they’ve managed to not spend on these examples of electric mobility, they’re great.
But if you’re like most people, knowing that the distance from work to home and back is just about within reach of your electric car isn’t a good enough reason to go to all the trouble of building one. What if you take a detour? Suddenly your “ample” 40 mile range isn’t so ample. And if you’re like me, you just don’t like the idea of feeling like you’re running on empty from the moment you leave your driveway in the morning.
That’s where the cars from Tesla and Phoenix… and yes, even GM… come in. They appeal to the idea of American independence because in addition to helping us be a little tiny bit less dependent on oil, they actually let us have the freedom to *not* plan out our daily commute like it’s a sherpa-guided hike up Mount Everest. Two-hundred and fifty miles on a charge — that’s the Tesla claim. Phoenix says they have ranges like that in the can. GM’s Volt has a 40-mile all electric range, but the gas engine can continue to juice the thing up for a few hundred miles. Now we’re talkin!
“So okay,” you say. ”Why are you going to bother if the big players are going to deliver on the promise of pollution-lite driving any day now?” Because, as of today, big industry hasn’t made good on its promises. Because as of today, the last production electric car to have any traction in California is a distant memory. Because as of today the cars of tomorrow are too expensive and are marketed to fail. Because as of today, even the best of the best hopes are powered by batteries made from rare and toxic metals, leading to another potential supply and demand chokehold on the consumer.
I have a plan in my head. It’s not a particularly detailed plan, and who knows? It might not be a particularly good plan either. But I think if I start building and tinkering and… doing… I might just be able to come up with something that can go 100+ miles on a charge, or more. Something that will cost less than my annual salary. Something that will (perhaps most importantly) make a difference.
The first part of the plan: Make it open source. I want to take a lesson out of the Linux book. Aside from a usability standpoint (where unified vision really does make a difference), Linux is a shining example of what can happen when thousands of people work together for a common goal.
I say this as I type on my MacBook. The Mac OS *is* the de facto usability standard for an end-user GUI operating system. It’s beautiful, it works, it’s consistent. They’re qualities that the various linux interfaces sometimes lack. Having a unifying vision of what the computing experience should be like is no different than deciding that everyone in the U.S. should drive on the right side of the road.
I think an electric car should not be a can of exotic metals. I think an electric car should be affordable. I think an electric car *can* be successfully made without spending millions on overwrought aerodynamics. I think it can be done. Wanna help?
