Very interesting Car. But who needs 200 mph? We’d be better off paying for a 200 mpg car!

True, but those with "size complexes" or some such will be drooling for a shiftless supercar. It's the whole "Winning over the public" thing that Al Gore mentioned in an interview one of the local stations was conducting about his movie and for some reason, it really struck a chord with me. Just take a look at a magazine rack at your local 7/11. Pay special attention to the car and fashion mags. What is the predominant theme played out on the covers? SEX APPEAL! AESTHETICS! That's what I mean when I talk about making the Hybrid "cool" and slipping in the sustainability under their noses to bypass the common misconceptions and biases out there fostered by the incumbants...

Oops! If there is a profit motive - and an incentive - the corporations will use their own money for R&D and much more efficiently than if we give them public money to “play” with. Say as in Enron!

I'm not talking about idiotic corporate wealthfare. I should have articulated that better. I would want the money to go to Universities, Colleges, and Non-Profit Think Tank orginisations(hopefully thoroughly vetted ones too).

I guess you could do both in tandem though, the Nanotech sector wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for Clinton and Bush's support and this breakthrough(Nanocapacitors) was most likely the receiver of some government money at some point in it's development life.

Have you ever heard of In-Q-Tel? Apparently it's a CIA's own Venture Capitolist Front Organisations that invests in companies it thinks will help the nation security of your country. Some of their actions recently have raised eyebrows, in that they have been investing, quite heavily, in sustainable energy companies and have been making quite a bit of profit as well. I was wondering how likely it would be if such an organisation was founded by, asy the DOE for the sole purpose of helping viable, with high-potential IP pertaining to energy transmission, production and storage find funding in much the same way as InQTel functions?

[edit on 11-6-2006 by sardion2000]

Competitions may be a good idea as well, hopefully it will have a public appeal category as well where people get to vote on what design they like best over the net, etc...
Getting them into peoples garages should be the priority at this point and if new technologies like the Nanocapacitor, Large Scale Lithium Ion batteries, and Carbon Composite skins are necessary for a viable and desirable outcome, then I say the governments of the world should be putting their best and brightest people on the problem.

If some of those solutions include tax breaks and new "efficiency" taxes that are phased in over a decade, then by all means, lets give it a try. All I'm saying is we shouldn't put all our hopes in one basket. A multi-faceted approach is necessary.

[edit on 11-6-2006 by sardion2000]

posted by sardion2000

True, but those with "size complexes" or some such will be drooling for a shiftless supercar. It's the whole "Winning over the public" thing it really struck a chord with me. Just take a look at a magazine rack at your local 7/11. Pay special attention to the car and fashion mags. What is the predominant theme played out on the covers? SEX APPEAL! AESTHETICS! [Edited by Don W]

OK, S2, I’m forgetting my own youth. Sorry about that. Today I have a 2003 Matrix. Entirely adequate. Once upon a time I had a succession of Nissan Maxima’s. Having no wife, I sometimes go to sleep dreaming of a 1967 Ford with a 427 engine. I never owned one but I always wanted one. I knew I’d be at risk of my life if I got one. I’ve lived this long because I do not have a death wish.

I'm not talking about idiotic corporate wealthfare. I would want the money to go to Universities, Colleges, and Non-Profit Think Tank organizations (hopefully thoroughly vetted ones too).

I guess you could do both in tandem. The Nanotech sector wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for Clinton and Bush's support and the breakthrough (Nanocapacitors) was most likely the receiver of some government money at some point in it's development life.

Well, I live in dread of ADM - Archer Daniels Midland - as one of the world’s most harmful concepts ever devised. Senator Dole - a WW2 genuine hero - was irreverently referred to as the ‘Senator from ADM.’ As Senate Majority Leader he was able singlehandedly to “snatch” millions from the US Treasury to “pay” ADM to make ethanol. A process that consumes 1.5 times as many btu’s as it contains. At the same time, 1000s of people die daily denied the corn based foods that could be sent abroad for less money. The world cannot afford too many more ADMs.

Have you ever heard of In-Q-Tel? Apparently it's a CIA's own Venture Capitolist Front Organisations that invests in companies it thinks will help the nation security of your country. Some of their actions recently have raised eyebrows, in that they have been investing, quite heavily, in sustainable energy companies and have been making quite a bit of profit as well. I was wondering how likely it would be if such an organization was founded by, say the DOE for the sole purpose of helping viable, with high-potential IP pertaining to energy transmission, production and storage find funding in much the same way as In-Q-Tel functions?
[Edited by Don W]

It’s called privatization! America’s treasury has always leaked like a sieve. As you may recall, the US government “bought” the Louisiana Purchase, and therefore, the government, as trustee of the people, owned it. Likewise with the territory we seized from Mexico. The US “bought” Florida from Spain. We bought Alaska from Russia. We took Hawaii from the Hawaiians. We ran the Cherokees out of North Carolina and Georgia. And etc. The US government has owned about 80% of the land mass that makes up the United States.

Today, we have “privatized” large portions of our government. Another concept I hate. It is the beginning of the end of the good thing started here in 1775. Oops. I’m on a rant. Off topic. Yes, I agree that carefully selected NGOs and so on would be a wise way to go, but it is so hard to do right when for example, VP Cheney the No. 2 man in government, is still wed to his old company, Halliburton, which is above any serious audit.

I marvel that the bandits have not stolen all the land. A long time ago. That's the real mystery.


[edit on 6/12/2006 by donwhite]

Lets just hope then invent a monster capacitor that is efficient and compact to intall into my sound system into my car. My 2 fahrad cap is lacking a bit already hehe. gotto have thoses beats on time!!

I dont know much (anything) about this but i have a ?.
Would it be posible to hock the capacator to a battery so that the
capacator could charge battery when it was geting low.
just a ? i dont know.

Originally posted by cylon555
I dont know much (anything) about this but i have a ?.
Would it be posible to hock the capacator to a battery so that the
capacator could charge battery when it was geting low.
just a ? i dont know.

You could dump the capacitor bank into the battery overnight to save as much energy as possible, but while driving the capacitor will be the single biggest energy drain on the car as they will be directly hooked up to 50bhp motors which will be on each wheel. It's biggest energy source will come from a small rotary electricity generator, all the batteries are there for is starting the car, low speed "idling driving"(No motor, no high capacitor demand etc). It's blending the two together which is a challenge. Conceptualizing it is very easy. I hope someone tries to build a car like this by the end of the decade. If Mazda could come out with a hybrid flexi-fuel plugin sportscar at a resonable price(all hinges on how cheap the production methods become), they could take up a brand new slice of the Hybrid market pie.

Ok i think i got what your saying.
You would only need a battery to start the car and get going
so the faster you go the more electricity there is to go even
faster so one could break a land speed record if you had the
room.

Originally posted by cylon555
Ok i think i got what your saying.
You would only need a battery to start the car and get going
so the faster you go the more electricity there is to go even
faster so one could break a land speed record if you had the
room.

Land speed records are class-based I think. The Eliica is the holder for the Electric Car at close to 400 kph(380 I believe). Hybrid, I have no idea what it is, or even could be 10-20 years from now. It will be insane, and most likely, shiftless.