"Just do it"

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reikiman
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"Just do it"

usatracy had a post, Re: Who killed the Electric car????, saying essentially 'quit yer bitchin and just do it'. So, yeah, that's a powerful attitude to take. But maybe each of us has our own end goal.. not every one of us is up to the task of building an EV car company, but each of us has our own thing we can just do. In the U.S. there is a huge barrier to entry for highway capable four-wheeler cars and while Tesla Motors proves it's possible to get a vehicle on the road and begin selling it the history of vehicle companies shows many who have tried this and had a hard time getting to the goal.

I myself appreciate things which have easier barriers to entry so you can just get to the business of doing it than spending lots of effort preparing to do it.

For example there are tons less requirements to get into selling bicycles and it would be much a easier business to enter. And, for that matter, setting up an Internet message forum has a pretty low barrier to entry, and that was something I could just do...wink...wink...

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I posted... "How they got 470 MPG" The idea is that aerodynamics can improve vehicle effeciency dramatically. 470 miles/gallon was really achieved by a motorcycle in a fuel efficiency contest. I've been doing some research and fairly soon I'll be able to experiment with a fairing on my Lectra. I'm turning up lots of ways aerodynamics have been improved to get much better vehicle efficiency.

This evening I found a couple build writeups along this same line.. Basjoos Tells All About His "95 MPG" Aerocivic (Aerocivic - how to drop your Cd from 0.34 to 0.17) and 5th generation civic hatchback - improving aerodynamics (5th generation civic hatchback - improving aerodynamics) ...

The build techniques are very simple and I could easily imagine building a company to sell simple modifications to popular vehicles that improve their efficiency.

In general.. ah.. I think there's a time for talking about what you want.. and there's a time for taking action to get it.

evDreamer
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Re: "Just do it"

Crap...the Google books is just a preview with only 3 chapters...and the chapter I want is not one of them. Guess I'll have to go to the library.

Back to the topic: why or why not Just do it.
Doesn't anyone else have any explanations why a business to convert gliders to BEV may not be viable?
Everyone says it's not rocket science, and we all do our own conversions quite handily.
So James Worden started Solectria to create a new BEV, and also did conversions based on a Suzuki compact glider and I believe was quite successful making a profit with it. 65mph for ~50miles with 3 phase AC motor, 13 SLA (156v), 2800lbs.
Does anyone know how much it originally sold for? Was it too expensive?

Do I have to get anal again before I get a response out of people }:) ?

Here's one for sale in Reno: http://reno.craigslist.org/car/521001320.html
Here's an owner's site: http://portev.org/solectria/ho/evphoto.htm

jdh2550_1
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Re: "Just do it"

I don't know any of the answers - so go on, get anal, find 'em out and let us all know!

I suspect that there was a lack of a market for them - however, the market may be more ready this time around.

Also, if you read the owner's page you posted it actually sounds like Solectra wasn't starting with a glider - but actually starting with an ICE version and doing a full "rip and replace" conversion.

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

evDreamer
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Re: "Just do it"

You're right...that site says Solectria was pulling the ICE out of the Metros...and it was 1997...near the end of their production. Wow I need to read more closely to pick up the small clues. Sure they could sell it to recoup some costs, but with the extra labor...perhaps they were selling at high prices only to fleet customers. I know most of the buyers were utility companies. So far I can't find anything about how much it was selling for as Brand New.

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