August 19, 2008 by Rob.

SCAM WARNING!  Do not mistake this post for an endorsement - this is a warning to stay away from these kits!

I’ve been wondering if those ICE water conversion kits could actually work.  I have never met ANYONE who installed or got benefit from these kits.  The only people who claim they work also sell them.  BEWARE.

I was pushed over the edge by back-to-back twitter SPAM follows that are clearly just link hounds.  They have “bogus234″ handles with cheerleader pictures and a single twit linking back to their shell web site.   It that does not scream out SCAM then please wire me some money so that my work-from-home Nigerian uncle can liquidate his day trading fortunes and make you a viagra millionaire! It’s a sure thing.

Posted in ICE Cars, Rants | 1 Comment »

August 14, 2008 by Rob.

I’m dumping more of my AustinEV threads into the blog.  I figure my audience is bigger than AustinEV (sorry guys).  In case it’s not obvious, I do not endorse, support, or affirm Joby’s POV.

Comment from Joby:

It’s easy to say “We should develop alternative energy”, but how do you propose that would happen?   The PV industry has been working hard for that cost /KW manufacturing breakthrough that would make solar cost effective for 40 years with very slow improvement.  The Wind farms only work in certain areas and they are far far away from population centers which is why T Boone wants the Feds to get into the transmission line business and even if he gets it built there still has to be a conventional power plant idling on line to back up the wing generation because sometimes the wind just stops blowing like it did for an hour this last march which triggered a capacity emergency that came very close to tripping off large interruptible customers.  As Wind generation becomes a larger percentage of the total generation mix this problem will increase without higher levels of spinning reserve.

The bottom line is that the only economic alternative to fossil fuels, Is Fission fuel. Nuclear generation combined with an effective battery technology allowing more people to use electric cars that would be charged at night when demand is otherwise low is our best hope.

My Response:

I think the answer is the same as why we do EV conversions.  Many hard problems are solved because a wide variety of people look for ways to solve them.  We only remember about the winners.  Every EV conversion is a innovation seed.  Every EV conversion is a drop of water in a wave of innovation.  You pick the analogy… the point is that lots of people thinking = break through.

If EVs were all basically the same (like ICE cars today) then that would be a true waste!  I love seeing all the innovative ways that EV converters and *new* car companies are trying to solve transportation.  If you like cars, this is a great time to be playing!

OT PS: I don’t think that there is any clear winner (e.g.: fission) for power generation at this point.

Posted in Rants, AustinEV | 1 Comment »

August 12, 2008 by Rob.

AustinEV has been chasing an off topic thread about solar that I nudged into an ROI for conversions discussion.  I’ve been (trying to) think deeply about the balance between justification / enthusiasm for driving electric and the practical benefits for people who are not green zealots.  Generally, I don’t push EVs for people unless they are very passionate and I’m wondering if that is a mistake.

I’m still cogitating, but here are my posts on AustinEV…

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solar, Alternate Fuels, Rants, Green Tech, AustinEV | 1 Comment »

July 19, 2008 by Rob.

I was invited to attend a Peak Oil meet-up and learned a lot and also left with a lot to think about.  Not about Peak Oil, but about sustainability and social change.  From today, it would appear that “Peak Oil” seems to envision a catastrophic societal change driven by limited oil supplies.  I’m 100% in agreement that we need to radically alter our demand for oil (and energy in general), but I think that macro-economics will drive a paradigm shift that is not Mad Max redux.  More on that on TribalGrid.

An amazing view to sustain the soul.

As the token EVer, I got to show off the RAVolt.  This group had great questions: more about why than how. One point I’ve been making is that EV conversions are not the wholesale solution to our gas problem.  Cars (especially SUVs) have a place and will be around for a long time, but our usage needs to shift to carpools, small electric vehicles, bikes, and walking.  In some cases this will require radical changes to the status quo.

Oil is an amazing fuel.  We’re lucky to have lived during a time when it was basically free.

Posted in EVents, Rants | 1 Comment »

June 9, 2008 by Rob.

I’ve been resisting feeling the pull to comment more and more about non-EV topics on this blog.  To be true to this blog’s content and (imagined) readership, I’ve decided to start TribalGrid, a new blog, focused on broader social energy and sustainability topics.

I’m re-coining the term “social energy” to describe technology and attitudes that help people see energy as a limited community resource.  I believe that solving problems in our near-term future will require a deep change in public thinking about how we consume energy.

The blog has been in stealth mode since Earth Day so there are already some fresh rants for your enjoyment.

Posted in Commentary, Alternate Fuels, Rants, Blogroll, Storyline, EV Tech | No Comments »

May 17, 2008 by Rob.

It’s unbelievably frustrating for me to see our 43rd president once again grabbing our collective ankles for the Saudis.  This pathetic pleading to increase production to help our economy is weak and misguided.  The response, “we’ll increase production if you increase demand” provides all the illumination we need to see their objectives.

Dear President Weakling Bush,

Here is what a strong leader would do.  Thank the Saudis for giving us the incentive to wean down our dependence on resources from sponsors of terrorists.  Tell Big Oil that they have a choice: dump their record profits into funding efficient and alternative energy or have the government direct the research by taxing all of it.  Provide significant incentives for energy efficiency.  For example 10% of price tax credits for >40MPG, 20% for >50, etc up to 60 MPG.  Fund this with tax penalties for gas guzzlers (10% < 30 MPG, etc).  We have the technology, we can make it better.

America is a strong country with amazing capital, business, and intellectual resources.  Give us a mandate to become energy independent and we’ll restore our leadership.  Personally, I’m tired of watching you be a Saudi lap dog.

As yourself, what would Steve Austin do?

Posted in Commentary, Rants | 2 Comments »

May 7, 2008 by Rob.

I was re-ranting to Laura, my EV enduring spouse, about that kitten killing Hummer driver from our trip to Breed Hardware.  She said that the driver was buying compact florescent light bulbs (CFL).

Posted in Rants | No Comments »

May 7, 2008 by Rob.

<pet peeve>Why do all these SUV drivers leave their engine idling when they leave their car!  I was at Breed Hardware yesterday and someone left their Hummer spewing CO2 all over the parking lot while they went inside to buy kitten maiming equipment.  Is turning the car on and off really that much effort?  It’s not even summer so what’s your excuse?  Gas still too cheap?</pet peeve>

So on Cinco de Mayo I was talking to an environmentally minded friend over lunch at Maudi’s and chewing on weighty problems.  He suggested that the Free Rider Problem from Game Theory may be part of the struggle for conservation movements to get rolling.  The FRP states that when a populate is large enough members can easily opt out of paying their share.  By assuming that the majority will contribute they get a free ride.  If enough people do this then the market collapses or fails to advance.

I look at all these Hummer drivers and can’t help but think that they are using up MY SHARE OF THE GAS!  It seems like we have plenty, but it’s going to run out.  Well first it will get really really expensive and then it will run out.  These drivers are Free Riders!  They are not playing along with people who conserve because the population is large enough that they can opt out without people noticing.

And on nearly completely unrelated rant.  My friend also was talking about WWII.  He said that Nazis preemptively invaded Russia to ensure their supply of fuel and the Japanese preemptively attacked US because we threatened their supply of fuel.  It seems like world war and controlling the supply of oil may be preceded by a preemptive attack.  Good thing there have not been any preemptive military actions lately (excluding our invasion of Iraq, of course).

Posted in Rants | No Comments »

March 30, 2008 by Rob.

I’ve been floating an idea with my friends (and mother-in-law) that has passed the sniff test for posting here.  I propose that we connect the costs of the war in Iraq directly with the price of gas.  This is logical because (at least some of) the need for the war is to protect crude oil supplies.  This is not a new tax because our taxes are currently financing the war - it is simply a different path for our tax dollars to flow from our paychecks into the military complex.

My specific proposal is that American should have 1% of the war cost paid by increasing the gas tax for 1 month.  After that it should increase by 1% each month.  This relatively a small ration but highly symbolic amount that directly connects the American people with the currently hidden true costs of the war.

Disclaimer: It is true that I don’t pay gas taxes on my electric car miles.  Sadly, >70% of my families miles are still powered by hydrocarbons.

Posted in Commentary, Rants | 1 Comment »

March 23, 2008 by Rob.

I was enjoying my family vacation at Copper Mountain this year when I was assaulted by some amazingly bizarre typically American marketing double think. Chevy signed up as a major sponsor and got to spray their “gas friendly to gas free” (GF2GF) marketing tag line all over Copper Mountain’s trail maps and signs. Chevy has some right to make this claim based on their (shipping) Aveo and (in development) Volt products.

That’s all well and good until they park a sample of their “GF2GF” products at the mountain base. The Suburban and Avalanche may be some of Chevy’s best selling vehicles, but they are not remotely gas friendly even burning unethical E85. How typical for Americans to want a green feel good marketing headline so we can keep buying those gas guzzlers!

Even more rant: Copper Mountain has signs everywhere falsely claiming to be 100% wind powered. It took me a while to find a brochure with small print explaining that they buy wind power offsets. They may be able to stretch the truth and make this claim, but I think it’s misleading. On the upside, they consider that their customers value green power enough to put it on hundreds of signs.

Posted in Rants | No Comments »