I plan to convert some cars to EV's very soon, and plan to work with the Leopard on the interim to familiarize myself with the construction and controls.
So you might ask, "Why Electric?"
Well, it all started with an article in a trade mag about the Tesla Roadster a couple of years back. The Tesla was named for Nichola Tesla who gave us our current A/C power system and the A/C motor. I will write more in the future, but for now, know that without the vision of Tesla, the world we know would not exist. Imagine no radio or TV, dc power instead of ac. Literally all the technology we use today was built on Teslas' foundational work. You could call him the man who gave us the 20th Century.
So it is not without wonder the Tesla Roadster comes into being. An all electric sports car that can do over 125 mph and 0-60 in less than 4 seconds, and 250 miles per charge!
http://www.teslamotors.com/
I started thinking, that sounds pretty viable to me. And begin a journey into the rabbit hole of alternative energy. Another key for me was the movie, "Who Killed The Electric Car."
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
The movie is about the zero emission mandate of California that resulted in 5 years of EV production by major manufactures, GM leading with the EV1, a sport car with snappy performance and some say over 100 miles per charge. The mandate was finally killed when suit was threatened by the auto manufactures and the federal government. GM destroyed all but a few of the cars, other manufacturers yielded to public pressure and allowed some to be purchased by the public like the Toyota Rav4 EV and the Ford Ranger EV. For the most part the EV slipped back into obscurity, but many now believed the electric was possible and was the answer to many of the problems we face in todays world.
It is safe to say what could be is directly related to the vision of a few and their willingness to bring it about. Tesla himself is considered the 'father' of free and alternative energy. His vision not only gave us today, but saw tomorrow. Many things keep us from going forward into an incredible new world.
One example that could change the world, again is Witricity. Imagine a world without wires? Transportation without fuel powered vehicles?
Nikola Tesla 1904
Tesla said he could build the system 100 years ago and while construction the first transmitter that would provide conviction had begun at Wardenclyffe in New York, he was de-funded due to war, economics, and loss of vision. The following link is a good overview of transmitter project.As soon as it is completed, it will be possible for a business man in New York to dictate instructions, and have them instantly appear in type at his office in London or elsewhere. He will be able to call up, from his desk, and talk to any telephone subscriber on the globe, without any change whatever in the existing equipment. An inexpensive instrument, not bigger than a watch, will enable its bearer to hear anywhere, on sea or land, music or song, the speech of a political leader, the address of an eminent man of science, or the sermon of an eloquent clergyman, delivered in some other place, however distant. In the same manner any picture, character, drawing, or print can be transferred from one to another place. Millions of such instruments can be operated from but one plant of this kind. More important than all of this, however, will be the transmission of power, without wires, which will be shown on a scale large enough to carry conviction.
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The ideal solution of the problem of transportation will be arrived at only when the complete annihilation of distance in the transmission of power in large amounts shall have become a commercial reality. That day we shall invade the domain of the bird. When the vexing problem of aerial navigation, which has defied his attempts for ages, is solved, man will advance with giant strides.
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That electrical energy can be economically transmitted without wires to any terrestrial distance, I have unmistakably established in numerous observations, experiments and measurements, qualitative and quantitative. These have demonstrated that is practicable to distribute power from a central plant in unlimited amounts, with a loss not exceeding a small fraction of one per cent, in the transmission, even to the greatest distance, twelve thousand miles — to the opposite end of the globe.
http://www.damninteresting.com/index.php?s=WArdenclyffe
The following link will provide quotes from Tesla. One will find incredible vision and a prophetic view into the future through the science of high voltage high frequency electricity.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
As I get a handle on the possibilities of blogging, I hope to give you a look into tomorrow. And also what is possible today. And the lowly EV is soon to make a huge impact in the next few years. This is an exciting time in the history of man.
God give us the wisdom to embrace your future, without which we will surely fail.
