16 March 2012

Karma!


The ELECTRIC Fisker Karma-
Gorgeous, right? A real work of art.
(And of course, subsidized with U.S. tax dollars, thanks to the Obama administration.)
You want one, right?
Well actually... NO, you don't!
Unless you're lookin' to pretty much display a "still life" in your living room.

2 comments:

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Built in Finland using stimulus dollars.

Meteor said...

As a college student, I had the unique privilege of working on the University of Missouri, Rolla (Now Missouri S&T) Solar Car (2004) Battery Brainbox. I can say from experience that working with Lithium (Li) and Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) is tricky work.

Each cell has to be individually regulated, and provided its own unique voltage supply while charging, and flow-regulated current output while supplying power. Too much variation between cells (and for a car, there are hundreds) can result in catastrophic failure, including fires and explosions.

That said, I read the letter the Fisker CEO put out about "we're sooo sorry, and we're fixing it." I can relate to both the engineers (having been in their hotseat on race-day) as well as to the customer who paid a hefty price and feels like he's bought a steaming pile.

However! One of my childhood heroes (and he still is!) and everyone's favorite Serb, Mr. Nikola Tesla, has a namesake of a car, built right here in the states. If you want a "green" car that will blow the doors off the guy revving up his 8-cylinder guzzler next to you at the light, look no further:

0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds.

Disclaimer: yes, there are a lot of improvements to be made. no, cars like this are not going away. To the future ;)