Just got to work and spent a bit of time navigating the tech site that I often read –Cnet.COM, where I ran into the Wrightspeed Electric Car. 

The company building it is in California, and more information is here about it and the founder, Ian Wright:
http://www.wrightspeed.com/company.html

SOME SPECS:

• 0-60 in 3+ seconds (faster than nearly all supercars)
• 1/3 the energy consumption of a hybrid (170 Miles Per Gallon equivalent).
• Everything you see is in first gear.
• The fast stops are regenerative braking (returning energy to the batteries).
http://www.wrightspeed.com/specs.html

What I found very interesting here is the brakes, which produce power, returning energy back to the batteries, as the brake is pressed.  I wonder how this type of technology, when applied to a semi-truck that gets 6 to 7 MPG, will perform.

If the energy consumption of the car is 170 MPG and if that is translated to 4 engines in a much larger truck, then the equivalent energy output should be around 40 to 50 MPG.  Perhaps, even greater as the power needed for a larger truck is only at the start –so, at times even double that!  Or, perhaps, with an onboard powerplant, that can extend to double or triple.  The irony of this is that most train engines have been running like this for nearly 50 years using a diesel generator and electric engines at each wheel.  The idea here is to make that smaller and fit in a truck or even a car.

So, the technology solutions are out there.  Now we just need the “will” of the bureaucrats to set some real goals and provide a few incentives for companies to ‘make the switch’.  IF a Wrightspeed type of supercar can be produced, I don’t think there are limits to what CAN be built for the average commute.

Now back to work…

Rich Sage