McCain proposes electric car contest, with $300M prize Options

[impala454]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5851388.html

PHOENIX — John McCain hopes to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology.

The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery today at Fresno State University in California.

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

The Arizona senator is also proposing stiffer fines for automakers who skirt existing fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase use of domestic and foreign alcohol-based fuels such as ethanol.

In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure," said excerpts from McCain's prepared text. "From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success."

Pretty cool... $300 million will surely reel in some good ideas.

Cueing up all the democrats to flip flop just so they can oppose McCain...

[cmac]

awesome.
what's the catch?

This post has been edited by cmac: Jun 23 2008, 10:26 AM

[impala454]

I don't see any catch

[cmac]

where's the $300 mil coming from?

[Dogmeat]

where is the electricity to power the cars coming from? fart-powered hampster turbines?

[impala454]

where's the $300 mil coming from?

The second sentence in the article tells you.

[Jim]

This is something that should have been done a while back. Kudos to McCain, even if I'm not his biggest fan.

[THECHICKEN]

where is the electricity to power the cars coming from? fart-powered hampster turbines?

Most likely fossil fuel run power plants. Which also adds a lot of extra needed power to the power plants (straining the grid).

But its easier to control waste in one central location as opposed to out of every car on the road...

[woody]

where's the $300 mil coming from?

us

[impala454]

ah, just need to build the iron man mini reactor thing...

[Dogmeat]

Most likely fossil fuel run power plants. Which also adds a lot of extra needed power to the power plants (straining the grid).

But its easier to control waste in one central location as opposed to out of every car on the road...

Of course, if all that Co2, H2S, and whatever else comes out of several smoke stacks at coal-fired power plants, it's MUCH more environmentally friendly than automobiles burning gasoline that pollute exponentially less.

Electric cars HO!

[Inferia]

is it just me or does this seem a little gimmicky?

[impala454]

is it just me or does this seem a little gimmicky?

in what way?

the word gimmick implies you think there's not much reward to be had...

[nickluto]

This would be great if the fucking dems would let us build Nuclear power plants to replace coal.

But oh no, Nuclear is dangerous, because there is a big bomb with the word nuclear juxtaposed next to it !

[Testm0nkey]

when i heard about this i just thought uh wtf. Electric cars arent all that rare. Many companies (even US ones) have already announced plans to release them in the next few years.

i guess i just dont get what the point is. little late mccain - the industry is already booming. PR STUNT he wants to pacify the environmentalists.

[FORSAKENR320]

PR STUNT he wants to pacify the environmentalists.

i agree with you on this. but i think the best way to pacify them would be with a liberal dose of police brutality

[impala454]

Cat, the proposal reads:

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

not:

omglol my name is jon mkkayn and i fink thumone shood invent da eletrik car DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

it's hilarious to me that you make fun of this just because it's from mccain

[Testm0nkey]

i know what it says... i dont see what your point is.

my original post still stands

im not making fun of this just because its mccain. im making fun of it because there are already super small, super efficient/powerful hybrid/electric batteries for cars that are years before their time. hey its nice he wants to see even better ones i guess, but like inferia said - its all gimicky.

but as far as pacifying the environmentalists. if that was part of this PR shindig it wasnt that smartest. most environmentalists are probably well versed in EVs and know where the industry is going

[Mommy]

Actually, the battery is still the issue with the hybrid vehicles. They are inefficient to produce considering their output. I believe I read yesterday that there is a 3-4 month wait list for a brand new Prius right now, but the wait is going to get worse because Toyota is maxed out on the number of batteries they are allowed to produce this year. At least that's the way I understood the article.

[Testm0nkey]

youd have to post your source on that. havent heard anything about it. 1 reason why the wait list for the prius is long is because everyone and their mother is buying one


but i know they arent maxed out because they are still building them and soon releasing the 09s

[impala454]

i know what it says... i dont see what your point is.

to get vehicles that are more efficient than what is currently available.

my original post still stands

your original post is on its knees slobbin on mccain's knob

im not making fun of this just because its mccain. im making fun of it because there are already super small, super efficient/powerful hybrid/electric batteries for cars that are years before their time.

yeah, there's already electric cars that aren't getting purchased. you know why they aren't getting purchased? the best plugin cars can go like 180 miles on a charge, and don't carry shit. have fun driving to dallas... in like 16 hrs since you're going to have to stop and charge somewhere.

hey its nice he wants to see even better ones i guess, but like inferia said - its all gimicky.

how is it gimicky? i see it as no different from the x-prize competition.

but as far as pacifying the environmentalists. if that was part of this PR shindig it wasnt that smartest. most environmentalists are probably well versed in EVs and know where the industry is going

i couldnt give to shits about what environmentalists think and i doubt he does either. you think you have to be some damn environmentalist to give a shit about gas prices and efficiency? you think he or anyone else who likes the idea really gives a shit about the whales or trees? they give a shit about their WALLET. as do I.

[Mommy]

youd have to post your source on that. havent heard anything like that.

I'm looking for the article now. It may have been a CNN video I watched.

1 reason why the wait list for the prius is long is because everyone and their mother is buying one

Well, that's a stupid thing to say. Thank you, captain obvious.

[Testm0nkey]

jesus christ dude - CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. maybe the internet isnt the best place for your health


EVs are in huge demand. when the volt was out they had to screen people OUT because the demand was so high. and EVs are more efficient then you think


edit: so are you going to post the source?

[impala454]

jesus christ dude - CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. maybe the internet isnt the best place for your health

124/73

EVs are in huge demand. when the volt was out they had to screen people OUT because the demand was so high.

I have yet to see ONE, and I drive 70 miles/day in the 4th largest city in the country.

and EVs are more efficient then you think

so they can't be more efficient? we should just stop and say "hmm, we've perfected the electric vehicle."?

[Testm0nkey]

GM took back all their volts and smushed them. something that pissed off the entire world. now GM is having to own up for their actions and is re-releasing their Volt. due partially to high demand and need. i know people that are trying to already put down deposits for the car that hasnt even shown in autoshows yet


how much does the average person know about EV? should be waaaaaaaaay higher



way of the future!

[impala454]

so... what does this have to do with mccain's proposal?

[Mommy]

Here is the video I was talking about, Cathryn

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/0...ref=videosearch

About 3/4ths of the way through the video, she says what I was talking about.

[Testm0nkey]

so... what does this have to do with mccain's proposal?

because its related to EVs and you made a misinformed statement about existing EVs.


EVs are related to his proposal because it is concerning EV


(electric vehicles = EVs)

[chook]

is it just me or does this seem a little gimmicky?

Its gimmicky in the same way Obama is. Anyone knows that we haven't found a source with a high coulomb capacitance (Higher the number, more electrons/lb)

[Mommy]

I think it's funny that I can actually back up what I say with sources. Cathryn, on the other hand, just lets her fingers do the talking and can't back up a single thing she types. She even asked me to source something I said, and I can. She never sources shit.

[chook]

GM took back all their volts and smushed them. something that pissed off the entire world. now GM is having to own up for their actions and is re-releasing their Volt. due partially to high demand and need. i know people that are trying to already put down deposits for the car that hasnt even shown in autoshows yet
how much does the average person know about EV? should be waaaaaaaaay higher
way of the future!

Tucson was one of the places the volt came out. It had a problem with batteries leaking and chance of explosion. A Ford Fiesta explosion is worse than stopping a good car production for PR.

[impala454]

because its related to EVs and you made a misinformed statement about existing EVs.

and which "misinformed" statement was that?

EVs are related to his proposal because it is concerning EV
(electric vehicles = EVs)

what you said still made zero sense

McCain: I'll give $300M to the first person to increase current battery based vehicles efficiency by 30%.
Cat: But we already have battery based vehicles!

[nickluto]

i know what it says... i dont see what your point is.

my original post still stands

im not making fun of this just because its mccain. im making fun of it because there are already super small, super efficient/powerful hybrid/electric batteries for cars that are years before their time. hey its nice he wants to see even better ones i guess, but like inferia said - its all gimicky.

but as far as pacifying the environmentalists. if that was part of this PR shindig it wasnt that smartest. most environmentalists are probably well versed in EVs and know where the industry is going

Wow. Someone actually watched "Who Killed The Electric Car" Sweet. I thought it was only me.

She's right, folks. Sorry to say it, but people who demand the EV1 can drive nearly 100 miles per charge (/day) and be okay. We already have the technology and have had it since the 1990's.


The problem? The infrastructure. Is this bullshit? Hell yes, it is. We need the infrastructure to even start the electric car revolution (which would be awesome).

Shifting our coal-powered electric production to nuclear power would do a shitload more than offering $300M for technology that already exists..... pathetic.

And this is coming from a McCain supporter. I will definitely vote for McCain. No questions asked.

Is this a reach in the dark? Not really. It will get those unshaved liberal hippies on board, yet he will never actually pay the bounty that he promised because it is a "contest". This is ridiculous for the mere fact that no one is going to put their balls to the grindstone to ensure that their technology wins unless they are promised the money ahead of time. No one is going to take a chance on their technology winning because the costs are so high that to even attempt to fulfill half of his promise is going to require hundreds of millions of dollars of R&D. Sorry, that's how it all works. But nice try, though.


Maybe McCain thinks there is a free lunch out there after all.

[Dogmeat]

both canidates have gimmick energy program ideas.

they have to, a real solution to the problem would piss off the greenies who would make a huge stink about the sky falling.

[nickluto]

both canidates have gimmick energy program ideas.

they have to, a real solution to the problem would piss off the greenies who would make a huge stink about the sky falling.

These "greenies" as it will turn out, will have more of a negative effect on this country than the "NEOCONS" that everyone is so quick to label. They are unseen, unnoticed, and undetected members of our society (ok, they're democrats). The energy "crisis' can already be adequately solved. The unfortunate part is that the faggots in control will not allow us to seek means to satisfy our energy requirements due to the fact that they cannot endorse the belief that you can simultaneously drill for oil and also search for alternative fuel sources in the meantime.

[Dogmeat]

These "greenies" as it will turn out, will have more of a negative effect on this country than the "NEOCONS" that everyone is so quick to label. They are unseen, unnoticed, and undetected members of our society (ok, they're democrats). The energy "crisis' can already be adequately solved. The unfortunate part is that the faggots in control will not allow us to seek means to satisfy our energy requirements due to the fact that they cannot endorse the belief that you can simultaneously drill for oil and also search for alternative fuel sources in the meantime.

Yessir, we have a winner!

[impala454]

I'm going to laugh when oil prices plummet in a couple years. Just like I'll laugh when we're in an ice age and I'm explaining to my grandchildren how the hippies were worried about glaciers back in ought-eight.

[chook]

I'm going to laugh when oil prices plummet in a couple years. Just like I'll laugh when we're in an ice age and I'm explaining to my grandchildren how the hippies were worried about glaciers back in ought-eight.

In 20 years i'll either be glad i'm wrong or moving up north.