Amectran EXAR-1

[gdae]

(The Electric Car Thread)

Cliff’s Notes: Man invents electric car, gets close to production, and yet despite having powerful friends his corporate enemies are more powerful: they see to it that the car never reaches production, the prototype is pretty much destroyed, and that he is hounded and jailed.
If you have a little time, root around in this website:

www.amectran.com

And what the car looks like now:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/05/09/

There’s a lot more in the Amectran website past the opening page. You can see video of the car, and you can see the supporting documentation for all of the claims.
Even if you’re not inclined to read the (infuriating) story, take a look at the car. The car itself is (was) beautiful, even for one made in the ‘70’s. I saw it myself.
Reason why I bring this up is that last night an old friend who happened to be involved in this project from the very start was at the house. This isn’t friend-of-a-friend stuff. He sat right at my kitchen table and outlined the whole thing, and the longer I listened, the more it burned me up that the little guy could be treated this way. Getting the story straight from one of the principals face-to-face drove the thing home forcefully for me.
This project was kicked off back in the seventies and should have (and would have) gotten well along by now. But no, here we are bent over the oil barrel. The inventor has now been released but now is understandably fearful of having anything to do with this project for fear of his liberty/life.
Reason why I post this up is that I believe in the power of the internet. If we can get a million hits on a thread outing a gambling-site pedophile, perhaps 10-20 people might want to know how certain corporations behave to line their own pockets, well-being of the country be damned.
It’s too late to do anything about the Exar-1. But it is educational.
Thanks for looking and good luck, Tesla! Wish I could afford you!

 

[cojones]

cool... electric Lambo Espada

 

[gdae]

Wow, thanks, cojones, I didn't know about the lamborghini Espada. The similarities between the Espada and the Exar are so close that I thought it possible they were from the same designer. But no -- Marcello Gandini of Bertone did the Espada, and Pietro Frua designed the Exar.
The Exar was the last car Frua designed before he died, btw. Two years ago, the Exar prototype was sold on eBay (Aaargh! I didn't know about it!), and, forget about the electric drivetrain, the 20 million spend on R&D, and everything else. Think instead, what is an italian-designed, one-off, built-for-BMW, handmade prototype worth?
It sold for $300.00.

 

[La-squared]

Took me a few days to reply to this... I wanted to check out the website.

So, I've been reading. The prose is a bit overwrought for my taste but it's still enough to tick me off.

This is no BS? Your source is reliable?

 

[gdae]

Very reliable.

 

[La-squared]

Ummmmm... Your source isn’t Mr. Ramirez himself, is it? :wink:

 

[gdae]

No. But my friend was right there in the middle of it all from the start. What isn't commonly known, or at least isn't on the website, is that Ramirez is steering clear of electric car entrepreneurship for the sake of his health, if you get my drift. I'm not one to buy into conspiracy scenarios. I'm not even one to give a cr@p about things in general. But this whole thing chaps my hide big time.

 

[cojones]

What isn't commonly known, or at least isn't on the website, is that Ramirez is steering clear of electric car entrepreneurship for the sake of his health, if you get my drift. I'm not one to buy into conspiracy scenarios. I'm not even one to give a cr@p about things in general. But this whole thing chaps my hide big time.

Drop in the bucket... the overall preservation of the "big oil" value prop is a much bigger story, and Senhor Ramirez is yet another storyline, albeit arguably a small/insignificant one:

• The "too little too late" posturing on hybrid/alternative powertrains, particularly amongst the US constructors. Germans are 10+ years ahead with diesel, and Japanese are 5+ years ahead on hybrid
• Detroit's insistence on using 1950s era engine technology (Corvette LS, Chrysler HEMI, etc) - and its not just to enable offshore assembly
• Lack of fuel delivery infrastructure for "alternatives" - diesel, methanol, E85 and soon hydrogen
• Joke-level investment in high speed mass transit (check out the Shanghai Maglev - makes the Japanese shinkansen look like a turtle dinosaur)
• Wholesale quitting on the EV programs - GM and Volt, Toyota and their eRAV, etc
• Foreign policy directional decisions that are driven to protect the status quo in supply/demand power

 

[gdae]

Well put, cojones. Very well put.

 

[La-squared]

So, gas seems to be steadily climbing. We're up to $3.89 for regular here in Kentucky so I know California has to be up over $4 now.

Last night we watched Who Killed The Electric Car and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little pissed about the whole thing. Seems like a lot of my driving is short trips well within an electric's range and really it seems like a large portion of drivers have similar commutes for which an electric would be perfect.

So, an electric car isn’t the solution to the entire oil issue, but it'd be great to at least have it as an option.

 

[heathbar0]

Sounds kind of like the Tucker.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Tucker

The Tucker automobile had many advanced, innovative features, from its fastback shape to its swiveling center headlight and independent four-wheel suspension. Enhanced passenger safety was one of the Tucker's principal features. It had a pop-out windshield, padded dashboard, and a place where the front-seat passenger could crouch in the event of a collision.

 

[gdae]

So, gas seems to be steadily climbing. We're up to $3.89 for regular here in Kentucky so I know California has to be up over $4 now.

Last night we watched Who Killed The Electric Car and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little pissed about the whole thing. Seems like a lot of my driving is short trips well within an electric's range and really it seems like a large portion of drivers have similar commutes for which an electric would be perfect.

So, an electric car isn’t the solution to the entire oil issue, but it'd be great to at least have it as an option.

Yeah, it seems that one of the naysayer’s favorite points is that the car would run out of charge on an extended trip. But we have to start somewhere. I’d like to think that in the 30 years since the EXAR certain refinements would have been made, technological hurdles overcome, infrastructure created.
It wasn’t all that it could be when it was introduced. But neither is a newborn baby.

Heathbar0: Yeah, the situation reminded me of Tucker, too. Weird how auto manufacturers could just dash people publicly, one after the other, with impunity. Where's the outrage? Maybe it's shown in places like this site, where we support a foreign marque.
Anywho, I just logged on and bought a copy of this movie.:smile:

 

[Schenault]

It is a complete heartbreaker to see what some idiot did to the original car. That was a hand built painstakingly tapped out metal body. It is a total shame that someone would put bondo anywhere on it or desecrate it with other body parts. I have ridden in and driven that car and was there in the early days of its inception. The body style was years ahead of its time. That is why BMW rejected it, because it looked to "sporty" for their line of cars at the time. It was probably the first car to ever have the capability to prevent you from driving drunk also. Technology that should be used today, but still isnt.

 

[KSXNSX]

Wholesale quitting on the EV programs - GM and Volt, Toyota and their eRAV, etc

They didn't "quit" on the technologies insofar as they were forced to quit--Conoco-Phillips purchased the patents on these EV hybrid technologies from the inventor promising to develop a prototype vehicle that would eventually go into production.

And we all know what happened next...

 

[Schenault]

Just curiosity gdae, who is your source? I was there too.

 

[cojones]

They didn't "quit" on the technologies insofar as they were forced to quit--Conoco-Phillips purchased the patents on these EV hybrid technologies from the inventor promising to develop a prototype vehicle that would eventually go into production.

And we all know what happened next...

Yep... this is getting interesting, particularly with the "big picture" value chain - big oil needs a consumer (i.e., thirsty Detroit iron) and its a mutual stroke-play

GM/Ford are starting to make interesting side-bet on alternative fuel sourcing, specifically around ethanol and bio-diesel. Koskata and Mascoma are two such ventures, where GM has taken an equity stake.

 

[gdae]

Just curiosity gdae, who is your source? I was there too.

Schenault: Would have loved to send you a PM but there is no contact information. But the guy I was talking to (L.C.) described himself as "the very first investor." An investor, I might add, that in no way considers himself to have been taken, but rather he is proud of his contribution, believed and still believes in the vision of Ramirez, and will tell you that the reason for Amectran's demise was hostile actions by external forces.
Anyway, I know for a fact that he was involved because I remember being taken around to see the car back in the day, and the endless talk about it for years. I was a child when I saw that car, but it was so different I still remember the impact. Still have the posters for it, though.
Were you involved in the development? Support? Am curious to know.:smile:

 

[Schenault]

Gdae, you can email at [email protected] I was there during all the developing and testing. My Father was the Chief Electrical Engineer on the project.

 

[Schenault]

So, gas seems to be steadily climbing. We're up to $3.89 for regular here in Kentucky so I know California has to be up over $4 now.

Last night we watched Who Killed The Electric Car and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little pissed about the whole thing. Seems like a lot of my driving is short trips well within an electric's range and really it seems like a large portion of drivers have similar commutes for which an electric would be perfect.

So, an electric car isn’t the solution to the entire oil issue, but it'd be great to at least have it as an option.

Hey La, another Texan here, we are almost neigbors.