Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily, At Witz End
Triumph of technology set the stage for the future
- Our gift is a world of opportunity. To leave it a better place than we found it is our greatest gift to the next generation. – Ken Baker, GM Electric Vehicles
- “Since when does being an auto engineer makes you smarter than scientists specializing in the field?” – ABG reader John, on my 8/3/08 column, “Global Warming Pro.” (Yes, “Pro”)
Well, John, maybe not smarter, but maybe educated enough to have a valid opinion.
Engineers become engineers because – like people who become scientists – we are good at math and science, including physics, chemistry and biology. We study the same things eventual scientists do, then branch out into specialties. Some choose geology or climatology. I chose automotive engineering because I love cars and wanted to help make them better.
As technically trained people, engineers have a good understanding of what makes things work, how elements interact and what is physically possible…and not. We know that vehicle fuel economy is mostly about size, weight and aerodynamics. We know that technology can incrementally improve efficiency, but also that technology costs money. To redirect an old racing adage, how efficient can you afford to be?
Unlike typical non-technically trained people – including most government bureaucrats, lawyers, legislators and journalists – we form opinions and make decisions based on facts and data, not emotion and opinion. We have long-established BS alarms that go off when someone tries to tell us that something we know is physically impossible is not. We know there is no 100-mpg carburetor or 40-mpg SUV (If either was possible, why wouldn’t someone be making a fortune building and selling them and blowing away all their less-enlightened competition?).
That said, let me tell you about the most exciting, challenging and inspiring engineering assignment I’ve ever had: Vehicle Test and Development Manager for what became the GM EV1. I know the real story behind General Motors’ 1990s electric vehicle effort very well; I was there, working my proverbial tail off on it, and you can start reading this tale after the jump. A warning, though: those who harbor strong negative perceptions about EV1 and GM’s intent for it – from that recent ill-informed crockumentary or some other non-knowledgeable source – may not want to read this, because the real true story will not reinforce what you already think you know.
Continue reading At Witz End – GM’s EV1, the True Story, part I
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