This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Bleeding the Taxpayer: An Old Technology Dolled Up As New
Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter
On September 14, 1899, Henry Bliss stepped off a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York and got run over by a taxi. A plaque points out that it was the first automobile fatality in the “Western Hemisphere.” The taxi was an electric vehicle. As were 90% of the taxis in New York City and about 30% of all cars sold in the US. Electric cars aren’t exactly new. Yet, the government is bleeding the taxpayer to advance the technology, create jobs at a cost of $158,556 per job, and fund executive bonuses.
Today, Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota lambasted the Obama administration for the $2 billion it handed to 29 companies to manufacture advanced batteries for electric cars. It was part of the bipartisan $787 boondoggle stimulus bill of 2009 that performed mind-boggling wonders in the US economy. The senators were particularly irked by the facts surrounding one of the major recipients, the poster boy for the program, battery maker A123 Systems, which filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.
In response to the bankruptcy, the Department of Energy touted the results of its advanced battery program, claiming it had created jobs for “thousands of American workers.” When Grassley pushed the DOE for documentation, he found out that it had created 12,613 jobs—at a cost of “$158,556 per job, including jobs that were later cut,” Grassley explained. And the jobs at A123? They cost the taxpayer $317,435 per job.
“Adding insult to injury, A123 executives reportedly are seeking to retain $4.2 million in bonuses through the bankruptcy process,” he said. That’s why boondoggles are so popular; somebody does get the money.
Yet, the first electric car hit the road in Scotland in the 1830s. As the technology matured, electric cars gave rise to a whole industry. Their toughest competitors? Steam-powered cars: they had greater range and more power. And they set speed records—a marketing advantage.
Each technology had its advantages and disadvantages. Steam cars were great for longer trips, such as to the next town, at dizzying speeds, but brought with them some challenges, such as having to preheat the boiler. Electric cars were great for moseying around town, but they were handicapped by their heavy and costly batteries that only gave them a very limited range and took a long time to charge. Batteries were the problem in the otherwise ideal technology.
But by 1920, as the internal combustion engine had become a viable technology, formerly successful manufacturers of steam cars and electric cars receded into memory. It wasn’t government that made that decision, but customers.
However, electric vehicles became successful in hundreds of niche configurations such as forklifts and golf carts, without government boondoggles to support them, without tax credits or grants—because customers desired them and were willing to pay for them.
Then there was the Tesla Roadster. Tesla installed its electric drivetrain into cars it bought from Lotus sans drivetrain and sold them to cool rich people for over $100,000 a pop, losing money on each one of them. Its new models are assembled in the US, but whether or not Tesla can ever sell enough of them at a profit remains uncertain. Meanwhile, it has eaten up hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers and investors.
Fisker built its first model in Finland with help from US taxpayers. It plans to build its new models in the US, also with taxpayer support, but challenges are piling up. The Nissan Leaf remains the only mass-produced electrical car in the US, but it sold only 5,212 units through September, down 28% from last year.
The $2 billion the Obama administration plowed into batteries was part of the $5 billion it plowed into electric cars. The largest chunk, $1.4 billion, went to corporate giant Nissan for its Leaf. Its range: 73 miles per charge, according to the EPA, and less according to complaints by its owners. Just about the same range as the taxi that killed Henry Bliss in 1899.
A battery with a 100-mile range costs about $17,000. Huge advances have been made, but they’ve been met by the higher power demands of modern cars (acceleration, air conditioning, power seats, etc.). So the original challenges of electric cars remain: cost, range, and the time it takes to charge the darn things. The taxpayer has been taken to the cleaners. The government has bought some votes. But customers still don’t see the right product at the right price.
As for a funny, edgy, high-energy look at unforgettable car salesmen, their managers, and their shenanigans, check out my new book, TESTOSTERONE PIT, and read the first few chapters for free on Amazon.
And here is Chriss Street who has warned that funneling weapons and logistics to jihadi warriors in support of Arab Spring rebellions would lead to a vicious blow-back against the strategic interests of the US. Clearly that has come to pass with the murder of the first American Ambassador since 1979 and the ejection of American influence across the Middle East. Read.... President Obama Must Release The Truth About Benghazi.
»
- advertisements -
I would guess that according Wolf Richter, internal combustion engine (ICE) is an old (125 000, and probably more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_of_fire_by_early_humans) technology, simply FIRE.
the CORE of an ICE is exactly that: fire, just equipped with some iron gear around it. In contrast Electricity is a totally NEW concept ( technology if you are willing to make a stretch of the word ).
With some data and calculations and one can easily show that ICE and EXTREMELY inefficient engine ( but one has to be an engineer to understand that, not an social major graduate from a top/bottom university ). The only reason we have so many ICEs around us, is because of the cheap OIL in the begging of the 20th sentry, and the interests of the first BIG fortunes controlling this industry.
Long before Tesla Roadster there was the Man Tesla ( Nikola Tesla ). Before writing about some terribly misunderstood question and giving, supposedly independent point, one has to research the efficiency of the natural processes, for one is certain, Nature is extremely efficient in perishing the inefficiencies. And certainly of ones, the current state of our industrial system in EXTREMELY inefficient. Luckily of us ( or unluckily for many ) this will soon change."
And some hint: Soon the biggest new industry, will be the conversion of the ICEs cars to electric for the cost of $3-$4K.
LMFAO!!!!!!
" Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota lambasted the Obama administration"
Hmmmm, why do those names sound so familiar??
Oh wait, that's right! Doesn't IOWA get mega-subsidies for ETHANOL production?? Oh yeah!
Hmmm and what else stands in the way of electric vehicles, perhaps THE OIL in South Dakota???
Gee, why would these two losers be so upset about subsidies for electric vehicles?
I love the anti-gov't bent on ZH and this child-like belief that there is really a "Free Market" ANYWHERE.
Just like Sandy needed federal assistance, moving to electric (highly desirable BTW) from oil infrastructure needs gov't assistance. Sometimes the private sector simply lacks the ability and WILL to do what is NEEDED.
ROFLMAO ... Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota, the two queens of subsidies and market meddeling and dislocation caused by the federal RFS quotas in EISA 2007 that require ever increasing amounts of corn ethanol in all gasoline sold in the U.S. Hypocrasy knows no bounds with these two political whores.
Nothing wrong with small non highway capable elec cars if your life orbits the local village /town & train station.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_(electric_car)
Given the surplus of cheap hydro elec. in Norway it frees up more oil for export.
I like the real version.
www.smartcar.com
The most recent leaf commercial where the woman starts the AC in her leaf before heading out - nice idea, but she just burned several miles off the limited range. Most bullshit part of the commercial was the end where a leaf was shown pulling into the house and plugging in so the lights in the house could be powered from the energy the leaf had recovered while driving. Apparently the second law of thermodynamics and all of it's ancillary effects are just textbook relics.
/Cue the zero point energy replies.
Wolfy, thanks once again for the history lesson, some informative chunks I just didn't know about.
So not only Solyndra but we have A123 batteries going down the sewer and soon Tesla, Fisker and most assuredly, the Nissan Leaf
Politicians: losers (you can bank on it)
What we need to do is charge a Military Surcharge and end all oil subsidies as well as the national reserves.
Then when gas is $15/gallon, electric will take off.
People whine about subsidies to electric or Amtrak, because they see those industries failing. But the reality is the subsidies for their rivals are much HIGHER. And that's why they are failing, not because they are a bad investment.
Highway and airport subsidies dwarf what Amtrak gets.
Oil and gas subsidies, starting with the TRILLIONS being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan DWARF the money going to Solyndra.
Remove the oil subsidies and electric will thrive. It's not the subsidies for electric that are the problem.
All goods not produced in America need a military surcharge. Something called taxes I believe.
Everything a politician touches turns to shit
TO SAVE $1: Bailed Out Chrysler To Move U.S. JEEP Production To Italy
SBIR contracts work well because they are performance based and start out small. The only way to hit pay dirt is to get through the proof of concept phase. Obamas hamfisted attempt at accelerating green technology was a fools errand. Just loaning and granting money to large outfits with no performance metrics what so ever just shows how far separated from business reality the current administration is.
Please, wake the fuck up. Venture captial firms recieved 100x the funding that the SBIR/STTR mechanism (which is actually performance-based) got. The song remains the same, it isn't what you know (and put into an SBIR application to be reviewed) it is who you know (and the money you simply get for free from your own personal politico).
That’s why boondoggles are so popular; somebody does get the money.
This is the key concept. Good to see it propounded with such clarity.
https://twitter.com/PANYNJ/status/263749812153880577/photo/1
Check it out. Fisker cars caught on fire in NJ port during Sandy. Five piles of melted steel. Nice.
QF
Zaragoza tram has extended its route by 800 metres yesterday without a catenary,
It appears a stopgap measure but seems to be effective.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTTwJtq3njw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWsFoqWn56A
you should see the absolute perversity of hacking up roads and sticking in dinosaur trams in French and Swiss city's ...it's replusive
the cars (which subsidise this sham transport) are pushed into 1 lane of endless traffic jams while the trams get 2 lanes but most of the time the tracks are vacant, moving nothing
try Bordeaux or Geneva next time you're over and watch the road move people and the trams sit there like a fat twat doing nothing
every Govt Transport Dept should be pitchforked and every person in them BBQ's slowly over a medium heat... i hate these ignorant meddling jackasses
@Zero
Cars subsidise ?
You have got things back to front.
Its OIL baby.
Cars (other then taxis) have no business in the centre of town - why in Gods name would you take a fucking car into the centre of town ?
Have you any idea how much oil is wasted in city centre traffic ?
PS
I hung around Nice both before and after trams - The city is on a different planet and a much better one.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_1_du_tramway_de_Nice
90,000 people a day use line 1......that saves a hell of a lot of Gasoline.
Tram lines are closing in the south of Spain but thats simply because the goverment is not sovergin.
Old technology can accomplish great things.
A local machine shop just closed down and all the so-called over the hill equipment(non-digital readout etc) equipment was bought for a little of nothing. For example a 20' long metal lathe with tons of stuff in great working condition for $800.00.
Guess where it's going? I'll give you one guess it weighs around 25k lbs. It will be ground down into little steel balls, shipped to china and you'll buy it back in the form cheap fucking junk and further erode he economy.
If I had the means to move that stuff I would've bought it all. Just wait, I am convinced these meaningless jobs such as a lathe guy as perceived by the likes of nurses(I always tell them the difference between you and me is I could be trained to do your job but you couldn't do mine in a million years) will eventually come back rather it be thru war or just the realization that paper pushing doesn't cut it.
An owner of a shop in Mexico called all the people that bought stuff at the auction and offered them over scrap price and is sending his own men to get the stuff. I guess that's somewhat better than sending it to china in crates.
So you are suggesting that old technology can accomplish great things, but then state that this old technology is valued by the market at scrap prices.
Where is the example of this old technology accomplishing ANYTHING, let alone great things?
Capitalism, as a fundemental tenant values efficiency and productivity. Todays CNC machines and turrets can out produce the old shit 50 to 1...or more. THAT is why the stuff sells for iron prices.
You may know how to run an obsolete lathe, but you don't know shit about making an argument.
Are you a government worker, perchance?
"Boondoggle" about covers it.
Come to think of it, covers about all of Washington and Wall Street activity, plural.
Charybdis and Scylla...
In the first world conundrum, of economy in long term doldrums, you have a choice of getting milked in two fashions :
1° The Big state Tax grind mill. The great social leveller ordained by Olympians of Senate, to maintain the great social experiment.
2° The Oligarchy scam of Banksta world, where you pay them thru the nose; as the cheap money thrown at them by the same Olympians in Zirp money printing, adding more debt to the government balance sheet; comes back at you at a 10% markup thru inflation cum interest spread!
Talk about being in a porn movie...this is truly double portions and you cannot opt out of it! Close down the hatches if you don't want to get drilled deep and grilled barbecue style until your spare ribs are as dry as a Mojave desert gully.
mojave desert pictures - Recherche Google
But by 1920, as the internal combustion engine had become a viable technology, formerly successful manufacturers of steam cars and electric cars receded into memory. It wasn’t government that made that decision, but customers.
___________________________________________
It is funny how 'americans' are so fond of discriminating.
What's the use?
The government is a customer. The government consumes.
'American' governments were eager of getting an air force. Their orders helped the development of combustion engine.
It is quite funny though that this 'american' author placed the date at 1920, just after the first WW, which saw the use of aircraft, both as reconnaissance, dog fighting and bombing platforms.
It is not like as if some of the major motorists of those times were army contractors. No, no.
By the way, the army, as a branch of a government, is not a customer.
The entire auto industry has been subsidized for a long time. The entire national highway system is a giant subsidy to the auto industry. How much more likely are you to buy a car given that there are roads to drive on?
and train tracks are not. so why do we move freight via 18 wheeler instead of train?
Because oil is cheap..........................................................
How much more likely are you to buy a car given that there are roads to drive on... and a complete lack of efficient/affordable public/mass transit? I know, I know, it was better for the economy that we all buy cars on debt and pay homage to the oligarchs at the fuel pump.
Cars pay for their roads many times over... in the UK of every £8 thieved off motorists in Govt taxation/extortion just over £1 goes back into roads. Another £1 goes into propping up bankrupt antiquated moronic trains and another £1 into obese stupid bankrupt buses. The other £4 goes into the Treasurys fat thieving belly
So that £6 should rightfully have paid for nearly 6 times more road (capacity) if it had been invested which would solve the cronic systemic bottlenecks and jams
Motor cars pay their way mnay times over, all the rest are bankrupt suckers
@zero
How come the UKs core capital base is depleting then ?
The North Sea remember ?
10% -15% a year or so decline rates.
I advice you to look at a typical western countries energy balance sheet and look at the numbers and where they go..... and it ain't into trains.
Transport oil use UK Y2011 MTO (final consumption)
Total : 53,698
Road : 38,646
Air : 12,802
national nav. : 1,597
Rail : 652 +349 elec MTOE : total 1012 MTOE
Between 1970 and 2011 rail was the only transport type in the UK to reduce its energy use despite the fact it carries more passengers then ever in its history including the troop movements of the Great , second & Suez war (although it carries less freight ,now mainly coal.)
Air transport energy use has more then tripled (so much for those new frugal turboprops) from a 3,869 MTO base in 1970.
Road transport energy use has increased 86% from a 21,409 MTO base in 1970
Rail transport energy use has declined 37 % from a 1,611 MTO base in 1970.
www.bis.gov.uk/files/file11250.pdf
Yeah, in the US we have something similar. It's called raising the taxes for education. (All the while America continues to dumb down.)
Yeah, in the US we have something similar. It's called raising the taxes for education. (All the while America continues to dumb down.)
Thank you for the link to Chris Street's Report .. If this doesn't scare the pants off every American, then nothing will. God save us from ...
One reason electric vehicles are not pushed by the manufacturers is the very weak after sales profit. A fully electric vehicle, which would suffice for a large number of peoples daily use is far too reliable. Way back when electric mass transit was the norm for buses they put massive amounts of miles on them with minor maintenance. An internal combustion vehicle is an endless cash cow for parts. Of course GM and the oil folks bought and busted the electric transit systems. Today, electric buses are still superior in reliability. A little messy looking in infrastructure, but clean, quiet and go on forever.
There is a big hurdle to get over with non business private transportation. Style over function. I see the electric vehicles being put out now and they are the same old car with electric crammed in. Over weight, over gadgeted, over ugly styled. There are few real electric cars being produced in this world. Because we still put so much of our identity into our vehicle.
What? You think someone other than Mossad assasinated three Americans in Benghazi? C'mon!
Gasoline will always have to be disposed of in some manner. Even if there were no internal combustion engines left, there would still be gasoline, as a by-product of oil refining.
Our modern cars do a commendable job converting it to forward motion and water vapor, for the most part. It has cost us billions in development to get them to do this.
Having lakes of gas burning night and day to get rid of this waste product would be a lot more damaging than to use it for transportation. It's a high performance, efficient fuel so what's the prob again?
What's wrong with petrol for fuel? Well, let's start with 1/3rd of the oil imported from the ME. That's where we and the UN installed by threat of force, in the Arab/Muslim land of Palestine, followers of the Talmud who emigrated from Khazaria. The Talmud spouts the most hateful, bigoted, racist ideology on the face of the planet, such as the teaching that everyone who is not a "Jew" deserves only death.
Is this a good thing? Or even nuetral? I don't think so.
Please.. the thread is about the lack of progress after dumping billions into electric cars.
The Jew vs. Everyone else over there is a diversion from the topic. I don't go into complex political arguments because there is no discussion just frothing anger and recriminations, and bad blood all around. I think Gaza is a travesty, and the palis are treated badly. That's all I could say. It's above my pay grade.
Gasoline engines will rule the roads until a new, more efficient energy cell can be developed that is reasonably priced and reasonably long-lived. That hasn't happened. A 12 gallon gas tank weighs about 90 pounds, stores a lot of energy and takes you a long way.
Our government ended gm's research into the hydrogen car in favor of the electric
Expect hydrogen technology to be sold to the chinese by these geniouses and in a 5 or 1 years it will be the car of the furure
now thats truly funny, and i gave you a plus one
thats some seriously MDB level sarcasm there
or do you actually believe in that ludicrous technology?
Long Harley- Dav
Sen Durbin and Gov Quinn of Illinois were getting boners last week over the $2bil "high speed rail" test run doing 110 mph over a 20 mile run. Go to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and see the exhibit of a steam engine that in 1907 hit a top speed of 107 mph.
More taxpayer $ for 100 year old technological result.
I'm sure people will be lining up to visit the hellholes at the end of the HS rail lines-Detroit and St. Louis. I live in IL and those two assholes are emblematic of what has happened to a once very well economically diversified state that has been surrendered to the public employee unions and ethanol lobbies.
Amen to that Otto. Unfortunately the "morons" in Government in Illinois will bankrupt the state as the retards in Chicago keep voting these jerks into office. Mike Madigan and his daughter need to get tossed as well.
Chuck Grassley is pissed that the subsidies aren't going to his welfare queen farmers in Iowa-fucking hypocrite.
Like I said before, if we had used this money to start on a national natural gas grid, would we be about done yet?
Start? It is already done.
Even IF the DOE had developed a great new battery technology, the batteries would still probably end up being manufactured in a low wage country like China.
China to US: "Thanks, Yanks!"
How about thanks Turks but no thanks ?
Not quite the same ring to it but.......
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_Connect
To circumvent the 25% tariff on imported light trucks, Ford imports all Transit Connects as passenger vehicles with rear windows, rear seats and rear seatbelts.[9] The vehicles are exported from Turkey on cargo ships owned by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, arrive in Baltimore, and are converted intocommercial vehicles at WWL Vehicle Services Americas Inc. facility: rear windows are replaced with metal panels and rear seats removed (except on wagons).[9] The removed parts are then recycled.[9] The process exploits a loophole in the customs definition of a commercial vehicle. As cargo does not need seats with seat belts or rear windows, presence of those items exempts the vehicle from commercial vehicle status. The conversion process costs Ford hundreds of dollars per van, but saves thousands over having to pay the tax.[9] Partly because of this, only the long-wheelbase, high roof configuration is exported to North America. In most places, the high-roof Transit Connect, like most Ford Econoline vans, is unable to access multi-story parking because of its height (6? 6?).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkHj-Psk7c
And the government continues to cause inefficient use of resources....... If it wasn't for the government we wouldn't even hav SUVs; try explaining that to a 20 year old.
fail
we had an international harvester travelall in the sixties
and it was an SUV
about the size of a GM denali