What is Digg?333 Comments
- jmjinks, on 01/27/2008, -6/+115If we leave it in the hands of the old boys club, we will never see this happen by a major car manufacturer. Its only with youth and curiosity that such things can be achieved. Good for him.
- msaleem, on 01/27/2008, -8/+96Forget who killed the electric car, look at who's bringing it back. Yes, a 16-year old.
- warlokaz2004, on 01/27/2008, -2/+62it'll be really great when it tops out at 75 mph, making it good for a highway.
on another note, how much does a 'charge' cost vs a tank of gas? - ammar456, on 01/27/2008, -8/+63cool.. couldnt wait for the big companies to do it first eh?
- phore, on 01/27/2008, -6/+54It's kind of sad that a 16 year old can make his own electric car yet auto manufacturers continue to make all their cars gas powered. In a free market we should have choice when we purchase a car.
- Talcum, on 01/27/2008, -5/+47Keep it up. This should be done in every shop class in america
- dierobots, on 01/27/2008, -1/+43most days i am too lazy to even make a sandwich. props, kid.
and to anyone who hasn't seen the documentary 'who killed the electric car,' it's a good watch - 2oonhed, on 01/27/2008, -1/+30short haul runabout, grocery getter, mail getter..........retard runner over.
- animalmuther76, on 07/30/2008, -4/+32the oil companies are probably phoning their hitman right now
- antonio97b, on 01/27/2008, -2/+28Those Mazda pickups are sturdy vehicles. Don't knock them.
- spineaches, on 01/27/2008, -2/+27thas pretty damn cool, all the 16 yr olds i know like to do is destroy their brain cells, be stupid or drink beer. (although theres not much wrong there besides the stupid bit..)
- nedaf7, on 01/27/2008, -0/+24The power plants need fuel to produce energy too, but we can produce energy much more efficiently in power plants than we can in car engines.
- Soliden, on 01/27/2008, -4/+27Even if it kept the same style I'd still buy one just to say "F U" to the oil companies.
- tgc1, on 01/27/2008, -2/+24About 2 dollars per fill. You are charging, so it depends on how many hours it takes to fill per kilowatt hour. It's not expensive AT ALL. You're talking a fraction of what it costs to fill your fuel tank.
- wfbnadador, on 01/27/2008, -4/+24Cool, too bad you're a douche. 80's vehicles FTW.
- dinostabOMG, on 01/27/2008, -2/+20Guess not, and good for him!
- hippykiller, on 01/27/2008, -5/+23Your a piece of *****, and drop that ***** anarchy symbol you stupid *****.
- SVOboy, on 01/27/2008, -4/+21Indeed, he's working on a tercel now though. I've talked to him a bit, cool guy.
- freehand, on 01/27/2008, -4/+19Imagine how much gas he could've bought with 6 grand!
- richbleak, on 01/27/2008, -1/+16I bet the 1988 Electric Mazda Pickup teams at the big auto-manufacturers are devastated
- tenchi71, on 01/27/2008, -0/+12The real purpose of going electric is that it standardizes everyone on an energy source that can be reproduced in many different ways. Sure, at first the shift is from mainly oil to coal. But those aren't the only ways to make electricity. There's nuclear, solar, bio-fuels, fusion, teh lazers, dilithium crystals, what ever. It won't really matter to us where the electricity comes from as long as the power plants can still make electricity. Right now it does matter where the oil is coming from. See the difference?
- aussieNickuss, on 01/27/2008, -0/+12Coal power plants are a point source emitter, while cars on the road are not. That means the pollution is more controllable and think about it......with petrol/gas cars....first the oil needs to be sucked out of the ground (a very damaging process to the environment), then it is shipped to a refinery, then it is refined (taking out energy in the conversion), and finally it is trucked to a filling station. The fuel you use in your car has emitted more greenhouse gases in its production (before you have even burnt it yourself), than the coal burnt to power an EV.
- theoceanmusic, on 01/27/2008, -6/+18I can't believe people are still going with this idea that more efficient cars just aren't possible yet. It's become cliche at this point to even mention, but the oil lobby is huge. My Grandmother had some family Buick car made in the 80's that got better gas mileage than the cars of today, and it drove just fine.
Look at our species as if you were some alien looking down on Earth. There is this stuff in the ground that makes us move. We are killing eachother over it and there is no end in sight. Then think that every planet that has intelligent life eventually runs into the same problem on their planet. Cosmic built-in limitations to civilization anyone? - tgc1, on 01/27/2008, -1/+1260HP from an electric engine is completely different than 60HP (peak power) from an internal combustion engine. Remember, just because your engine may have a said amount of horsepower (say 120hp average) you are getting that power at a certain RPM (say 120HP peak at 5,500RPM), NOT continuously as with the electric motor. Electric motors also deliver all of their power at once, they have no real power band like an internal combustion engine.
That said, you'd be surprised what you can do with 60HP from an electric motor. And then there's the savings of not having to replace 1 of 270 parts on the engine that break down over time. Electric motors are basically maintenance free. Just FYI. - charlietuna, on 01/27/2008, -0/+11A far cry from these kids:
http://tinyurl.com/2glacm - DeFex, on 01/27/2008, -0/+10only if you live in some backward country that still burns coal!
- shamanlife, on 01/27/2008, -1/+11chevy volt? That isn't even a real car. At least this kid built a real car that is moving and usable. I'd rather be driving this kid's pick-up than a pamphlet that says "chevy volt" on it.
- dattaway, on 01/27/2008, -1/+11Getting to work and back? Going to the grocery store? Picking up a load of firewood? What would you use a truck for?
- aceakm, on 01/27/2008, -0/+10The big companies don't do *****.
- bigdeuscheguy, on 01/27/2008, -2/+11That Mazda happens to be one of the best vehicles ever made. Also, being an 80's truckwould make it lighter than most candidates, and more suitable for a conversion.
- optimisb, on 01/27/2008, -2/+11hmmm let's see. At current gas price, that's 3 years of gas in my car for $6000
- Quakee, on 01/27/2008, -2/+11I guess you prefer $3.50 for about every 20 miles you drive, FTW.
Douche - 2oonhed, on 01/27/2008, -1/+9no...it is made of pressed flowers and spit.....what do you think?
- michelspc, on 01/27/2008, -0/+8Lead-acid batteries have one of the most successful recycling programs ever. Even after the batteries are fully used they still have value. See this Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead-acid_battery#Env ...
There are already recycling centers in place for these batteries due to volume. - loquax, on 01/27/2008, -1/+9Kids today... At 16 with $6,000 and a pickup truck, I'd probably gone to Mexico and been drunk for a summer. I'm glad to see that Generation Z (or whatever they are called now) is doing a lot more than sitting around bitching about the world.
- sodade, on 01/27/2008, -0/+8You know what though? When this guy blows past me while I am on my roadbike, I won't be sucking his toxic fumes.
- codyman, on 01/27/2008, -4/+12acceleration of "not too bad".... as in 55 veedub 0-topspeed of 55mph in ~25-30 seconds?
I will, however, give him credit for going lone ranger on the project and doing it for on the cheap too - aussieNickuss, on 01/27/2008, -3/+11Anyone else wonder what the purpose of an SUV as a family runabout is?
- jpt62089, on 01/27/2008, -2/+10The same way as any other job.
- apeweek, on 01/27/2008, -1/+8Electric vehicles are more efficient than gas vehicles. So even if electricity is produced from coal, less pollution is produced.
- cowsgonemadd3, on 01/27/2008, -1/+8A link to his blog too!
http://greenflightev.blogspot.com/ - KennMac, on 01/27/2008, -1/+8Electric motors are FAR more efficient at applying stored energy than the combustible engine. Your cost per mile will be a fraction of what it would cost to deduce the same energy from gasoline. There's plenty of "green" savings here.
- aceakm, on 01/27/2008, -3/+10He should've used a DeLorean.
- charlietuna, on 01/27/2008, -1/+8Point is he learned a lot by doing this.
- dattaway, on 01/27/2008, -1/+8Never underestimate the torque of a DC motor. A 10,000 pound electric forklift may have a 10 horsepower DC motor with a top speed of 7 mph, but it will reach that top speed in a few seconds.
- brevs, on 01/27/2008, -6/+13And it took the auto industry years to achieve this. What a joke.
- yugiohdan6, on 01/27/2008, -2/+9actually they had it in 1996 with the EV1 but because "no one wanted to buy it" they crushed almost all of them except a few which they left for museums (innards disabled...) even though people DID want to buy it
- tgc1, on 01/27/2008, -2/+8Political sway dictates the course of our automobiles. If we all converted to electric cars overnight, not only would the big 3 be up ***** creek overnight, but so would the petroleum industry. And considering how much money in taxes the governments take in for fuel cost per gallon or litre, i'm pretty sure it's not in their interest to convert anything of ours over to electric in the near future.
If you only knew how much power fuel companies have. *****, president bush was has had a lot of experience with fuel companies. I wouldn't be surprised if he still owned interests in some fuel companies. - KRNpro, on 01/27/2008, -0/+6like the US!
- dbug, on 01/27/2008, -0/+6Only if I can bury you twice.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 329 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is