I found positive social interaction as a baseline really rings true - a smile and the nod type thing - post-lockdown in Texas. Great to practice manners again and laugh at mixing up direction of traffic in the grocery store. Bumbling around in a mask in a hurry was not pleasant, this is nicer so I behave the same!
See, this is why the NEV class of vehicle was legislated into existence before the technology was able to capitalize on the potential. That's how I pulled disparate parts together and also solve a lot of problems relating to transition.
First, smaller cars, smaller batteries. Still can have ICE vehicles for range. Smaller cars help density, 2 Wallaby EV cars are designed to fit in one US garage space (other models may be larger).
Second, the UTV class will employ upgradeable solar panels for replacement as technology mandates - no OTA stuff, just a few hex screws probably and some plugs. Like modifying an RC car.
Third, we can't get away from energy density problems at scale with EV even trying to supplement with solar, and I'm thinking about making EV UTVs that are off-grid self-supporting as long as the generator system (sold separately, also useful in other applications) is brought along.
Fourth, the Wallaby EV system is not aiming to penetrate high-dollar households with the discretionary income to make changes of this nature - the transition clients need to save money on gas, car insurance, and then they can afford electricity and heat and maybe some school supplies. This is the real world and these folks need help and are #1 to benefit from getting away from petroleum. Cost fluctuations, being in a ghetto where the gas is a dollar more than 2 zip codes away, food desert issues, urban density...all these are the natural habitat of the Wallaby EV.
Fifth, the grid in Texas recently had trouble coping with a giant storm which fortunately my hospital grid location saved me from freeze issues, and it's still an issue. Until mentally incompetent grand-sitters get out of the way, it's not even worth talking about potential fixes. This has to be grassroots, not top down.
Tesla already tried top down. The build quality is embarrassing. Also on the top end a Focus ST will catch a Model S easily at anything starting over 90 mph. Smoked by a $15,000 used car. The Wallaby EV racer on the other hand will likely require a fighter pilot G-suit because of the active aero and tricks I have up my sleeve (all thanks to EV plug and play type concepts).
I am so excited about the future I actually spent real money for a change to setup the structure to house the pages and pages of business plans, roles, materials, and logistics to make it work. Great USA jobs for USA employees making something start-to-finish with USA materials. My ultimate middle finger to the legacy of Steve Jobs.
While I share an affinity for magnets and their utility, I too was hoping for more zazz like a crossbow and/or Batman type over-engineering. Anything to keep me off a ladder is a safety value-add in my book.
In North Texas a guy who broke his leg went in for routine surgery to fix him up, his oxygen dropped and he is now brain dead and was the sole provider for his aging Mother - malpractice suit awarded but she is caring for him the rest of their days because "he is my everything" (loose translation from Spanish).
Just thinking about something for use with the Wallaby EV UTV in the feral hog issue here in Texas. With wildfires being a huge concern, minimizing the risk of sparking a blaze is a serious wrinkle in planning a useful and practical device. I kind of imagine triangulating on a herd using a drone to spot and lase the target, then the on-vehicle system does the calculations and it shoots using compressed air like a potato gun. Depending on the math and sizing and whatnot, I figure it could be a really effective weapon against this scourge.
Disclosure: I had a bad experience relating to Arkansas and I'm taking it out on the feral hogs.
3 sentences per paragraph if long-ish, can go 5 if shorter and the rhythm is present in the cadence of language.
Basically until you practice clarity, word choice, and active attention to writing (no spell check, no assists), communicating anything of complexity becomes a planning exercise. How much will it take to convey this information in text? Would a picture work better? A graph to support?
I've made a nice living "translating" from Subject Matter Expert (A/C/E, SaaS, Wall St) into business language for RFPs. 9 times out of 10 a person can talk out a story to me just fine - meanwhile they've stalled writing anything for 3 days past the deadline so it's just making my life more difficult. It's obvious people hate writing in the business realm.
Why? Because once it's written down there's a paper trail and accountability. That scares people who want to use language in shady ways. Hence the phone call after your email to talk about what you just mentioned but not by using the Reply button. Sooooooo predictable....
In the spirit of giving thanks, I'm happy to reveal my hard work bootstrapping and filing paperwork this past month since being fired from my last job for not joining their cult. Lots of soul searching. I realized my talents were not being used in proposal management as much as could be used in project management, specifically something relating to cars, which is my lifetime passion.
Today I'll be around to answer questions or field interest in participation in the future. As this is 100% mine I aim to maintain quality control and my principles in every aspect of business. Basically a complete 180 from Steve Jobs because I figured out the math to have sustainable manufacturing here in Texas at higher-than-competitive wages for minimal education or inherent skills. All I'm going to need is attitude and reliability and my factories will run 24/7 with all the pee breaks employees could ever need. Also a quiet factory to support hearing health, because my hearing is going after years of metal and hard rock guitar, so I value what I have.
I won't go into too much detail about my handicap, but it's from birth, costs about $250,000 a year in maintenance medication (same stuff for 15 years, the new stuff is way more) and I've used now-banned PEDs pretty extensively in pursuit of quality of life. This is why I think ramps and automatic doors are nice, but as an advocate pointed out on 1080 KRLD recently, air travel for the mobility challenged is nearly impossible. I bet you and I take for granted that we can actually even use those coffin water closets on airborne cattle cars. So I've decided to make these folks my priority - instead of being last in line, they are first, because their problems are hard ones.
I solve hard problems and then I'll coast on the easy ones. I don't care how much in debt I go to get these in the hands of Veterans and the Handicapped as early as possible in 2023 - considering the extremely low cost of production versus 10 year plus lifespan, money isn't going to be a problem. When I debut the UTV version that is 80% there in design, I'll be able to put John Deere Gator out of business in fleet sales. Every municipality will want to go EV instead of gas/diesel and having built in Lithium Ion charging for STHL commercial electric equipment will be a plus in the transition that will be legally mandated in about 10 years. It's clear to see.
I got this idea from building RC cars. Simplicity. Just like in music, "simple sells records" and if you're going to build thousands of something per day, well, there's a reason I started with a clean sheet. This innovation is why I get to sit here and call Deere, Club Car, Polaris, Toyota Industries stupid and lazy engineers for just replacing ICE with Electric systems - you all had your chance and now I am going to shame all of you with how tight and brilliant this vehicle is and why it will sell to auto enthusiasts and "push button get to grocery store" users alike.
Thanks for your interest and please don't try to compete with me because I have such a head start it's really not worth it. Join up. Let's do cool things and change the world to be a quieter and more fun place!
Interesting note and a curious thing to apply in my local area. We have lots of cross breed lizards like horned toads and newts and anoles. We love their feeding habits.
Compared to the rainforest lizards, our prairie ones are 4x larger on average. Like dwarf iguanas in some respects with large claws and speed.
I’m also a huge fan of dragonflies here in north Texas - quite common seeing 3-5” long ones zooming about with gorgeous variety of colors. I’ve noticed they appreciate outdoor fans and treat the breeze path as a playground.
The reason I've found my niche in the EV sector is because there are no more Miata-type vehicles for sale in the US anymore that flip the range anxiety upside down. Most urban and suburban sprawl lives happen in low speed congestion. Smaller vehicles, if subsidized with parking advantages plus never needing to stop at a gas station again, also can maybe catch a break in the ghost-taxation of mandatory insurance. I think the most effective strategy is make people want to go electric because it's just way better, and I'm excited about the future. SEMA 2022 was apparently "electrify all the things!" with a healthy dose of restomod. Sounds great!