Former Intel-CEO wants electric cars, retrofits of older vehicles
The former chairman and CEO of Intel Corp., Andrew Grove, thinks that energy and transportation have reached a strategic inflection point. That's a term that Grove coined years ago to describe a point in time when conditions in an industry have changed sufficiently to force a sudden and dramatic change of course for a company. Grove believes that the confluence of oil prices, environmental concerns and economic conditions now demand a rapid move from internal combustion to electrically driven vehicles. Grove is now pushing to find a way to retrofit the tens of millions of older vehicles on the road with hybrid drive systems. Grove is pushing for tax incentives to help fund battery and conversion kit development. While automakers support the call for battery development help, they have been less enthusiastic about conversions. The concern is that converting existing vehicles to hybrid or electric drive could undermine the safety and durability of those vehicles. Automakers expend a great deal of effort on integrating systems to ensure reliability. With conversions, it's difficult to guarantee the robustness of the integration. Nevertheless, Grove will devote the next semester of a business school class he teaches at Stanford to finding ways to make EVs possible.
[Source: Associated Press via Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John 10:03AM (7/01/2008)
Excellent concept. I don't however believe the automakers line that: Automakers expend a great deal of effort on integrating systems to ensure reliability. The recall numbers show otherwise. They would much rather have us buy new hybrid types than convert our old.
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Serge 10:18AM (7/01/2008)
Majority of resources should be dedicated to getting BEVs and plug-in hybrids on the road. Consumers have no choice right now, other than newer generation ICE vehicle with marginal [if at all] emission and mileage improvements over previous generations. Once at least 25% percent of new car sales are EVs (broad definition), market conjuncture should welcome conversion via development of conversion processes with now stable electric propulsion tech.
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Chris Carpenter 11:07AM (7/01/2008)
Retrofitting is our only hope to keep the poor in the game and to keep the backbone of the service and shipping economy from collapsing. Those who can afford to play with the different possibilities of new hybrid / EV technology are not a majority. They think they have been absconded from their carbon guilt by selling their once-chic H2 or Suburban, but that big truck didn't just become pixie dust...until it goes completely out of service, it will still be a factor in the big picture of fuel. Reduce, reuse, recycle doesn't just mean get rid of your gas guzzler for a hybrid. It means not making so many new cars and figuring out how to get better / longer use out of what we have.
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Richard Brown 1:04PM (7/01/2008)
Retro-fit is important. See www.poulsenhybrid.com. for one approach. Concept works on any car or truck but has to be designed to fit different wheelwells.
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Whopper 2:20PM (7/01/2008)
Yeah, Stanford can unleash another batch of MBAs on the world to drive companies into oblivion. The trouble we have right now is technological and we need engineers and technicians to resolve it. More worthless paper-shuffling stuffed shirts need not apply, thanyou very much.
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Sasparilla 1:51PM (7/01/2008)
As mentioned previously the only reason the automakers don't want conversions is that it would prevent future vehicle sales they want to happen - just self interest. I wish Grove luck, but agree the market is ready to at least start the change (unfortunately the industry works alot slower than that).
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Dad 2:02PM (7/01/2008)
"The former chairman and CEO of Intel Corp."
The emphasis should be on former and he should stick to what he now knows, retirement and CPUs.
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s10 3:05PM (7/01/2008)
@DAD Why? Is he bothering you? Is he dangerous?
Why is a person not allowed to have maybe good ideas, and if he has the means, try them out?
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Serge 3:38PM (7/01/2008)
Grove turned Intel into technology powerhouse that it is. He is a man who knows how to set in motion the forces that transform an industry, with economy-wide ripple effects.
I hope his students pick up on some of that ingenuity, because in addition to brilliant engineers we need business folks who can lead the next wave of innovation and not turn into empty suits and bean-counters mentioned by Whopper.
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Throwback 5:00PM (7/01/2008)
It's not only automakers that want future vehicle sales. We the shareholders would like them as well.
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Mark Mitchell 7:25PM (7/01/2008)
"Retro-fit is important. See www.poulsenhybrid.com. for one approach."
Took a look at it. Their projected price for an installed system is nearly 5000 bucks--and that's for the low buck version. How on earth could that be considered as a sane "approach" to retrofit older vehicles which are almost always bought by people who can't afford new ones? How could ANY working stiff afford this or even half that much? Even with a 100% tax credit few will have the up-front cash to do it. Sure this is just the first iteration of this type of system but if the concept follows the usual course of this sort of thing it may become more effective and lighter but not cheaper. If more than a tiny determined few opt for this or something similar I'd be quite astonished. We're just going to have to be patient and let the natural turnover of the fleet do the job of increasing efficiency. High fuel prices have lit the afterburners on this process already and as our host has observed in another post those prices will be far more effective in doing the job than any government mandate. Many are demonizing the oil companies as being responsible for high fuel prices but maybe we should be giving them hearty thanks instead for finally getting everyone's attention.
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Mike Graebner 4:50PM (5/01/2009)
electric retrofit shops already exist throughout the country. Check - opensourcegreen,info -
under "Alternative Transport" for a listing.
If anyone knows of any other retrofitters in business right now, would like to know about them and add them to the list.
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