Neil Young's Letter to the Big 3 and the U.S. Government

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[Daniel]

HOW TO SAVE A MAJOR AUTOMOBILE COMPANY

Auto manufacturers taking advantage of a government bailout must only sell clean and green vehicles that do not contribute to global warming.

by Neil Young
(November 2008)

Find a new ownership group. The culture must change. It is time to turn the page. In the high technology sector there are several candidates for ownership of a major car and truck manufacturer. We need forward looking people who are not restricted by the existing culture in Detroit. We need visionary people now with business sense to create automobiles that do not contribute to global warming.

It is time to change and our problems can facilitate our solutions. We can no longer afford to continue down Detroit's old road. The people have spoken. They do not want gas guzzlers (although they still like big cars and trucks). It is possible to build large long-range vehicles that are very efficient. People WILL buy those vehicles because they represent REAL change and a solution that we can live with.

The government must take advantage of the powerful position that exists today. The Big 3 are looking for a bailout. They should only get it if they agree to stop building autos that contribute to global warming now. The stress on the auto manufacturers today is gigantic. In order to keep people working in their jobs and keep factories open, this plan is suggested:

The big three must reduce models to basics. a truck, an SUV, a large family sedan, an economy sedan, and a sports car. Use existing tooling.

Keep building these models to keep the workforce employed but build them WITHOUT engines and transmissions. These new vehicles, called Transition Rollers, are ready for a re-power. NO NEW TOOLING is required at this stage. The adapters are part of the kits described next.

At the same time as the new Transition Rollers are being built, keeping the work force working, utilize existing technology now, create re-power kits to retrofit the Transition Rollers to SCEVs (self charging electric vehicles) for long range capability up to and over 100mpg. If you don't think this technology is realistic or available, check out the Progressive Insurance Automotive X prize. Alternatively, check out Lincvolt.com or other examples.

A bailed out Auto manufacturer must open or re-purpose one or more factories and dedicate them to do the re-power/retrofit assembly. These factories would focus on re-powering the Transition Rollers into SCEVs but could also retrofit and re-power many existing vehicles to SCEVs. These existing vehicles are currently sitting unsold at dealerships across America.

Auto manufacturers taking advantage of a government bailout must only sell clean and green vehicles that do not contribute to global warming. No more internal combustion engines that run exclusively on fossil fuels can be sold period.

No Big Three excuses like “new tooling takes time”. New tooling is not a requirement for SCEV transition rollers.

Build only new vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming and enhancing National Security.

Government legislation going with the bailout should include tax breaks for purchasers of these cars with the new green SCEV technology. The legislation accompanying the bailout of major auto manufacturers must include directives to build only vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming while enhancing National security, and provide the financial assistance to make manufacturing these cars affordable in the short term while the industry re-stabilizes.

Eventually the SCEV technology could be built into every new car and truck as it is being assembled and the stop gap plan described above would have completed its job of keeping America building and working through this turbulent time.

Detroit has had a long time to adapt to the new world and now the failure of Detroit's actions is costing us all. We pay the bailout. Let's make a good deal for the future of America and the Planet. Companies like UQM (Colorado) and others build great electric motors right here in the USA. Use these domestic electric motors. Put these people to work now. This plan reverses the flow from negative to positive because people need and will buy clean and green cars to be part of World Change. Unique wheel covers will identify these cars on the road so that others can see the great example a new car owner is making. People want America to win!

This plan addresses the issue of Global warming from our automobiles while enhancing our National Security and keeping Detroit working.

[Francis]

Neil Young does not know what he's talking about. He has no background in engineering or manufacturing. He's not willing to take suggestions from Detroit on how to create better music, nor should he. But he's way, way out of his league on the topic of energy policy, as illustrated by the above ludicrous drivel. I suggest that critics like Neil find some backing and build their own line of vehicles, or else mind their own business. Just listen to his songs, the guy is a chronic whiner. That's all he knows how to do.

[Jana]

Harvey Wasserman's take on autobailout
http://www.truthout.org/111708C
 

[Daniel]

Neil Young does not know what he's talking about.I suggest that critics like Neil find some backing and build their own line of vehicles

That's exactly what he is doing my friend. He has a team of experts backing him up.
Neil Young is not wholly correct in this letter and the problem obviously is far more complex than to solve it in a few paragraphs.

Some good points made by Mr. Young....if only it were that simple. People underestimate the complexity that goes into a vehicle and CERTIFYING a vehicle with the government- safety, emissions, crash, lighting, braking, etc...nonetheless, we are entering a new era - no doubt.  The car companies will not look the same one year from now...we are going to have some painful but necessary change.  The consumer too will have to make sacrifices in driving range and performance in some cases, but we all must change. 
Also obvious is the enormous amount of politics and special interests that still control and manipulate free thinking and enterprise.

If you know what Neil Young's LincVolt is about its a simple retro fit involving a turbine, an electric motor and a bank of batteries. But that might mean that GM, Ford and Chrysler may not have the same power and authority it once had. No doubt there will be multiple solutions in the near future and this one is a high contender to be in the top 5 of the list

Sorry to disagree, but Young has hired some professional experts to back up this project. It has nothing to do with sticking to his music and being an idiot about cutting edge engineering. It's about using ones wealth and celebrity to enlist experts around you to try something that the status quo has failed to do or deliberately has suppressed ("Who Killed The Electric Car?")

He entering his car in this race...10 million dollar prize for the winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7obxf8Hruk

LincVolt

http://www.lincvolt.com/

http://aura.gaia.com/photos/45/448931/xlarge/scan0394.jpg

[Francis]

Don't be sorry. So, we disagree. Let's see what Neil's experts come up with. Time will tell. In the interim, I stand by what I've said above.

[Daniel]

Let's see what Neil's experts come up with. Time will tell

Francis, if you take closer note, Mr. Young and his experts have already come up with something. There's no "time will tell". It's a done deal and in a state of evolution. They are presently filming and have entered the LincVolt in the $10 million X race.

Dan

[Francis]

From the linc volt website:

"Vision
      Our goal is to inspire a generation by creating a clean automobile propulsion technology that serves the needs of the 21st Century and delivers performance that is a reflection of the driver's spirit. By creating this new power technology we hope to reduce the demand for petro-fuels enough to eliminate the need for war over energy supplies, thereby enhancing the security of the USA and other nations throughout the world.

Values
      We want to build a zero emissions automobile that eliminates roadside re-fueling entirely, a safe powerful automobile that is comfortable and economic on both long trips and the commute to work, an automobile that can generate power to the home when it is parked, potentially creating an income stream for the owner. "

I'm waiting to see if the above can be accomplished.  This is the bar that Neil has set for himself and his associates, I'm not making this up. If he at least does well in the race, say within the top 5, I'll then admit that I was too hasty. We'll see.

[Daniel]

If he at least does well in the race, say within the top 5, I'll then admit that I was too hasty. We'll see.

Even if he loses that's not evidence that his project is a failure. Einstein went through hell to prove his general theory of relativity. He had one astronomer conclude he was wrong and another said he was right. Still not good enough. Not everyone believed him. So it then took half dozen astronomers photographing a solar eclipse for one out of the bunch to finally confirm his theory as correct after multiple attempts of never giving up and weathering huge criticism and doubts from his peers and the world along the way.

This is a unique project for the future of hybrids. Take a dinosaur of a car body from 1959 that weighs 2.5 tons and is 19.5 feet long and get it to produce 100 MPG (that's the goal...right now its doing around 60 MPG) and run 60 miles on 100% electricity. There are many futurist body designs with ultra light carbon composits and plastics that are aerodynamically designed.

Taking a horse like a '59 Lincoln Continental and having it perform just as well as any cutting edge design is a very interesting prospect. Clearly the added benefit of this concept is to develop a technology that retrofits existing cars. So those who love their Hummers, GM Ram pickups , Ford 150 and 350 Pickups (how about Semi trucks and Bulldozers?) no longer need to be the "bad boys" guzzling away a dwindling resource.

Hey Jana, great link on the US mass transit scandal. Go to any European country and mass transit is everywhere. No wonder they have better time in life!


SO YOU WANT A BIG ELECTRIC CAR

by Neil Young

President-elect Obama's plan to put a million electric vehicles on the road in 10 years is do-able and should be surpassed by its own momentum. As people discover the many advantages of electric vehicles (EVs), this momentum will build. Not only are these cars green and responsible, they also enhance National Security. From all we've been told about EVs we know a little. They are cleaner. We've heard about plugging them into our homes to recharge overnight. But most of us don't know much about electric cars yet.

The momentum of the Electric Vehicle Age will stem from enhanced performance, smoothness of acceleration, quietness, and superior control. The way an electric car can be tuned to behave a certain way for a certain driver allows for a whole new feeling in the driving experience. People just don't know how cool these cars are.

Existing designs can be manufactured as electric cars with no change to the tooling of the existing designs. Adapting kits are possible. Build electric versions on these existing tools to keep people working and get people interested in buying again. The technology to make these new electric vehicles exists today right here in this country.

From Wichita Kansas we get this report: A 1959 Lincoln Continental repowered to be a self charging electric vehicle by a small group of engineers and local services, is now achieving up to 65 mpg in informal tests. Work there continues. The goal of the project is to attain up to and beyond 100mpg for the biggest and heaviest car made in 1959. The car has been driven in California and Kansas and shown to over 15,000 people. In an audience of 12,000, one tenth of the people raised their hands when asked if they would like to have a car like that. That Lincoln represents a future for Detroit. It is the possibility of Big Clean cars that do not promote Global warming. Let's build them now, as well as economical small clean and green electric cars and let's put people to work. We already have the existing tooling and the facilities and manpower.

From Detroit we get this report: "We have devoted significant resources to this project: Over 200 engineers and 50 designers are working on the Volt alone, and another 400 are working on related subsystems and electric components. That's how important we think this is, and that's how much stock we place in the future of extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt."-- Tony Posawatz, Vehicle Line Director - E-Flex Systems and the Chevy Volt, GeneralMotors Corp. The GM, FORD and Chrysler CEOs then each boarded private personal business jets to be paid for by taxpayers money, and flew to Washington to ask tax-payers to give them a 25 Billion dollar infusion to save hard working American's jobs. Have they changed direction but it's just too early for our senators and congress representatives to see it yet? I don't think so. Maybe introducing a new high-performance fossil fueled Shelby Mustang and jumping into a private jet to go to Washington for a bailout was not such a good idea.

Efficient technology can power the existing designs we have today.

We don't need a car that looks different with a new sunroof over the back seat creating an air conditioning challenge as a feature.

We don't need new tooling to start building electric cars now.

We need kits to adapt what we are currently making to today's demands.

We need new thinking from new leaders and we need new perspectives from unions.

Today the news is Hybrids. Everyone is making them. Some of these hybrids offer very poor mileage in the 20-30 mpg range. They may be already on their way out because of the inherent inefficiency of their design. An electric motor and an internal combustion engine both driving the wheels in one car may not be the most efficient approach. Forward thinkers are wondering about that inefficiency and working on ways to solve it. Plug in Kits are now available for Prius and Ford Escape, allowing these vehicles to plug in for a re-charge, increasing their efficiency and reducing their negative impact on the environment. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) look like the future, but are they the future?

There are huge limitations. The battery is the biggest. An average EV is only good for a short trip before it needs a charge. Maybe 40 miles or so is a good estimate. Some electric cars get a long range like 100 miles before they lose power and have to recharge. The Tesla (a super light sports car) goes over 150 miles on a charge. Two things that all basic EVs have in common is they are small in size and they have to stop and re-charge. If you run out of power you are down. Just like gas.

To re-charge, you need a power source. It may be your home, or it may be your parking garage at work. It might be a charging system that is privately owned and is a business enterprise (Better Place), or it may be a public utility service (PG&E). You may have a cable to plug in that identifies you so your account can be automatically charged. One thing is for sure. You need to re-charge. So you are going to be more conscious of your energy use.

Not every EV has to plug in. For some, it's optional. Cars like the Chevy Volt have an onboard generator to re-charge batteries or power the car. These cars are Self-Charging EVs (SCEVs). That means on long trips you use gasoline. A long trip is over about forty miles in a Volt, on level ground. When the battery starts to die, an onboard generator rescues it and powers the electric motor, while slowly recharging the battery. This sequence cycles on and off while you take a long trip. Mostly the generator is on..... using gasoline, a fuel widely seen as a National Security disadvantage. The Volt generator will charge the batteries faster if the car is not moving, by using gasoline. On short trips, you won't even use the generator. You will go the first 40 miles on plug-in power. An average commute in the USA is about 35 miles.

Efficiency in the self-charging electric car is the big decider. If the efficiency of your charging system allows you to make electricity with less financial cost than buying it from the grid, then your car can power your house and turn the meter backwards to reduce or eliminate your electric bill. Potentially, you may even be able to sell electricity to the grid someday. That would be a good reason to buy a SCEV with a highly efficient self-charging system. These cars are mobile power plants.

Big electric cars are left out of the story so far by major manufacturers. They have made some very poor hybrid SUVS. SUVs, big sedans, pick-up trucks are all by the wayside. They have been relegated to dinosaur status. But don't count them out. A big Self-Charging SUV with a super efficient self-charging system would create enough power to support 6 homes. You could be part of a distributed power system by using the grid backwards, selling power back to your Utility Company. In this approach, power enters the grid from plugged-in vehicles, avoiding the loss found in the lines when power comes to you from a central Power Plant located miles away. Imagine a big electric car that earns you income.

But you just wanted a big electric car. You may be surprised to know why size is important. Big SCEVs, while taking big power to run, and requiring large battery banks and big electric motors, will undoubtedly be getting up to 100 mpg or more in the near future. A big developmental car, Lincvolt, seen at Lincvolt.com , is proving this technology. Big SCEVs may well be earning you money while you are charging the grid. They may be re-charging with super efficient self-charging systems, and even using Domestic Green bio-diesel fuel, a fuel that does not contribute significantly to Global Warming. Big may be an unexpected Green alternative.

[Francis]

Einstein spent his life studying science and engineering before he came up with his theory. For every Einstein there are millions of idiots like Neil Young that think they know more than they really do. Like you say, some people saw that Einstein was right, while others couldn’t see it. I saw Neil discussing this stuff on Charlie Rose and I got the impression that he was off-track. That’s really all I have to go on. That is besides my nearly 20 years of professional experience in engineering, science and manufacturing.

[Francis]

Neil is merely railing against his waning relevance. But let’s not forget, he’s never been relevant. He thought his songs could change the world… he was wrong. Remember the Harvest lp, arguably his best, which inspired Lynard Skynard to write Sweet Home Alabama? As the story goes, the songs Southern Man and Alabama were offensive to the good old boys in Lynard Skynard. Neil: “Tall white mansions and milk-shacks, southern man when will you pay them back…I heard screaming and bull-whips cracking, etc.” And Skynard answered with the song Sweet Home Alabama. Then Neil backed down, forced to admit that the song Sweet Home Alabama was better than any of his. In other words, he cannot back up his own whiney laments. It’s the Boy Who Cried Wolf syndrome.


"Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth"

[Jana]

  Even so, any celeb who chooses to get actively involved in alternative fuel/transportation is a cut above the more consumer minded celeb who just buys the latest new green tech.
There is a lack of information flow and education...and so people of influence are not being facilitated in the highest-most meaningful avenues for technical transformation.
There needs to be a liaison between capital investors, celeb media delivery and the academic/technical front line. With both the interim babystep development and the huge jump development say into zeropoint energy.

Now if George Clooney drove a car run on sewage gas, then that really would be a step in the right direction!

[Daniel]

Another one of Neil Youngs projects, Farm Aid

He should power one of his concerts with his LincVolt car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb1p3YUZDHU

There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.

Out of the blue
and into the black
You pay for this,
but they give you that...

[Francis]

He’s misleading people by oversimplifying the issue. For example, let’s look at the jetpack technology. For years we were promised a practical version of the jetpack for people to use. But what happened? Why don’t we have it? Jetpacks are available but they are not practical, the technology does not exist to make them practical. We regular folk may never get them. No matter how many celebrities jump on the bandwagon. Celebrity endorsements are no substitute for tireless research and innovative entrepreneurial enterprises undertaken by well-funded and highly skilled experts working in engineering and manufacturing. Neil has chosen instead to support the farmers. He does not seem to be very focused and this type of serious endeavor is only hindered by the distractions generated by such dilettantes. His celebrity only exacerbates the dilemma. In effect he’s saying “Let them eat cake…” –i.e. offering patently absurd suggestions that only highlight his ignorance of the complexity involved and he gets attention only because he’s famous.

[Jana]

He is excentric...all genius is excentric...he has a love affair with old American cars and wants to bring them back to life...to reframe and revamp the dream...to "GET IT FRICKING RIGHT."
Thus even if it is a little quirky, I think it is a charming peace of performance art.

Science and creativity does not happen in straight lines...nor from safe experimentation. The creative soup can be messy...but it is love and enthusiasum that light the way.

All American males who do not have a free energy experiment cooking away in their gargage are LAME DUCKS! Gotta F the F'ers where it hurts most...DECENTRALIZE NOW!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CspKosxgXbM&feature=related  —Tom Bearden on Tesla, and we are a century behind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtWPBiQqF2o  —Steven Greer intro on the Orion Project,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc66N9g4cpg  —Ted Loder  CTO to the Orion Project Interview on over-unity tech!! 1-5
 

[Daniel]

Thanks for the informative links Jana 

Celebrity endorsements are no substitute for tireless research and innovative entrepreneurial enterprises undertaken by well-funded and highly skilled experts working in engineering and manufacturing.

I don't think Mr. Young is claiming to have THE solution, but is working hard to solve part of it. Hybrid technology for big cars and technology that can be retrofitted in the existing global fleet. In addition possibly a good piece of engineering for future assembly lines. Mr. Young is fully engaged and involved it appears and thus far has proven the value of the engineers he has chosen to work with. The Tesla Sportster emerged from the same grassroots spirit (although now having trouble with getting it mass produced, but I hear thats being worked out as well)

[I suspect that Young has a limited budget and this may the weakness in the project. Tesla had Google as an investor, Youngs bank roll probably isn't as big. He's hoping for the $10 million prize. That's another thing, the race might be biased towards futuristic images and a 1959 Lincoln Continental even though cutting edge under the hood might not pull it off in the "image" category. His film will help recover some of the expenses, but again, he has financial limitations which might be self defeating which is a shame. If he pulls this off and stays within his budget then that will be another feather in his cap. Doing it on a shoestring.]

In his last letter, he mentions and acknowledges other efforts such as GMs Volt. And of course the very intriguing prospect of turning your car into a power plant, literally.

What’s different about Mr. Young’s project is that he is updating his website weekly and sometimes daily. The latest update was about a battery failure, and so he's being open and transparent about the setbacks as well.

Seems to me an aircraft class turbine, a generator, a bank of batteries and a 500 hp electric motor isn't that far fetched and is technology that's available now if combined and integrated in a functional, reliable, economic manner. So why didn't the Big 3 use that idea? (if it only were that simple...and I don't mean the technology itself!)

Of course it’s a big problem. I don't expect the LincVolt to solve it by any means and if nothing else I see a counterculturalist telling the Big 3 that we're doing what they needed to be doing 20 years ago (again "Who Killed The Electric Car"? shows us they had one solution in the making and decided to crush it and grind it down as fertilizer for SUV heaven), that we are taking it into our own hands (and maybe corporate greed and ignorance will take notice. Oh that’s right, we're the idiots, they're the experts...silly me, I almost forgot my brainwashing).

This is like curing cancer, AIDS or feeding the world. No one answer or effort will be the "miracle" cure. It’s a highly complex problem that will need multiple solutions over time.

It may be a white elephant in the end, maybe not. I am very interested to keep watching the show and see what Mr. Young finally comes up with in this film. Its bridge technology of course and 5 -10 -20 years from now it will more than likely be outdated. But who knows, the next generation of ideas might just use some of what Mr. Young’s team develops. Or will the Big 3 out of pride and spite deliberately ignore it even though it becomes one of several authentic solutions and do what it wants for its bottom line. It sounds like them. Why should decades of corporate greed and power change now? It will probably just take on a new form.

Taking matters into your own hands and solving your own problems is not the corporate way. I am supposed to remain stupid and dependent and take what they shove down my throat.

What Mr. Young is suggesting is what Revolutionary Patriots did at the Boston Tea Party. Take this and shove it basically. 

***************************************************

UQM's Technology

Our propulsion products include a number of proprietary technologies relating to brushless permanent magnet motors, generators and power electronic controllers, together with software code to intelligently manage the operation of our systems.  This page provides a brief overview of this technology.

Architecture

The typical architecture of a UQM® motor consists of a stator winding employing a high pole count configuration, which allows for high copper utilization (minimizing energy loss and cost), and a hollow rotor upon which powerful rare earth permanent magnets are mounted on the outer circumference.


UQM’s stator winding with a high pole count, dense copper fill, and short end-turns minimizes space, but maximizes power and torque The stator is affixed to an aluminum housing, which contains mounting end bells and bearings. This allows the rotor to be suspended within the stator. Commutation of the machine is accomplished electronically by sensing the position of the rotor in relation to the stator, and intelligently pulsing electrical energy into the stator such that the electric field generated by the stator interacts with the magnetic field of the rotor producing rotational motion (“motor operation”). Conversely, the application of rotational motion to the rotor by an external force results in the generation of electrical power (“generator operation”). UQM® machines can be operated in either a forward or reverse direction of rotation and either in motor or generator mode and can dynamically change from one mode of operation to another in millisecond response time. The hollow design of the rotor permits the packaging of other components such as gears and electromechanical brakes in the interior of the machine. These design features contribute to lower usage of copper and iron and other materials generally (due to smaller package dimensions), reducing manufacturing cost over those for conventional machines of similar power. In addition, the utilization of neodymium-iron-boron (“NdFeB”) magnet material in a wide range of consumer devices, such as cell phones, disk drives and medical devices, has dramatically improved the availability, performance and price of this material, allowing us to price our advanced motors and controls competitively with lesser performing conventional motors which we believe will accelerate the rate of commercialization of our technology.

The electronic controllers that drive UQM® machines consist of DC bus capacitance, a three-phase semiconductor bridge (six power switches), and a digital signal processor to control switch timing to optimize system performance.  Controllers use off-the-shelf electronic components from reputable suppliers that have proven to offer superior performance through years of qualification testing.  Packaging expertise at UQM® is employed to minimize the size and weight of the electronics box. 


UQM’s hollow rotor features surface mounted high-power magnets Attributes

Attributes of our permanent magnet motor technology include brushless electronic commutation; a relatively large air-gap dimension (useful for hybrid-electric applications that are integrated with an engine or transmission); the use of powerful rare earth NdFeB magnet material; good heat rejection; low iron and copper content; and low mechanical losses. As a result, UQM® motors have high operating efficiencies, high power density (high power output to weight ratio) and generally have smaller external dimensions and weight for a given power output, improving packaging. Attributes of our microprocessor-based digital power electronic controllers include high power operation (up to 500 amps at 400 volts), four-quadrant control (forward/reverse and motoring/generation), reduced switching losses, adaptive switch timing control and controller area network (“CAN”) capability.  As a result, UQM® controllers have high operating efficiencies, high power density (high power output to weight ratio) and generally have smaller external dimensions and weight for a given power output, improving packaging.

Software

The UQM® embedded DSP software is the intelligence that coordinates the interaction between the machine and controller, as well as interfacing with the vehicle controller.  Much of the Company’s intellectual property resides in these software control algorithms.  One aspect of the software is a patented a method of control referred to as Phase Timing Advancement that enables UQM® motors to deliver both high output torque at low operating speeds and high power at increasing operating speeds. Conventional permanent magnet motor designs are limited to operating at either high torque at low speeds, sacrificing power at high speed, or vice versa. In most vehicle propulsion applications, high torque is required to launch the vehicle from a standing stop, transitioning to high power as the vehicle is accelerated to highway speeds. In conventional internal combustion engine powered vehicles, the transition from high torque to high power is accomplished through the multiple gear changes performed by a mechanical transmission. UQM® motors, incorporating phase advance technology, are suited as propulsion drives in electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles due to the ability to power a vehicle from a standing stop to highway speeds without mechanical gear changes, thereby eliminating the size, weight, complexity and cost of mechanical transmissions.

Recently Developed Technology 

We have extended the capability of Phase Advance Control through using Adaptive Control techniques in our latest product offerings from the HiTor system to the PowerPhaseä 150 system.  These software algorithms alter the switching strategy as a function of DC voltage, operating speed and output power, optimizing system performance under these dynamic conditions.  The result is maximized output and efficiency, leading to decreased fuel consumption in hybrid electric vehicles and increased range of battery electric vehicles.  These algorithms also maximize the output per unit voltage and current, making the most of the onboard energy storage and other electrical devices.  This is achieved by extracting power from the entire electrical cycle of the motor.  These performance enhancements have increased peak and continuous power output by 50 percent and improved system efficiency at various operating points by 2 to 8 percent.

In addition, our control enhancements now have user configurable functionality and increased data transmission speeds and response times, improving vehicle capability.  Included in this functionality is the ability to switch between torque, speed, and voltage control on the fly, especially useful within parallel hybrid and generator application of our technology.  For vehicle developers, our new Graphical User Interface provides the means to tailor any UQM® system to the desired driving experience.


One of many development activities, the INTETS system featured a fully integrated motor, controller, gearbox, and differential
Summarized Technology Benefits

·         Small size and lightweight motors, generators, and controllers for ease of packaging and for offsetting the impact of heavy energy storage components

·         High efficiency for the best possible fuel economy and vehicle range (all published efficiency data reflects testing results and includes the machine and the controller)

·         Innovative software control methods for maximized output over the operating speed range and the ability to switch between torque, speed, and voltage control under any operating condition

·         Graphical User Interface with many user-configurable variables for the vehicle developer to create the perfect driving experience

 
 
Footnote:

Neil Young on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97253221&ps=bb3