Our major villain this week is Fisker Automotive the wannabe company Alfalfa Gore and Joe Biding His Time are backing with millions of our tax dollars. Fisker claims a fuel efficiency of 100 miles per US gallon for their Karma. Their sleek Karma rode over my Dogma Pon Z car has a mass of 4,650 pounds. I have estimated based on the most efficient generation of electricity in a brand new state of the art combined cycle natural gas power station the behemoth Karma will at best achieve 33 miles per gallon. I will make these calculations available to anyone who wishes to check my math. So how does Fisker make the claim? They do this through miraculous math provided to them by none other than the US EPA. The EPA is the guardian of the mileage stickers on new cars and therefore should accurately reflect the conversion of fuel to electricity and then to automotive fuel efficiency in plug in or pure electric vehicles. However, some moron in the EPA has established that electricity on a gasoline equivalence basis has three times the actual energy it really possesses and now Fisker can claim three times the MPG for their plug in.
The financial news on Fisker and their battery supplier A One is that A One has raised money from the public in their stock sale, and A One will now invest some of that money in their customer Fisker so that Fisker can show the US government they have enough cash to qualify for the loans to build their factory in old Joe’s backyard in Wilmington Delaware. Of course the whole deal was sold to us on the basis that Fisker’s cars get 100 MPG using the nonsense math the US EPA uses. Of course my Congresswoman who is a thermodynamic neophyte thinks her vote is doing good. Let’s wake up and realize this makes Burn in Hell Madeoff look like he could have got away if only he had said the money was being invested in a new advanced battery automobile company.
Tesla is another company who announced they wish to have an IPO some time in the future and they too are at the trough of government loans. Tesla on their home web page claims their Roadster is twice as efficient as a Prius. This is hog wash and the Roadster is a highly priced high performance car that does not need to attract customers on efficiency. This high efficiency claim it is good PR for their fund raising for the future “affordable” sedan that I doubt will ever be economical and our tax dollars will likely be lost supporting its development. My estimate of the real fuel efficiency of the Tesla Roaster is 57 MPG. Tesla has spent over $300,000 to produce each of the 1,000 roadsters it has sold for $100,000. I got this data from the shelf registration Tesla Motors filed for their potential IPO. This 3 to 1 ratio is reminiscent of the fiction the US EPA uses to calculate electric vehicle MPGs. Perhaps MPG really does mean My Pathetic Government and old Woolsey over your eyes is just the tip of an iceberg.
I did write an email to Congresswoman Woolsey this week after watching the State of the Union address, and hearing President Obama discuss a deficit of trust. I am sharing that email with you
The President hit the nail on the head tonight in his State of the Union address. There is a deficit of trust between the people and their "representatives" in Washington DC. Of course there would be more trust if those who are in Congress would actually meet those who they represent in Congress. Ironically, above the President on the podium these words are inscribed "In God We Trust" Let me tell you those words ring true as I have zero, I repeat zero confidence in Congresswoman Woolsey ability to understand thermodynamics. Perhaps the Congresswoman should take note of the president's words and more so of the inscription above the podium.
I remain a citizen simply requesting the opportunity to meet my Congresswoman. I do this because I do trust in the power of the American people to demand representation and improve their own lot.