Honda innovation or the lack thereof?
Still stuck on fuel cells?Are automakers stuck in the stone ages? I'm not just talking powertrains, I mean everything about the auto industry.
That was the thought M80's new Honda video Mobility 2088 left me contemplating last week.
Fuel cells. Cars that can drive themselves, etc. These ideas, advanced by 2088, have been around for decades, yet they are still decades away. I guess that's why it's called Mobility 2088.
Nevertheless, there was a time when Honda fully embraced failure as the path to success. Today, however, it seems neither Honda, nor any other major automaker, takes much risk.
Change. In recent days I've noticed a number of Spyder Roadsters on the streets of SoCal, which makes me wonder, are automotive revolutions - beyond just powertrains - still possible? Moreover, is it possible for large automakers, such as Honda or GM, to be the leaders of such change?
Or, is real change - thinking outside of the box - purely dependent upon the likes of Tesla, Aptera and BYD?
Labels: Honda
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:09 AM
3 Comments:
In the 1930’s a wireless electric car was already on it’s way to our growing highways. Inventor and electricity fetish man Nikola Tesla took his Pierce Arrow and turned it into a very electrifying ride.
It’s main power conductor was a box of radio tubes contained in the vehicle’s glove compartment. The car’s antenna, which was connected to those tubes at one end, would conduct electrical current from the air around it, powering the electric engine for miles.
JP Morgan and it’s investors, who originally funded a production model of this experiment, backed out. Why? They didn’t want to be responsible for a car which ran for free. There were no meters anywhere to read how much energy your car was sucking up. It took no gas to power any aspect of the car. No free rides for us.
The car was tested for a week, reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour. Performance data showed it were at least comparable to an automobile using gasoline. At a stop sign, a passerby remarked that there were no exhaust gasses coming from the tailpipe. Sadly, the vehicle was to remain in a farm outside Niagara Falls, and would never be massed produced. Imagine the type of commutes we would be in store for today if the REAL Tesla Car came to mass-production life.
So, I'm guessing you would say the "lack thereof" in terms of innovation?
Great comment though.
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