Detroit Auto Show: Tuesday
Tuesday was the second press day at the Auto Show, and we had a steady flow of press people but also notables from the autoworld. It was fun and exciting and our rolodex is growing. I also had a chance to talk about electrics and efficiency with experts who have thought hard about these things.
I have believed that the efficiency of the electric car is as follows. Starting with input at 100%, deduct 5 – 10% for charger, average ability of battery to return power 20%, controller 3%, inverter 5 –10%, motor loss 10%. This gives a power return of about 60%, plug to output shaft of the motor. Today I met with a man from the Mercedes hybrid electric program. He flat confirmed to me that they see 60% as the norm number to achieve.
He also agreed that after the added weight of the gear (15%) and deducting for generation, grid and oversupply losses it leaves an electric car with efficiency of around 25%.
At a place like this you get honest discussion. That is great.
The car I liked the most is ironically an electric car. The Audi E-tron 2. It is distinguished by its small and clean shape. It is a niche car with impressive (by electric car standards) performance standards. They confirmed that their 0-60 record times can only be done a very few times in a row. I guess that is physics.
I thought that all the companies – Toyota, Audi, GM, etc – are somewhat time inappropriate as they are still rolling out ever larger more feature ridden examples of the same idea. However in auto introduction what we see today is what was laid out 2 to 4 years ago.
On the political front it is sad to say that it is mostly hot air and self-congratulations. Local, national, both sides.
I would like to say though that in the OEM supplier world I have met some very sharp people.
Some good ideas at this show but ours are unique and important, and a lot of people are stopping by and learning about the Very Light Car. - Oliver