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The CarCynic Crashes Electric Car Event on The Space Coast
The CarCynic Invites Himself, and his Non-electric 1982 Citroen GSA to a "National Drive Electric Week" Event in Satellite Beach, FL. Photo: Unknown, Shared Publicly on Google Photos. Right Click and select View Image for larger version.
The CarCynic, His NOx-Gushing, Dino-burning 1982 Citroen, and a Stack of Pamphlets detailing the dangers of Lithium Ion Batteries -vs- Hundreds of EV Enthusiasts -- How's that going to end?
I think it is great that people came out to the David R Schechter Center in Satellite Beach, FL to see and learn about Electric Cars during the Space Coast EV Drivers' National Drive Electric Week Event. Of course, always wanting to "help" I invited my self into the event to provide the "other side" of the story.
No, I wasn't attempting Suicide-by-EV-Crazed Mob. I wasn't looking for a bloody nose, or a knee to the tes... I wasn't looking for a fight or even an argument at all. I was there for several reasons. I really did want to see some of the cool cars on display. I like car shows -- any car show. Also, I knew that people -- even the people at an electric car event -- like to see a rare, old car. I also wanted to show them where some of the concepts embodied in modern, efficient cars came from. And, yes, I also wanted them to learn the other side of the story -- some of the down-sides of current EV battery technology.
The demonstration of how the Citroen's aerodynamics influenced modern EV design actually went about as well as possible. Totally by chance, I set up right near a Honda Clarity (partially visible in the background of the picture above). It was the perfect demonstration of how the designers of the Clarity appropriated Robert Opron's aerodynamic rear fender design, just as I previously pointed out in this article. People could see the copied design. They could also see how the overall shape of the Citroen GSA resembles the shape of the Tesla Model S, with the Citroen GSA having a drag area only 0.013m2 worse than a car that came 36 years later.
Yeah, I did point out that I have almost twice the range (about 400 miles on a tank), and I can re-fill my tank in 4 minutes.
As mentioned, I also handed out some pamphlets about Lithium Ion Batteries and some myths of current generation cars powered by them. I am working on creating a Web-friendly version of that document, which will be posted as a separate article.
I also pointed out that my 36 year old car may actually have lower CO2 emissions than the Tesla Model S (depending on the source of electricity used to charge the twice-as-heavy Tesla).
In the end, I actually did get forced out, but it wasn't Elon's hit squad or the great folks from Space Coast EV Drivers. The Florida heat, and hunger eventually drove me to seek refuge in a near-by air-conditioned sandwich shop.
Posted by: admin on 20 September 18 @ 02:20 AM EST [Article Anchor]