Now, I’m not a big fan of electric cars, but the guys behind Tesla are actually doing it right:

1. They have a real business plan aimed at selling cars, not getting investors.
2. Their business plan makes sense — roll out the $90K car first, then progressively cheaper models as volume builds up. They aren’t pushing an unrealistically low price upfront for the 1st model.
3. They are enlisting help from experts where needed — the basic chassis is based off a Lotus Elise, a vehicle known for light weight.
4. They clearly *do* know the technology and have made good choices when compromises needed to be made. You can argue with some of their optimism about a few things, but the plan is pretty sound, as is their technology. The same is not true of this FuelVapor car.

Straight talk from Sid. I wish them well.

First, there’s nothing “magic” about running pre-vaporized fuel. It’s been done many times before. The emissions can be a little better (mostly at low temperature starts), but not gobs better. You will still need a catalytic converter I assure you.

Secondly, if you try to run at 20:1, you will seriously hurt your power density. There are stratified charge engines now that will cruise at 45:1 or higher, but they go back to stoichiometric operation (14.6:1) when power is called for.

Third, if the CO2 is reduced 30%, then by DEFINITION the fuel consumption will be the same amount (unless they are running a different fuel, and they are claiming *gasoline vapor*, not something else). The fact they are claiming only a 10-20% reduction in fuel consumption shows they are technically inept.

Fourth: 20:1 is not declared “impossible” by textbooks. Rather NOx emissions get really bad there and conventional catalysts do not function well at cleaning up a lean feedstream, so they don’t help much either.

I can elaborate more, but this is a major scam. “We have a flashy website — be an investor, please”

–TwoDragons

–TwoDragons