Filed under: EV/Plug-in
New electric car coming from Fosh Automotive in three days?
UPDATE: read about the FOSH hoax here. Also, links to FOSH have been removed
These days, radical claims concerning new alternative and green vehicles are flying rampant, with Shelby Supercars, Ronn Motors and now FOSH Automotive all making semi-announcements. Fosh Automotive? Yeah, we hadn't hear of them either before now, but they are making some outrageous claims on their website. To wit:
"In our pursuit to completely reinvent the auto industry, we are going to make one hell of a run at making the world a better place. Can we give you a little hint? Well, our lawyers have given us specific guidelines in which we must not deviate from. Off the record: It could be the first unlimited mileage, electric car. This said car might have a revolutionary, self-regenerating battery system. This car would have some of the sexiest curves and doesn't resemble any electric car you have ever seen. Oh, and best of all, what would you say if you could buy this car for under $25,000?"
Any time a brand-new company claims it will reinvent the auto industry, eyes roll. After all, it takes years of development and tons of money just to get a single new car off the ground. We suspect that the company has some new technology to deliver, and an internet search provides a few possible hints. For instance, PetroZero quotes a company source as saying, "There are solar type panels throughout (none visible) the car, that will turn heat into energy."
Our tipster links us to this article on Engadget which introduces a new technology from The Idaho National Laboratory, which is "composed of tiny gold antennas set in polyethylene plastic is tuned to gather 80 percent of energy from infrared rays" and can therefore produce electricity from any source of heat. An unlimited-range EV for less than $25K? We're intrigued, and so we wait until August 18 when the company says it will show its cards. Thanks for the tip, Sam!
[Source: FOSH Automotive]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dave B 1:45PM (8/15/2008)
oooh, I'll be the first to call Bull$hit today!
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TX CHL Instructor 1:54PM (8/15/2008)
"Any time a brand-new company claims it will reinvent the auto industry, eyes roll."
As they should.
"...revolutionary, self-regenerating battery system" smells a lot like a perpetual motion machine. I would guess that there is a lot less than meets the eye here.
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axiom 11:16PM (8/16/2008)
Ugh. If the car does in fact use infra-red nanoantenna" material, it could be charged day or even night-time without sunlight, or even by heat produced by the vehicle. Such a system would potentially allow the vehicle to be charged 24/7. Not exactly "perpetual motion", though I'm sure the dumb hicks would label it as such.
Erik 2:01PM (8/15/2008)
Obviously it's powered by Mr. Fusion.
Duh.
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Nico 2:04PM (8/15/2008)
*fingers crossed*
I really hope this is true!
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Paul Sallmen 2:08PM (8/15/2008)
I have to say, I'm skeptical. It takes usually hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D, testing, and government red tape to bring a new car to market especially in over-regulated North America. This seems more plausible if they concentrated on solely the drivetrain (ie batteries and electric motor) and focused on converting an existing model (that's already been approved in terms of safety and emissions). That way, they can spend all of their efforts on an effective EV drivetrain, and leave all the expensive model design and testing to the large manufacturers. Tesla motors has spent a lot of money to bring their Roadster to market, only because the company founders have deep pockets, the car is being released in very small numbers and the design was mainly handled by an actual car manufacturer, Lotus. Notice the car resembles a Lotus Elise.
Still, I applaud anyone who has the ambition to bring a viable EV to market. We've needed this technology for years, and the more players there are in the market, the more the choice for consumers and the higher the quality of product.
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Sal 1:43PM (4/16/2009)
electric car conspiracy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=xb9ypkc9Uvs
BoneHeadOtto 2:10PM (8/15/2008)
sound too good to be true? But wait there's more... How much would you expect to pay for this rrrrevolutionary technology? $50k, $80k $100k? How about the rock bottom price of $25k! Act now in the next 30min and we will throw in a second one for half price! Send check of money order to .....
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srue 2:16PM (8/15/2008)
Clearly this "car" will have some ridiculous drawbacks, if indeed it meets any of their claims. And what does "unlimited mileage" mean? Do they mean unlimited range? Mileage often means miles per volume of fuel. By that strict definition all electric cars have "unlimited mileage," since they don't use liquid fuel.
I'm more inclined to believe this is just hype to get money from investors with no intention of delivering a real product.
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RGinSC 2:27PM (8/15/2008)
FOSH = Full Of SH!#
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Serge 2:52PM (8/15/2008)
Let me take a guess: powered by a Meyer's Cell or an EESU?
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Sam 3:06PM (8/15/2008)
I'm actually the person who sent in the tip and it was searching for EEstor information that I managed to stumble upon this info. I'm having a hard time believing it myself as the technology that I pointed out that might be powering it has some serious draw backs as of right now. For one, the current is too high for DC conversion and that for an unheard of company to come out with something that is this new is really really hard to believe. If I find anything I will try to keep this and other blogs informed.
Chris M 6:35PM (8/15/2008)
Uh, EEStor may be waaay behind schedule, but they've never claimed any "self-regenerative" capabilities - and besides, they have an exclusive deal with ZENN.
Meyers cell was supposed to fuel an IC engine, not an electric car - but it is every bit as bogus as a "self regenerating battery".
But there is a long list of bogus "over-unity" schemes they could try, like:
Motor driving generator powering Motor (Dennis Lee scam)
Weird motor making high voltage pulses (Newman scam)
Magnet powered motor (scams by Steorn, Perendev, H Johnson, Wang Shum Ho. Shinyeon, Thrapp, McCarthy, Goldes, etc.)
Fuel cell powering electrolysis powering fuel cell (there's no fuel cell, as that's waaay to expensive for the scammer!)
Or they could try the classic old battery parlor trick of putting an excessive load on a battery to drain it, claim it is dead and disconnect it long enough for it to recover a bit, then Presto! It now has a charge!
rogwild 4:25PM (8/15/2008)
If this 'company' was from PA instead of TX, I'd suspect 'SPARK~EV' got a new name!
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Robert 4:35PM (8/15/2008)
Don't be so quck to judge. I saw some hunters with big-foot in that car on a video today.
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Ernie 4:46PM (8/15/2008)
Thanks autobloggreen, for continuing to publish stories about blatant scams that obviously violate the laws of thermodynamics. It's nice to know that your bullshit filter is working as it always has.
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Chris M 5:29PM (8/15/2008)
"self-regenerating batteries"? No such thing exists or could ever exist. There is the remote possibility that they are referring to a fuel cell that is renewed with a supply of fresh fuel, but that isn't really "self-regenerating" so that would be incorrect and misleading terminology. I think it far more likely that they are pushing some bogus "over-unity" scheme, one they haven't quite got working yet, but they are soooo close, and with a lot of donations... Of course, it will be always be "sooo close" as long as the dupes keep donating!
I sincerely doubt Fosh has anything to do with that announcement of the infrared photocells developed by INEL, the "Fosh electric auto" website makes no mention of any type of solar cell. Also, those infrared photocells are still under development, it will be several years before they are ready to market, and when they are marketed will not be exclusive to an unknown obscure mystery company.
I'll be checking in there next monday, because it will be fun challenge trying to figure out what tricks they are going to use, where they are hiding the real power source, and how they are setting up their scams.
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stevefazek 12:26AM (8/17/2008)
I remember as a kid when i was playing with my RC cars the battery packs would get very hot and the car wouldn't really run. So i put them in a plastic bag and dipped them in ice water for a couple of min and they would work again. I thought they where magically recharging
Chris M 9:41PM (8/21/2008)
Well, now that more details have leaked out, it isn't a "self-regenerative battery" at all, nor is it any "over-unity" scam. Plans call for NiMH batteries (Will Cobasys allow it?) and the use of infra-red "nano-antenna" photocell material like the one recently announced by the INEL. (jeez, my prophetic powers are slipping!)
The nano-antennas are effective in absorbing infrared light, but the problem is the frequency is too high for standard diodes to rectify into usable power, effective "nano-diodes" are not yet available. So the INEL device isn't producing power yet, more development is needed, and it is years from commercial production, If and When this IR Nano-Antenna material does come to market, I suspect the major auto companies will snap it up first. So Fosh is blowing smoke, planning sales of a car that doesn't yet exist using a power source that isn't ready yet, and in a time frame that is totally unrealistic. Moreover, since the eventual cost of the nano-antenna photocell material can't be determined until the "nano-diode" problem is solved, the quoted price is highly speculative.
Sam 7:52PM (8/15/2008)
I know that EEstor isn't claiming anything like Fosh is. I've been quite interested in eestor for a while and it really is dumb luck that I even found anything related to Fosh. I don't believe in perpetual motion, etc and I only offered a possibility of one type of technology that Fosh may be using. Here from their forums is why I believe it may be related http://www.foshelectricauto.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3. I'm holding out making any sort of judgment until Monday rolls around. I'm just as skeptical as the rest of you are but some of the concepts are sound, if far fetched.
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