Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors
Tesla takes on oil-soaked Henry Ford
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We don't speak Swedish, but that's not getting in the way of our understanding a new commercial (watch it after the break) for Fortum, a Nordic energy company that highlights the Tesla Roadster. The imagery is pretty telling as it highlights the switch from the old horse and buggy days to the proliferation of gas-powered automobiles, especially when Henry Ford's portrait is slimed by oil. The commercial intentionally paints a bleak picture of dirty oil wells and pollution before offering a contrasting look into the future, with an emphasis on electric vehicles like the Tesla Roadster.
Obviously, we're all for the proliferation of the electric car, but the comparisons being cast between Henry Ford's old Tin Lizzie and the Tesla Roadster are a bit far-fetched. The Model T from Ford Motor Company was an inexpensive way to bring personal transportation to the masses, something more akin to the current crop of NEVs than the Tesla Roadster. Still, the commercial gets the point across, wouldn't you say?
[Source: Inside Line]
Video:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 4:22PM (12/24/2008)
Oil was used primarily for making kerosene for lighting and heating homes. Gasoline was a waste product cracking oil into kerosene. This waste product worked very will in the ICE so the RECYCLED a waste product into a very useful product. They did not understand pollution at the time and NOTHING short of nuclear power has the energy density of gasoline and NOTHING is easier to use in a mobile platform.
Hindsight is ALWAYS clearer than foresight. The problem was NOT Ford's. It was the POLITICIANS who used the power of gov't and the military to short-circuit free market forces that prolonged and worsened the problems with petroleum.
If it weren't for gov't intervening on behalf of oil companies, oil would have been done away with YEARS ago due to simple economics of supply and demand. It would have simply become too expensive to use so we would have moved to mass transit and/or electric cars decades ago.
Central planning does NOT work because politicians and economists are NOT smarter than market forces. Some people who want and/or lack power NEVER learn...
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Hank 6:10PM (12/24/2008)
It gets a point across. One based on the idea that electric energy is clean energy, which isn't necessarily so at present. It's clean at the [non-existent] tailpipe. At the coal-fired plant, nuclear waste site, and strip-mining site, not-so-much.
Denegrating Ford to make a point is a bit low-brow, better to promote EVs like the Tesla on their own merits, as they may be.
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Hank 6:11PM (12/24/2008)
Ugh. Should be "denigrating." I hate seeing typos after clicking the post button when there is no edit feature.
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Mikael Westerberg 6:23PM (12/24/2008)
My atempt at a translation:
100 years ago the electric car was more popular then the gasoline and steam car.
in 1899 and electric car was the fastest car in the world, 106km/h (65mph). and 90% of New Yorks Taxis were electric.
But oil seamed endless and Henry Ford released the model-T. "exhaust/pollution" from other "vehicles" made the gasoline engine seam "clean".
powerful cars became a status item and the electic car was forgotten.
until now. welcome back electic car. we have already put up the fist charge posts. join us in the pursiut of the enegery of tomorrow.
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bc 9:31AM (12/26/2008)
And where, precisely, do you think electricity comes from? It doesn't magically appear at the wall socket. Point sources may be capable of being better controlled than mobile sources, but they still pollute, and produce greenhouse gases, unless they're nuclear (!) or hydroelectric dams wreaking havoc on the previous upstream environment and preventing all the migratory fish from passing.
Gonna be interesting to go back to travel in 100 mi daily stages, too.
whitestew 2:35AM (12/25/2008)
Maybe if we all had the money to buy a Tesla (if you can even find one to purchase) the world would be pollution free plus we could shuttle one (just one other person) around for about 100 to 120 miles, then stop to charge for a couple of hours(does not sound fun for road trips). I think a 30 plus mpg, pzev, $12,000 ford focus with unlimited range might be a better choice for most. I have nothing against electric vehicles, but until they can make the pipe dreams into real world useable range + quick charging capabilities, I will stick with a focus, civic, corolla, or any number of fuel frugal inexpensive vehicles which are readily available in our current market. Thanks for reading, and that commercial was probably produced by greenpeace(oh and it sucked)!
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Karn 8:05AM (12/26/2008)
"Than" vs. "Then"
When comparing one thing with another you may find that one is more appealing “than” another. “Than” is the word you want when doing comparisons. But if you are talking about time, choose “then“:
First you separate the eggs; then you beat the whites.
Karn is smarter than I, not then I.
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Brian 3:41PM (12/26/2008)
Henry Ford formed a partnership with Thomas Edison and tried to create an affordable electric car for the masses. They both strongly believed it was a better solution and spent a fortune on the project and probably could have succeeded if not for a lot of sabotage and intentionally screwed up testing, including a "mysterious" fire at Edison's battery laboratory in New Jersey, where he was testing what he thought was the future of battery technology. It's probably unfair to paint Henry Ford in this light, especially since his greatest weakness was to place entirely too much trust in a few people that didn't have his best interests in mind.
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