# The people you meet



## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

Last night I ran into an ex colleague, Fiona, at an Agency meet and greet. 
She introduced me to a colleague of hers. She happened to ask me if I was still racing cars. I confirmed that I was and then mentioned the electric car…..big mistake. 

Firstly her colleague started banging on about a motor/generator he has built. At first I listened quietly because I thought the technology he was talking about was over my head. But further into the discussion I realised he was talking out the other end of his torso. It was sounding like an enthusiastic 5 year old when making up totally impossible scenarios on the fly. He was claiming it was perpetual motion. He described his setup where he claimed to be generating his household energy from a wind turbine (by itself nothing impossible) but then he claimed when the wind dies down he connects a power drill to keep generating power. He then claimed I could use 4 of these on my wheels to generate power to drive my car. Loooonnnneeeeyyy Toons!!!!! What he was talking about flies in the face of basic physics. There is no way to overcome the losses involved in generating the power and then re-using it. Plus he spoke about not being able to use plastic as the internal insulator so he uses Alloy because its non conductive. On what planet??? By this stage I had well and truly realised how crazy this guy was and was looking for a quick exit. 

Then Fiona piped in. She claimed her 10 year old son has successfully built a real hoverboard. Not one with the wheels that you get on Ebay but the type that hovers with nothing solid to support the weight. Ok so I have done a bit of research and it is technically possible to build such a device. But firstly you need a rather large sheet of aluminium or copper for it to hover over (it won’t hover over any Ferrous or non conductive material, only non ferrous conductive materials). But then the challenges in building such a device are extremely unlikely to be overcome by a 10 year old. Either the kid is a genius the like of which we only see once in a generation or this too is bulldust. 

So I would really like to know when did I nod off during the day and who wrote gullible on my forehead???


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

She probably meant he built a model
Easy to make something a couple of inches long that "hovers" over its "base"

That reaction to "electric car" is incredibly common - but most people don't say they have made something
Just that they have seen or heard of one and why don't you do it that way??
I normally say - "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

She was fairly clear that he had built a full scale board. He intended to ride it but apparently it can't take any weight over any above it's own weight. That part sounds feasible but for a 10 year old to build it????
If this was an intelligent woman I would tend to believe her. But she is the sort of person who brags about past achievements but shows no evidence or skills or abilities that support her claims. So at best I give her 49/51 with a slight benefit of the doubt.

But the other guy was clearly off the planet. Apparently you just wack a few magnets together in a hexagonal format with a single wire wound around them with the alloy as the insulator. Apparently he gets 2KWs output but its really light. But the bit about attaching the drill nearly cracked me up. I found it difficult to keep a straight face. Unfortunately we were wearing name tags and my ex colleague knows my mobile number. I hope she doesn't share it with him!!


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## WolfTronix (Feb 8, 2016)

MY 1996 Solectria E10:
http://www.wolftronix.com/E10/index.html
Has "Electric Vehicle" on the sides and back tail gate, (as per the laws when it was made, so firefighters would not spray water on it?).

Anyway, as I would drive around town, I would get flagged down by all kinds of random people wanting to ask me about it.

And they would always recommend that I put car alternators on all four wheels so I could "drive forever".

One actual conversation:
Other Person: "I hear you also drive an electric car?"
Me: "Yup, It's a 1996 Solectria E10. What do you drive?"
Other Person: "Prius."
Me: "That's a gas-electric hybrid."
Other Person: "No, it's an electric car."
Me: "Do you put gasoline in it?"
Other Person: "Yeah, how else would it work?"


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## poprock (Apr 29, 2010)

Usually the warning signs are obvious; was he wearing thongs on his feet? Did he have on a multi-coloured cap with a plastic propellor on top? I have had exactly the same lines foisted onto me by friends, who up until the time electric vehicles were mentioned, I had considered as sane , productive members of society. In 1986 I did a census run at Wollombi in the Hunter Valley. The further I went into the bush the wierder life became: a beach beside a dam made with many semi loads of genuine beach sand, a breakfast table set for 6 with food waiting to be eaten and according to the filled out census form, no humans living there, a 1959 bat-wing Chevrolet completely re-covered with carpet But to my naive mind the icing on the cake was a house (not out of place in a Sydney suburb) which was completely powered by batteries?? Work of the devil.!!!! The owner gave me the rundown on how it worked and the economy of the system compared to the exorbitant cost of poles & wires. I was glad to get back to civilization and my 240v AC. Now 30 years later I too dabble in the darkside, with my second conversion up to the weighbridge ticket. My wife of fifty years is still with me, the dog loves me, so life is pretty good


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

You haven't seen the Tesla techies yet? Imagine your basic geek with good clothes and accompanying better than you attitude spouting great gobs of cash.

No matter your background you're a dinosaur and this is why.


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## poprock (Apr 29, 2010)

piotrsko said:


> You haven't seen the Tesla techies yet? Imagine your basic geek with good clothes and accompanying better than you attitude spouting great gobs of cash.
> 
> No matter your background you're a dinosaur and this is why.


As long as they have bathed recently, that's ok.. They at least have a proven track record. My gripe is with self qualified experts who read one or two articles and award themselves a Diploma of Obfuscation. I bought two 8" motors from a guy on Gumtree whose sales pitch was " ideal for large car such as a Falcon to put one on each rear wheel". He was disappointed that they were to be mounted onto a transmission. ps. Last night I was so bored I watched the sales pitch video for Tesla's power saving coil. The whole world needs to know this information.


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