Making Cars – A New Lease on Life

Well the US is officially an automaker. What I hope is that GM is able to convert from a stodgy old “this is the way we have always done it” company to an innovative leader in cutting edge technology. When one receives a new lease on life, one usually makes the rather easy decision to live it to its fullest. The realization that death is always mere moments away has the effect of freeing us from the burdens associated with the daily drudgery of ordinary life.

Were I the GM leadership I would announce that every car produced in 2011 will be an electric hybrid flexible fuel vehicle with an enzymatic fuel cell. Maybe 2012. Maybe some other innovative standard. Make is audacious – a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). Like going to the moon in the 1960s. Drive a stake in the ground and focus the entire company on reaching that goal and do whatever it takes to get there. Set it so that when GM gets there, they have passed everyone else in the race.

The GM leadership (and by that I suppose I mean President Obama at least in part) should buy or license innovative technologies that will make GM world renowned as THE leader in green vehicles. Unleash the creative juices of the engineers, the workforce, the M&A guys, the managers and even the public relations department toward one illustrious goal.

People love to be part of the team who desires with all their heart and throughout the organization to win the World Series and then makes every effort to do what it takes to get there. Only one team will be baseball’s champion, but only those teams who legitimately set that as their goal will have a chance.

Electric cars have much higher horse power than piston engine cars. They are ideal for high performance cars like the Corvette. Sure they have a relatively short range, 40 – 60 miles on a charge, but who drives their Corvette more than that? Power. Speed. Wind in the hair. Hums like a kitten.

While ethanol is somewhat less efficient per gallon, it is much higher in octane than gasoline. This gives it greater power and makes it ideal for trucks and machinery. A flexible fuel vehicle allows the use of any mixture, including nearly 100% ethanol. It can also use regular old gasoline.

Develop cars whose engines prefer to use ethanol and can use gasoline, rather than the other way around. Create complimentary electric hybrid engines that prefer ethanol. Hybrid technology simply allows the use of electricity or a liquid fuel as circumstances dictate. Improve this computer technology. Expand the demand, and let the scientists and energy entrepreneurs create the supply.

Enzymatic fuel cells are one of the most environmentally beneficial waves of the battery future. Mining, handling and manufacturing Lithium, Nickel and other battery metals is nasty stuff. Enzymatic fuel cells are essentially batteries that use encapsulated enzymes rather than metals to remove the energy from a fuel. They are exponentially more efficient than any existing battery.

Akermin, Inc. in St. Louis is just one company that has developed such a fuel cell. While Akermin is focused on developing these batteries for electronics, their technology could be adapted for vehicles. GM could accelerate the commercialization of this technology and leap ahead of everyone else.

There are many technologies out there. Set a deadline; the 2011 line of vehicles. Focus the company top to bottom. Invent the car. Convert the plants. Be aggressive and set the new path to the future. Use the Stimulus funds to help make it happen (the President might have some clout in that area).

As GM exits the construction zone, I hope they step hard on the accelerator. I want my investment to pay off some day. Just for perspective, $30,000,000,000 is an investment of $100 for every single human being living in the United States.