Debating the Electric Car

Increasingly, I've come to think that electric cars are a bad idea. At least for right now. I have some backup on this, from actual scientists, which I will be getting into in future posts. But for the moment, here's my Huffington Post take on Tesla Motors, which has garnered more attention than anyone in the electric car game.

A good report from AP on what's happing with the GM-Chryslerberus-Renault merger dance. Note that it details the numbers: GM has a minimum operating cash requirement of $14 billion and would get something like $11 billion if it merges with Chrysler. Presumably, this would buy it another year of burn (it's currently going through $1 billion a month in cash reserves to stay in business). Of course, under this scenario Chrysler is effectively gone for good.

Speed Channel Preview of China GP Track

Getting revved up for the China GP this weekend. Here's a terrific breakdown of the track, which has some unique features, as well as some technical talk about car setups. Lewis Hamilton has a lot to lose if he doesn't have a good race, so the moves that McLaren makes will be important.

Kinky Linky

This isn't exactly a new spot, but I hadn't caught sight of it until I noticed a Lincoln banner ad on my Yahoo! mail page. "Leather wrapped cyberspace!" Sounds like a tagline from Neuromancer, or some kind of techno-S/M cult. Really, what's wrong with Young & Rubicam, Lincoln's ad agency? I don't buy a Linc so I can be surrounded by screens. I buy a Linc so I can feel like Jack Kennedy on the way to the Sands to make time with the Rat Pack. At that point, we can get into all the leather wrapped cyber-whatever we want...

Top Gear with My Son, James

Like any good father, I hope to inspire my young son to take up a suitable trade. Medicine, law--or perhaps Formula 1 racing?!?! We'll see. I've already had him out to the track once (to watch), and he proved he could drive (sort of) last weekend, when he took the wheel of a kiddie tractor at Underwood Family Farms in the Simi Valley (before it became part of the fire zone). Can Karts be far off? Anyhow, at night while his sister is reading about fairy princesses and magical sprites, we fire up YouTube and watch Top Gear. Last night, we stumbled across this 2007 interview with F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who I blogged about yesterday. Watch until the end and see Hamilton nearly outdo the best time ever in the Reasonably Priced car lap. And pay attention to Jeremy Clarkson's quip about Hamilton's secondary sex characteristics. (James, by the way, knows Clarkson as "that funny guy.")

Also, as Top Gear's YouTube channel disables HTML code, I posted what looks like old spy video of Hamilton filming the Reasonably Priced segment.

James and I will be tuning into the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, for some exciting down-the-stretch racing action.

Lewis Hamilton For The Win...Maybe?

British F1 sensation Lewis Hamilton--he's 23, he's multiracial, he drives for McLaren--once again has the prize within his sights. OK, it's not quite the same setup, nearing the end of the F1 season, as last year. In his debut year, Hamilton had a sizable points lead going into the home stretch, then lost it. This year, after a debacle in Japan this past weekend, he's holding a narrow, 5-point lead over Filipe Massa (84-79). Edward Gorman, in the Times, has a solid rundown of the whole situation. The comments on his story are also cutting in favor of Hamilton, who has attracted plenty of controversy in his brief, but wildly successful, time racing in F1. In fact, on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix, Gorman offered this fairly prescient analysis of what might go down:

Like Ayrton Senna, his hero, Hamilton is fast becoming the driver everyone wants to bring down, which in its way is among the biggest compliments the sport can offer. Few get to the top in Formula One without bruising the egos of others on the way and it seems that Hamilton is no exception. A problem for him, though, is that his attitude in the cockpit is attracting critical attention not only from his fellow drivers, but the FIA stewards who have picked him out on several occasions this season, not least at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa last month where he was demoted from first to third place for what amounted to overly aggressive tactics.

There's a great narrative building here for the final two races of the season. Hamilton, the brightest star that F1 has produced in some time, and a national hero in Britain, is facing multiple demons simultaneously. Can he redeem himself from last year's failure, when his points lead was even wider than this year? Can he overcome the impression that he's not an aggressively competitive driver, but a reckless one? And finally, can he climb to the top of the soap opera of interconnected rivalries that F1 has become?

The next few weeks might be the best show in sports, at this juncture. I know I'll be glued to the Speed Channel.

[Image: Official F1 website]

Rick Wagoner: Looking a Little Palm Beach, Mr. Chairman

Is it just me, or does GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner look sort of...reddish in this altogether strange YouTube video? Truthfully, of all the current Big Three heads, I think I admire Wagoner the most, but better makeup is always a nice idea. Shoulders on the suit make his head look small, but I like that he's late-summer-fying with the tan gabardine. Not crazy about the shirt (CEOs should never wear button-downs).

The date on the video is 9/22, so Wagoner's optimism preceded GM's swoon into precariously low valuations during the Dow's roller-coaster ride over the past few weeks. Today's close? $6.37/share, a big bump (more than 30%) after the slaughter last Friday, but still miles below the high of around $43. It used to bug me when all the domestic carmakers did was talk about the "challenges" facing their industry (seemed as if they were indulging in the simple prophecy of low expectations, to borrow a phrase), but now I'm thinking they're on to something.

Nardelli's "Globality!" Era Drawing to a Close at Chrysler?

What a difference seven months make. When I last caught sight of former lumber salesman/current dark overseer of Chrysler (which is owned by the secretive Cerberus Capital Management), he was proclaiming himself a car guy and heralding a new era of "globality" (Globality!) for the last place number three U.S. automaker. Looks as if that New York auto show speech really was the beginning of some kind of end, as the Freep is now reporting that Nardelli is admitting that Chrysler is discussing its hail marys strategic options with potential partners (like GM and possibly Nissan/Renault). That would of course be code for "we gots to sell this sucker before it bleeds us dry." Or, as Nardelli himself put it: “Chrysler does not comment on speculation or discuss its private business meetings."

It's hard to know what to make of Chrysler's fate. Obviously, with GM and Ford both tanking--GM's valuations have retreated to Eisenhower Administration levels--so it's difficult to figure out what any suitor would get by saddling itself with Chrysler's steadfastly unpopular vehicles. An outstanding minivan? GM might think that this represents a good opportunity to eliminate some of the competition, absorbing whatever decent designs and R&D Chrysler has in its pipeline (evidently, Chrysler's skunk works has whipped up some surprise entrants in the electric car sweepstakes). If Nissan and Carlos Ghosn are in the game, then that just seems like a way to make trouble for GM, as it's impossible to see what Nissan would do in partnership with Chrysler, other than gain access to Jeep.

One thing's for sure: Nardelli's Globality! Era sounds even more ridiculous now than it did back in March.