Hi everyone.
A while back, an indie film producer came to see me and a few of my friends with a concept about building an electric car and driving it across country, and making a documentary about the whole thing.
A thread was started on that
HERE.
Nothing has come of that. Last time I checked the URL for the concept's web page, it was now available for sale...
But I really like the idea of doing something REALLY BIG!
I don't know exactly what that thing is. I do know that it involves me and you and a bunch of us all working together. Crowd-sourcing, Twittering, keeping things affordable, maybe digging up some sponsors.
In this last year or so, I have met some pretty amazing people. In September, I was at the Mother Earth Fair, and ten minutes into dinner before I realized I was sitting between two X-Prize contenders. This summer, I met a twenty-something year old "kid" who just happened to start working for Tesla Motors because of building his own kick-butt EV motorcycle from scratch. I even know a NorthWestern young inventor who went from building his own electric car to being a contractor (making big bucks, really big bucks...) to design equipment for one of the largest cereal companies in the country.
We have folks right on this forum building AMAZING open-source equipment.
My only redeeming qualities are that I am not afraid to screw up. I'm good at learning things the hard way. I can test pilot nearly anything, design t-shirts, and I have a video camera.
So here's the thing. WHAT do we want to do?
I'm imagining something like an Eco-Cannonball Run. Some sort of road rally for fuel economy, alternative fuels, creative and inexpensive building. Imagine an X-Prize with no entry fee, but we take our vehicles off the track and out into the real world. And no restrictions. Nobody saying "hey, your trunk isn't big enough" (
Please see X-Prize Rant...) If you don't have air conditioning, and roast, that's ok too.
Maybe we could "crowd source" a documentary film out of all this. Get a couple of teams of Ecomodders all going. Take a bunch of cameras. Take a smart phone. Tweet where you are and what you are doing.
Blog, blog, blog!
Get a sponsor or two. (I bet we could get a few
Hero cameras donated!)
I don't know exactly where this is all going.
I just know it's going to be big, and I want you to be a part of it.
If you have some great ideas, throw them out there, right here, right now. If you have something REALLY CRAZY or super-secret, just send me a private message.