What better way to spend your birthday than test driving a car like Lincvolt. Neil and the Goodwin Young team take the car out for some long range road tests today. This will be a round trip from San Francisco to San Jose. In my mind, the big win from this trip is the fact that they did a 40 mile leg in a super heavy car, with three people on board -- on batteries alone. Now, I know Lincvolt wants to be a long range car but 40 mile range will already satisfy the daily 'commuting' needs of MANY people. That's no gas on a daily basis for a lot of us (depending on how you charge the batteries, of course). Happy birthday, Neil. Congrats Lincvolt. Long may you run.

"We can't afford a pit stop today"

Don't mind the camera guy in the pony tail on top of that SUV at 70MPH... it's just Shakey Pictures making a documentary. Man, I've led a sheltered life. We just don't get to see stuff like this in Illinois. OK, off we go for another ride with Lincvolt!
(NOTE: The audio level in this first clip is very low so you'll need to crank it a bit. Worry not, we'll warn you later to turn it down again.)

"...Wichita, the home of the Heavy Metal Continental...whadayathink?"

Doin' it in the diamond lane. Two and a half tons of Lincvolt rolling down the fast lane to the San Jose Airport, and under electric power. Add to that a load of people -- a feat in itself by electric car standards. Neil coins Lincvolt an SCEV (Self Charging Electric Vehicle) in this clip. And upon arrival at the airport, pats her on the dash for a job well done.
(Warning! we're back to normal audio level now so turn your stuff down)

"Don't dump that crap on us!"

Just over 38 miles into the trip, Lincvolt does a 180, passes an oil tanker and heads back to San Francisco. Won't it be nice when we don't need all this oil distribution? En route, they stop to investigate a hot smell. Neil gives us a status report and Lincvolt gets a little rest while Jonathon checks the battery packs.

"EHHH EHHHH EHHHH EH EHHHHH EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The battery balancing seems better between the packs since they're depleting evenly. But Lincvolt eventually looses power and it's time to fire the rotary. Neil offers his impersonation of the (currently muffler-less) generator. Generator Blues? Probably not, but I think there IS a hint of a Lincvolt song in this particular clip.

"Fire it up, Johnny!"

I'm guessing an exhaust system is not far off, after this ride. :)

"These electric cars are really loud." - Neil Young

The above quote may be my favorite so far. Neil is having a blast with this and his wit and timing are second to none.

OK, there's not quite enough charge in the battery packs yet so we're back to the generator in this segment. After a good charge, it's time for the final leg. "We are now about to attempt to climb... a hill. Mt. Grand Avenue". The hill is a non-challenge and a few minutes later the Lincvolt crew arrives safely back at Brizio's. (and I still kinda wonder what happened to that camera guy on on the roof of that SUV.)



NOTE: Please feel free to register, login and comment. Upon registering, you will be sent a confirmation email with a temporary password. You may change your password when you login. (All this to confirm you are a real human being...)

<< Learn more about Lincvolt in our left menu

Lincvolt Lincage

• Learn more at Lincvolt.com
• The new Lincvolt website
• Monitor the webcams and chat
• Lincvolt in the media
• Lincvolt buzz on the net
• Lincvolt on YouTube
• Lincvolt on Facebook
• Lincvolt on UStream