Automakers eye next huge market: Iraq

While many have been extolling the huge market potential for autos in China, a few automakers have set their sights in what is quickly becoming the fastest growing market for autos in the world – Iraq. This is certainly good news for all of the OEM manufacturers for AC compressors and air conditioning parts. They have the fifth-largest oil reserves in the world, and a population bigger than Saudi Arabia’s. Western vehicles were banned while Saddam Hussein was in power, but with that issue taken care of, VW GM and Ford have flooded in to provide vehicles for an expanding market.

 Rising incomes and declining violence are the main factors affecting this huge change in lifestyle for Iraqis. Although things are better than they were six years go, 1500 people were killed last year because of bombs, sniper ambushes, and other related violence. That is shocking, but compared to the 34,500 death toll in 2006, the improvement is felt in the quality of daily life for Iraqi citizens.

Iraq’s economy is set to grow by over 10% this year as oil revenues and foreign investment boost the economy. Minimum wage has risen from $2.60 a month during Saddam Hussein to $400 a month now. Rising incomes combined with a population of more than 30 million people create a very attractive potential market for automakers.

Underpass in Baghdad

 There are still many hurdles to overcome before Iraq’s market potential can be realized however. Poverty and violence still persist. Iraq’s economy will probably grow to the equivalent of $3528 per person this year; compare this with Saudia Arabia’s $20214 per year and you understand how far Iraq still has to go. Unemployment is an alarming 40%, four times higher than the official report of 11% according to the World Bank.

Even so, things are definitely looking up and automakers are trying to get in on the ground floor. As Iraq’s economy continues to rise VW, GM, and Ford will be poised to take advantage of a growing middle class in Iraq.

Source: Bloomberg

How Close Are We To Flying Cars?

We’ve made some major technological advances in the last century – the internet, the AC Compressor and the A/C  Compressor would have been unimaginable in 1912. Still, there are things that we have been dreaming about in science fiction for decades that still haven’t come to be. One of the most prolific is the idea of the flying car.

Cops and Cabs in The 5th Element

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has dreamed of flying away while stuck in traffic. It would be just like the movies! Highways in the sky, floating traffic lights, silent flying cars whooshing by, and all self-driven and pre-programmed to whisk us to our desired locations. It’s a beautiful dream that many believe is the future for personal transportation. Question is, is it?

Terrafugia Transition

Fortunately, there are some people working on making this dream a reality. Terrafugia is a U.S. company that will debut a roadable aircraft at this year’s New York Auto Show.  The craft, called Transition, is a fixed wing personal aircraft that can fold its wings in and become a street legal automobile. This wouldn’t replace your car, although it can fit in a standard parking space, but it could replace your own personal aircraft if you had one. This craft also requires a runway, and since it flies, you have to have a pilot’s license and use an airport to take advantage of its flying capabilities. Given all of these limitations, it doesn’t quite seem like the type of flying car we’d envisioned, though it is a very convenient option for those who love to fly.

Urban Aeronautics AirMule

 Also developing what they dub “fancraft” is Urban Aeronatics in Israel. They develop Vertical-Takeoff-and-Landing (VTOL) utility aircraft in several different models. This looks more like we imagine – smaller craft, can take off and land anywhere, no body roll when moving from side to side, and the blades are not exposed so there are no risk of losing your (or your neighbors) head. Problem is, this vehicle is intended to be primarily a search and rescue plane to go where helicopters cannot. Helicopters have great difficulty flying close to buildings or mountains and the exposed blades make them dangerous to operate in tight spaces. The fancrafts produced by Urban Aeronautics can fly right next to, between, or on top of structures. Also, since it has no body roll and much more stability, it can actually partially touch a surface on any side of the craft without losing control. The cost of these is currently prohibitively expensive for personal use, but they welcome future developments to make their design more accessible to the masses.

What we’re really after is a PAV, or Personal Air Vehicle, but as it stands there are no tested vehicles that truly fit the bill. Thankfully, there are several companies out there with investors that have the same dream we all do: to fly away from traffic jams and into the future. I’ll hold on to my dream and hopefully we’ll see it become a reality within our lifetime.

You Can Brick Your 109k Tesla Roadster

It's always a bummer when your Air Conditioning Parts or AC Compressor quits out on you - you're stuck in the heat for a few days while you order another one and have it installed. It is a decently easy fix though, and (depending on where you shop) a not-so-costly repair. Other repairs are more expensive - as a few Tesla Roadster owners found out when their lithium-ion car batteries died and discovered a replacement runs $40,000.

 Yes, you read that right. After placing a $5000 deposit and then coughing up an additional $104,000 a few hundred people have driven home in a fully electric Tesla Roadster. The batteries that are used to power the Roadster are not unlike the ones used to power your cell phone - rechargeable, and apparently, once flat dead they cannot be revived.

Some technology enthusiasts will recognize the term "bricking" - it means when a piece of technology is rendered completely unusable, making it about as useful as a giant brick. Five Tesla Roadster owners so far have discovered that not only can they brick their Roaster, but the only solution is to purchase an entirely new and un-discounted battery from Tesla for 40k.

Surely, with such dire consequences it must be really difficult to brick a Tesla, right? Unfortunately, the parasitic load from the cars subsystems will render any unplugged Tesla a brick in time. With a full charge, that might take up to six weeks or so, but if the battery was already run down it could take as little as one week. Even plugged in, if the voltage going to the car isn't sufficient it can brick anyway as one unfortunate Tesla owner found out.

Insurance won't cover it, either. Tesla is no better - they specifically state in their terms upon buying the car that they are not responsible for "neglect" of the battery. You would think Tesla would recognize the danger here and go to great lengths to warn customers about this issue, but it is markedly absent from any of the paperwork and manuals given to new Tesla owners.

Given this information, buying a Tesla leaves you open for a huge un-insurable liability. There are those who want to go green while maintaining serious style, but with $40,000 in the balance, is it worth it?

Own a Remarkable Piece of History for a Cool Million

On March 10th on Amelia Island, Florida RM Auctions will be auctioning a very unique piece of automotive history.

While we complain in modern times when our AC Compressor and AC Evaporator aren't keeping us cool enough, this beauty had no such amenities and yet it is a sight to behold.

 It is an extremely rare 1913 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII, chassis #718 - one of only four ever built. It was named after the King of Spain at the time, a young auto enthusiast who bought many of Hispano-Suiza's models - eventually building a fleet of 30. In honor of their best and most respected customer, they named this model the Alfonso XIII, and with a 3.62cc inline four-cylinder engine and a top speed of 80mph (which was excellent for the time) it certainly lived up to it's namesake.

 The attention to detail in the making of this vehicle is striking: original Belriot two bulb headlamps (an early example of a hi-beam low-beam set-up), intricately woven and fabulously preserved interior upholstery, wood-framed windows, and special markings on the trunk hardware, leaf springs, and the original dash chassis plate to name just a few highlights.

It also features both an open, summer body and a closed winter body (winter body shown): both are immaculately preserved. The story goes in the mid-80's two avid car collectors were in Seville, Spain. They met an antique dealer and asked him if he knew of any Hispano-Suiza cars that might be in the area, and he pointed them in the direction of his client, the Marquis de Sanlucar de Barrameda.

After going to his estate and sampling some of the local wine, he agreed to sell them his grandfather's car - kept in a storage area for wine barrels and untouched for 40 years. They were blown away with how preserved the vehicle was and happily received their purchase.

 Lucky find, which will now move to the hands of the next lucky auction winner with a million dollars to spare.

Car Sharing... the Future?

I like everything in my car to be set just right. The climate needs to be at my perfect temp, at all times. I don’t want anyone else messing with my air conditioning. So, quit turning my AC Compressor on and off, and stop putting my AC Parts through so much wear and tear. You may think that I am super anal and you are super correct. Due to this, I am not a good candidate for a car sharing programs, but it might be the right fit for you.

The first evidence of car sharing goes back to 1948. The idea of sharing vehicles has come and gone several times, lacking the ability to stick. No one has seemed to be able to get it right. That has not stopped the fad from, once again, coming back. However, this time there is a new approach.

There is the old car sharing business model; a company owns a whole fleet of cars and members can rent those cars for a few hours or an entire day. Zipcar is the largest of these corporations with 650,000 members, who proudly refer to themselves as “Zipsters.”I wonder if Zipsters wear their seatbelts extremely tight around their tight hipster jeans. Zipcar has almost 10,000 vehicles in 19 major cities. They account for 80% of the car sharing market.

The new car share method is a peer-to-peer model. The company doesn’t actually own the vehicles. Instead, members share each other’s cars. Everything else is basically the same. This seems like a great business idea because it eliminates fleet maintenance, which is a massive expenditure. The tough part is getting members to trust their car with strangers. To ease members’ worries companies run background checks, and provide insurance.

The big companies that operate a peer-to-peer style are Getaround and RelayRides. General Motors just invested in RelayRides and will use OnStar to help members find and track vehicles. GM acknowledges that a car share program causes less people to buy automobiles, but reports state that there will be 4.4 million people participating in car share programs by 2016. GM wants to be the company that supplies those cars.

Race of the Roses

Imagine having to deal with heat reaching up to 120 degrees, and there is no AC Compressor to help you.  Even worse, your visibility is at zero and the window motor regulator is not to blame.  Under these conditions you have to manage around three intense turns, one which is a tight 107 degrees.  You must finish this intense five and a half mile course at a blistering speed of 2.5 miles per hour.

You are probably asking yourself, “What daredevils would risk their lives doing this?” The answer is, the brave souls who drive the floats in The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. The drivers get by without seeing because they have a spotter on top of the float that communicates with them via radio. The observer tells the spotter when to turn and how fast to go. If the drivers have to slowdown or god forbid stop, it is frowned upon.  When it comes to the heat, they just have to deal with it.  If it gets up to 120 degrees an alarm will go off and the driver knows it’s time to get out of the float and grab a root-beer float to cool down.

In case you were thinking about purchasing one of these flowered monsters here are some specs.  Most floats are powered by the likes of a V-10 truck engine.  There is no diesel option, as parade rules prohibit that. They need to boast a lot of power because the floats are usually around 120 feet long and over 100,000 pounds.  The gas tank in these is approximately 50 gallons and a float will usually go through 30 gallons during the parade.  That’s just a little over 5 miles per gallon. There is no suspension, so expect a rough ride.  If none of that deterred you from still wanting one, maybe the fact that they cost around $300,000 will.

Happy New Year