Sunday with Senator Lugar

This past Sunday afternoon, the members of the BITW Technologies team had a special opportunity. We had a meeting with U.S. Senator Richard Lugar. He wanted to talk to us about what we have done with the vehicle since the Progressive Automotive X-Prize. We were excited about the fact that a U.S. Senator wanted to meet with us. During the previous week we planned our meeting by putting together data from our past for a power point presentation and putting some ideas about how the Diesel Engine Technology can be a valuable component in a practical energy policy.

As of today, there is no domestic automobile manufacturer that is building Diesel cars. There are plenty Diesel trucks on the market, just no American made Diesel cars. Why is that? Government regulations make it too difficult for producers. That needs to change. VW Diesels are imported. They get 40 to 50 MPG. Diesel Engines are much cleaner than they were in the 70's. Why not adjust the EPA requirements to allow the US auto manufacturers into the Diesel game?

I will refrain from going on about the efficiency and power that Diesel engines are capable of. This is about our visit with Senator Lugar. He came after lunch and shook hands with the team members and talked with us about what we had done. We then sat down and Dan gave the power point presentation, briefing the Senator on our project and what we had done in the X-Prize and Green Grand Prix. Afterward, we talked about energy policy and why Diesel power is in danger of being removed from the American consumer. The current EPA regulations are causing engine manufacturers to drop small Diesel engines between 30 and 50 HP. That outcome will be disastrous for the power equipment and agriculture industries without reform.

Senator Lugar had a lot of good things to say about the project and that he was glad that he named BITW Technologies as a Lugar Energy Patriot back in Feb 2010.

The meeting was held at the Mister Hardware in Edwardsville that George manages. We want to thank Phil Gettlefinger for allowing us to meet there and for all of the help and support he has provided on the project.

DC Road Trip

Been a while since the last post, "Practical Is", and we have been busy doing the things that average American families do. Football, Cub Scouts, Family Reunions, and School have occupied the time of the BITW Technologies Team.

The Progressive Automotive X-Prize Web Site had some fan voter contests this summer and one was "Most Practical". We are proud to say that the Vincitore' 1000 got 4th place in the rankings and was top of class in the "Most Practical" Fan Vote. In the "Most Wanted" category it received 5th place, and 2nd in class to the Illuminati 7. It is a great daily driver and commuter and is capable of hauling passengers short and long distances. This week it was used to travel to Washington D.C. to attend the Awards Ceremony for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize. The route covered the hills of Kentucky to the Mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. A route that has some serious hill climbing. The Vincitore' 1000 (VK) was once again up to the task. Hills are no problem. George and his family are very familiar with D.C., having lived there for a number of years, so the traffic is not an issue. Parking may be, however, as parking in D.C. has never been easy.

We are waiting to see who the winners of each class are going to be. George is the only team member attending the event. Logistically speaking, it was very hard to fit it in to every ones schedule. One thing that may not be known about our team is that we don't all live in the same town. The team members with the closest distance would be Bob Boyd and Bob Voll, at about 8 miles. George is about 8 miles from them. Dan is North 100 miles away and Dave is South 130 miles away. Mark approx 110 miles South East and Robert 120 Miles North of the Garage. Brian lives about 15 miles away but works out of town frequently and could not work on the project on a regular basis. We were all able to work on specific projects to apply to the VK at our respective locations. Had we been closer, the outcome would have been much better. We accomplished something that many teams couldn't at a very low cost.

The event represents the end of a chapter in the BITW Technologies story but not the end of an idea. As we have stated before, we are continuing to refine the vehicle powertrain and are looking at some new platforms to apply the technology to. We have been collecting more data on the road time also. We still have some options open that we have been examining. We might write a Do It Yourself manual since we have talked to a lot of people that have been interested. It could be the fastest way to get this technology on the streets and highways of America. Stay tuned, you will see it here first!

Carl Fisher's Test Track

Carl Fisher was a businessman that wanted better tires after a trip to Ohio resulted in a lot of stops due to poor road conditions. It was Autumn of 1908, and highways did not exist. Wagon trails and horse paths were the roads that people drove on to go from town to town. The automobile was becoming the hot new technology item that everyone had to have. The technology was outpacing the roads needed to drive on. Carl thought that a test facility to develop new tire designs would be beneficial to Indiana's growing auto industry. He convinced some of the top businessmen in Indianapolis to join him in the effort. In 1909 the track opened and the rest is history. Competitive events began in spring. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the testing location for many automotive innovations. Racing gives the opportunity to push a car beyond it's daily expectations to see what works and what fails under the extreme stress. The first 500 mile race was held in 1911 and has since been the standard to which all racetracks and races have been held. This weekend another race will be added to the history books. There is great history at the track. In 1952, Freddie Agabashian put the Kurtis Kraft Cummins Diesel Special on the pole, breaking the one lap record in the process. We love diesels. Carl's dream grew larger than he may have expected. Tires are still tested on that track.

Testing is a huge part of developing a car. We have been testing the Vincitore' 1000 for months to prepare it for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. Like Carl Fisher's desire to improve tires led to the greatest race in the world, our desire to improve the MPGe of our car may lead to something big!

Here's a quiz. What was the first competitive event held at the Speedway?

Back Home Again

It is good to be back home in Indiana after a busy week at MIS. We learned a lot of valuable lessons about our car, the Vincitore' 1000 and about the competition process. The durability run was a good test to see how the car components stay together. It was held on the old road course South of the main oval. The official running the said it would be like driving in Kentucky or Tennessee. I grinned, as Southern Indiana roads are the same, and knew this would be lots of fun. Lots of bumps and about 23 laps later, the fun was done and we had to get back to the garages. Friday we did the efficiency run and that gave us some good data to work with. We have more work to do, but all is positive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived at the garage Saturday afternoon. We unloaded in rain just like we loaded the week before.