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A start-up fails. Happens all the time. I don't have a problem with this kind of investment. Private sector has to take these risks all the time.
"Consider yesterday's collapse of electric car company Green Vehicles an object lesson in why it's a bad idea for cities to invest in the risky business of start-up car companies — perhaps especially start-up electric car companies. Even such companies with a viable product have seen their fair share of financial troubles, but Green Vehicles did not even have a product to sell off at a fire sale. The city of Salinas, California learned that lesson as Green Vehicles shut its doors, costing the city more than $500,000."
A start-up fails. Happens all the time. I don't have a problem with this kind of investment. Private sector has to take these risks all the time.
Municipalities should be in the business of being a municipality, not the electric car business.
Why would the city invest in it to begin with?
I'm having a hard time imagining too many people wanting to get on a freeway and do 80mph in this thing........Green Vehicles was working on a three-wheeled electric car called the Triac 2.0, intended as a freeway-capable commuter car with a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 80 mph.
This is California we're talking about. Good luck doing over 15 mph on the freeway.
This is California we're talking about. Good luck doing over 15 mph on the freeway.
touche'
I don't see why not, this is like one of those can-am roadsters with an enclosure. People ride those.I'm having a hard time imagining too many people wanting to get on a freeway and do 80mph in this thing........
500K is an insignificant investment for that type of enterprise.
I suppose that 500K could have been used towards the pension of ONE public sector worker.
Or operating ONE of those helicopters in Houston for a couple of months.
Editorial note:
The article does not say exactly where the company got all of its funding, merely that the city of Salinas ponied up $500k. It is entirely possible that the majority of the funding for the company came from private investors, and the city's money represented a small fraction of the overall total.
"Government-funded electric car company" would imply that the majority of the funding came from "government" something not spelled out in the article.
(edit)
It is also entirely possible that the 500k figure in the article came from tax breaks.
A better le would be "government-subsidized".
The article is extremely thin on details and I'm quite frankly too lazy to look them up. But I have no idea why the city would feel a need to invest in a private company like that to begin with. I could understand investment in a company that was going to provide a direct service to the city: say some time of wifi infrastructure startup. However, this is just weird.
I don't think its tax breaks though. Tax breaks shouldn't be counted as investment.
I picked up the story from slashdot, and thought it was good enough to share. I figured that if anybody wanted more details, they could look it up.
You're not wrong. I'm just lazy, as I said.
Here's a few more details:
http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/15...alinas-with-it
In a way, I'm glad Salinas isn't pushing to keep a failing business.
Found this.
Apparantely these guys also got some state money.Less than two years after being introduced by Mayor Dennis Donohue and city Economic Development Director Jeff Weir with great fanfare as a key component of city ambitions to become an alternative energy hub, and after gobbling up more than $500,000 in grant funding, the firm's top official told city leaders about the closure in an email.
After announcing last year that it had secured $2 million in state funding, the company set up shop at the Firestone Business Park and held a grand opening. Company officials announced plans to begin producing as many as 2,000 vehicles per year, beginning last fall.
But Weir said company officials told him they later discovered the state funding would have to be repaid, presenting an obstacle. And, he said the firm never got close to opening a planned Abbott Street showroom for its product.
I'm having a hard time imagining too many people wanting to get on a freeway and do 80mph in this thing........
Looks like a project I saw in Popular Mechanics about 20 years ago (powered by motorcycle engine).
Really what would benefit us to a great degree isn't a car but getting people to walk/bike for commutes under 5 miles. Those commutes make up huge portions of our gas usage and a 5 mile bike ride is almost as fast as driving. Depending on traffic conditions - it can definitely be faster.
The biggest problem I have with that here in NJ is we don't have roads for that. And the way people drive doesn't help either.
I bought my first motorcycle in response to the 4 dollar a gallon gas prices a few years ago. Before I found out how inexpensive motorcycles can be I was trying to figure out a way to ride a bicycle to work (5.5 miles). It is just straight up impossible because there is no where to shower. Solve that problem for me and I will start riding a bike to work. (still keeping the MC though because even though they are ridiculously practical, they are a ton of fun too).
Fair enough. All of the funding came from the government. Thank you!
It failed, at least in part, because it could not get private equity funding to match the grants it got.
Sad, but it makes very clear that these kinds of things requires a lot of capital to get rolling.
Yeah - thats an issue. People are pretty ing horrible. Not a week goes by where I dont encounter some form of stupidity from a driver when I'm on my bike. Luckily, I live in a much less densely populated area so I can ride up into the foothills and I'm mostly alone on the roads and when I was commuting 75% was an a multiuse path (although walkers with dogs/children can be even worse than cars at times).
When I lived in San Antonio this was nearly impossible.
Thats a very real problem for those in San Antonio but its really nothing a change of clothes and a washcloth couldn't solve. You really shouldn't sweat much on an easy 5 mile ride as long as you're not trying to break any speed records but considering the SA heat/humidity I know thats not always the case.
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