What does one do with a classic 1959 Lincoln Continental that weighs 2.5 tons (that's 5000 pounds) gets about 10 miles per gallon on the highway, and puts out more pollutants than about five modern cars combined? You turn it into the Linc-Volt, a hybrid electric car that gets well over 100 miles per gallon and uses technology to do this that is available now, literally off the shelf. This is the dream of singer Neil Young (yes, THAT Neil Young)!
The vision of Young, along with partners Johnathan Goodwin and Uli Kruger, is to show the world as well as the Detroit auto makers, that if he can make a fuel-efficient hybrid out of a 5000 pound monster using automotive technology that is readily available, any car company could easily follow in his footsteps. This car is so efficient that even the revolutionary Chevy Volt, which some are touting as the beginning of a new age within the auto industry, cannot match the performance and efficiency of the Linc-Volt.
While the project's heart might be Young himself, the soul of this car is an electrified motor and controller made by UQM. Based 20 miles north of Denver, Colorado, UQM is no fly-by-night organization, having fielded over 100,000 electric motors, 30,000 in 2008 alone. One of their high performance, yet incredibly efficient, motors was chosen to power the Boeing fuel cell airplane, which was a resounding success.
These motors are amazing - 94 percent efficient - as opposed to a gasoline engine which is a mere 35 percent efficient for every gallon it burns. It is easy to understand why the designers of the Linc-Volt went with this technology. But once again, they went with it because it is available, it is usable, and it is proven to work.
Young's ultimate vision is to show the American public and the world that they don’t have to sacrifice big cars to be environmentally friendly, debunking the myths that small cars are more efficient because they are small. Young’s Linc-Volt is anything but small, and yet it is as capable and virtually more efficient then anything else on the road.
It is too early to say if this one incredible car makes any difference in the world of automobiles, although we hope it has a major impact on future designs. Now it is a showcase for what can be done to any car, and it blows away the perception that an electric hybrid car has to be lightweight, small and ordinary. For proof that the future is now, go ask Neil Young about the Linc-Volt design, and he’ll tell you that maybe the only real obstacle for a production car like the Linc-Volt is a resistance to change.
Young plans to drive the Linc-Volt across the USA to show everyone that comfort, power, performance and environmental responsibility can be had in any sized car, with readily available technology, that can be manufactured by any automaker if they do so choose. Because Action speaks louder than words, when he gets to my neck of the woods, I’ll be right there applauding his devotion to this cause, cheering on an idea whose time has most certainly come, while listening to Neil Young’s classic "Harvest" album in my headset.
