A retiree from NASA who resides in Texas tinkering around with spare parts, a friend’s junked VW Beetle, with the sponsorship of a battery maker, invented his own electric car. It’s that ol’ American ingenuity at work (I won’t say Yankee ingenuity since the fellow is in Texas). We should applaud him, right? Not so fast.
Like you, I celebrate the garage inventor, the sort of creature that makes Apple computer a household name. I love the fact that as an American one can come up with an idea, build it, and maybe even get rich from it. But, let’s think about this story a bit, shall we? It becomes one of every good deed not going unpunished.
John Hendrickson lives in Manvel, Texas. Once he retired from that well known spendthrift government agency NASA, like many retirees, he needed something to work on so he wouldn’t lose his mind. So, after gassing up his Cadillic one day he had the idea of creating his own electric car.
“I thought gas stations were ripping us off, so I decided to just go build my own electric car,” Hendrickson said.
And so he did. Hendrickson even got a battery company to sponsor his efforts so that he didn’t have to spend the $300 per battery (his car runs on 12 of them) it would take to finish the project.
He built his electric car into an old VW that his friend was allowing to go to seed in his yard. It was rusted out and had tree roots entwined in its body.
But, after all the work he invented his own electric motor, got the batteries, had another sponsor do some body work and painting and, voila, he had a new electric car. Hendrickson has flipped the bird to those “rip-off” gasoline pushers! He’s become free of the system and showed his independence.
Now, at first blush we are apt to celebrate this ingenuity, right? So, why did I call him a tax cheat and an enviro criminal in my headline?
Well, let’s think about this for a minute.
Hendrickson is no longer buying gasoline, is he? So he isn’t paying the gas stations for their product. Great right? Well, what else is he not paying? You see, now he is not paying state and/or county gasoline taxes, money that ostensibly goes to the upkeep of roads and bridges. Yet, he’s still driving around using them , isn’t he? So tell me… why should he get free use of the roads the rest of us are paying taxes for?
So, right there he is cheating on taxes.
As to his eco crimes, well, one gets the vague feeling that electric cars are low on emissions, right? Sort of. You see, electric cars are charged by one’s home electric service. You plug them right into an outlet in your garage. This means that instead of gasoline engine emission being created to power the car, now coal powered plant emissions are used to power the car. And, to some minds, coal plant emissions are worse than car emissions. So, for those that imagine the environment is being “saved” by electric cars are being sorely misinformed — at least as far as the environmental purist argument turns.
You see, it isn’t nearly as simple as just inventing your own car and being done with it. It really is far more complicated than that. I hate to be a kill joy, here, but we need real world solutions for alternative energy, more creative and logical tax plans, and not just these sorts of panacea stories.
(Photo credit: chron.com)
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Batteries disposal and Car Weight
Greg (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 7:10AM EST (link)You forgot about environmental toxic batteries disposals problem. Who is going to pay for the recycling and disposal of the batteries? Batteries have a shelf life and you can’t simple recharge them forever. Also, these cars weigh more than typical gas cars; battery cars use more energy to go the same distance as a gas car. What happens if your round trip to work is sixty miles? Gas car get around this problem distance and charge time problems.
Exactly
Warner Todd Huston (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 7:12AM EST (link)And there’s more. Because of the weight, won’t they go through tires faster?
Electric cars are not the answer.
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Let me make a point blank statement about electric cars
kyle8 (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 7:17AM EST (link)They will NEVER be a viable option for the general public. EVER, because battery technology simply cannot progress much further.
Now Hybrids, electric/fuel cells these are probably the wave of the future, but not pure electric.
You must consider that they only externalize the economic and environmental costs of the power they consume, they do not eliminate it. And there is the weight and waste disposal problems discussed above by Itdiehard. As well as the very real safety problems with high performance batteries exploding in heat/accident conditions.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
"consider that (electric cars) only externalize the economic and environmental costs"
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 7:32AM EST (link)Don’t encourage the Dems
I see opportunity
Sluf (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 8:22AM EST (link)“consider that (electric cars) only externalize the economic and environmental costs” basically sums up the conservative viewpoint by why can’t you be Conservative -and- an Environmentalist*?
Before the spears are thrown, consider this… In a free market, I as the consumer will look to purchase a unit of consumption at the cheapest price available. Those that want my business will provide more units of worth per price and can reach that goal through efficiencies or value-added products/services. As an entrepreneur, this is the perfect opportunity for our “Apple Computer”-based automotive projects to gain a lot of ground… as a Reagan Conservative, the public relations campaign would be that the liberals/democrats/socialists will want to raise taxes to offset lost revenues through gasoline tax… since there is no distinction between electricity used for your computer or TV or kitchen than that used for your electric car, consumers who drive less yet use a healthy electrical load will certainly be the victim of new electrical taxes. The campaign should be “electric cars not produced in Detroit, say no to new taxes from Washington”…. maybe “support your local job market, build your own electric car”.
Let the markets decide… but I guarantee that local ingenuity from visionary entrepreneurs can build sustainable markets as long as government taxes and regulatory programs remain in check. Exxon lost the PR battle on the airwaves but now is the time to capitalize on the weakness of Detroit.
Sluf
* Go ahead and ask how you can be a Conservative and an Environmentalist… Any thoughts?
Conservatism and Environmentalism
ColbyS Tuesday, February 17th at 10:18AM EST (link)One definitely has to give up some portion of one’s Fiscal Conservative credentials to dabble in environmentalism, but it can be done for a fairly small compromise. The problem is that the environement is outside the sphere of traditional market forces, but it requires resources to protect and those resources cost something. You have to acknowledge a little bit of collectivist mentality as opposed to individualist, which is a rather un-conservative thing to do. However, we do make our exceptions, such as the military. The military is also outside the sphere of market forces and costs a lot, but none of us would argue that it is an absolute necessity. So we are all willing to pay tax to have a collectivist resource in our national defense, which trumps our default position of all money being guided by the market. It all comes down to whether you consider the environment important enought to warrant the same treatment.
Up here in the Northeast, it’s common for hunters and outdoorsmen to be center-right Republicans with a mind for measured and reasonable environmentalism. I guess that doesn’t count as a full conservative, but it is what I consider myself to be and I am a reliable Republican voter.
typo
ColbyS Tuesday, February 17th at 10:19AM EST (link)*isn’t an absolute necessity. you all know what I meant
Not really a tax cheat...
evanm (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 8:36AM EST (link)…or is he?
Tax avoidance is not tax evasion, but what are the odds that this guy claimed the fair market value of the VW chasis and value of the free batteries (probably pretty freaking expensive) as income?
No, not a cheat.
Jewels Tuesday, February 17th at 11:19AM EST (link)Just because he’s benefiting from the taxes of others, doesn’t qualify him as a cheat. It would be like a homeschooling parent calling “cheat!” on every low income family that *dares* to send their kids to public school when they never pay the taxes to support same school.
Honestly, is this a serious post?
Cool story wrapped up in a sarcastic post
mallcopsaysno Tuesday, February 17th at 11:26AM EST (link)I don’t understand the point, if there is one, of attacking this guy’s ingenuity/character. He’s an innovator.
I refused to apologize for chickenhawking when told to.
Eisenhower was right.Bizarre Post
Amarcavage Tuesday, February 17th at 8:59PM EST (link)Snark does not win elections. We’ve got to get beyond this nonsense.
You
Warner Todd Huston (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 10:11PM EST (link)Seems you last two missed the point.
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