Tag Archives: Auto Industry

Big Idea Wednesday: Monster Mile Per Gallon

Twice a year, Dover Downs is the home of NASCAR races. As a guy that owns two hybrids and tries to be a good environmental citizen, I am appalled by the senseless waste of tires, oil, gas that goes on through the various qualifiers and races that go on throughout the weekend. But I get it. People like the personalities, drama, noise, smell and hoopla that surrounds the weekend. Fine, I have made my peace with it.

But I would love to see Delaware further the environmentalism that we already have embraced with our recent Fisker, Bloom and the unfortunate Bluewater Wind deals.  I would like to see Delaware sponsor a NASCAR-style race for electric and high-efficiency cars. Not unlike the para-Olympics which happen at the Olympic host city in the weeks following the more familiar Olympics, we could sponsor the fuel-efficient race on the weekend following a NASCAR weekend.  The beer-soaked campers of NASCAR fans in the parking lot could be replaced by the beer-soaked campers of graduate engineering students. The roar of oversized engines would be replaced by the sound of low-drag tires on the rough macadam of the banked turns.

Maybe it’s just me, but the drama of a race between a dozen cars with 3 gallons of gas to complete their 200 mile race seems much more interesting.

Congratulations All Around for Fisker

The press conference/Pep rally for the announcement that the Boxwood Rd. auto plant has just concluded.  We will now refer to the plant as the Fisker plant.  I am still in a state of shock.  It was a tour de force of Delaware politicos.  Huge kudos are in order for Governor Markell for his attention to this issue and for putting together this event.  Getting Joe Biden was the perfect touch.

Some key points:

  • Joe Biden still has it
  • Delawareonline may not have a future as a newspaper, but as a broadcaster they rock
  • Jack Markell knows how to woo businesses
  • Combining this with the smart grid announcement today by President Obama will position Delaware in the catbird seat (remember Willett Kempton? He’s back…)
  • Geeks are cool again
  • Fast cars don’t have to burn through gas at a rate of 10mpg
  • Healthcare reform is essential to bringing this economy back from the brink

If you missed it, don’t sweat it.  Here it is.  Watch it and feel the goosebumps.

Blue Collar Jobs Coming Back to Delaware?

There is finally some serious cause for optimism. Andrew Eder, writing in today’s News-Journal, reports that the Boxwood GM plant is attracting a lot of interest:

Fisker Automotive confirmed Tuesday that it has talked with Delaware officials and toured the Boxwood Road assembly plant, idle since late July when General Motors closed the factory.

The company is developing a next-generation electric car under a program called Project Nina, which will be financed with a $359 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Boxwood Road plant had a maximum capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year but was producing far fewer in the years before its closing. Fisker Automotive has said it plans to build 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles a year under Project Nina.

The company has also said it plans to export half its vehicles, so the proximity to the Port of Wilmington could be an advantage. And Fisker would have a ready pool of skilled auto workers to choose from in and around Delaware.

I’m really encouraged by the fact that, according to Eder, Alan Levin of the Delaware Economic Development Office, has asked to meet with the UAW’s Sam Lathem. That’s a good sign. And Fisker is not the only interested company. Both the bodacious Tata Company out of India and the Penske Automotive Group have expressed interest, according to Eder.

While the Boxwood plant will likely never employ as many workers as GM did in its heyday, this would be a huge boost to the state’s workforce and to Markell’s plans to make Delaware a green jobs powerhouse. Man, I really hope that this deal gets done.