Car of the Future

PBS Airdate: April 22, 2008

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3rd Session

The Prius was the first commercial success, and now other companies are (1) …………….
……………..
A hybrid is a (2) ……………. car that also has an electric motor and a battery pack. When the
car (3……………., it uses electricity instead of wasting gas and (4) ………………… . The gas
engine is used at speeds when it's most efficient, and it charges the batteries at the same time.
Batteries are also charged (5) …………….when the car slows to a stop. The result is a car that
gets the same pickup as a regular car but burns less gas.
Because hybrids have batteries and a motor, it takes a bit more energy to manufacture them,
but (6) …………….……………., hybrids still consume 30 percent less energy and produce 30
percent less carbon than non-hybrids of the same size.
1. What is Andy Frank doing? Where and why?

2. How efficient is Davis’s car?

RAY MAGLIOZZI: If, when we stop at Motel 5, for example, we(7) ……………. …overnight...
ANDY FRANK: That's right. We (8) ……………. a little energy from Motel 5.
TOM MAGLIOZZI: They won't even notice a 50-foot—I love it—a 50-foot extension cord.
ANDY FRANK: Well, or you would be a long ways and they'd be...
RAY MAGLIOZZI: You want your room on the second floor? No, no, we'd prefer to be on the
first floor.(9) …………….on the first floor.
3. What’s the whole point according to Frank?

4. What do skeptics say? How can you counter-attack what skeptics say?

5. What does Ray accuse his brother of?

ANDY FRANK: So now we're (10) ………………… on electricity alone.

RAY MAGLIOZZI: It's great! It's great. And people don't care as long as it does what they want
it to do.
TERRENCE WILLIAMS (Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Davis): But you know what it
does do that's better than your car? It's faster.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: It's faster, yeah, yeah. And it gets better (11)………………….?
TERRENCE WILLIAMS: That's correct.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: And it doesn't pollute as much?
TERRENCE WILLIAMS: That's right.
ANDY FRANK: The most important thing is the ability to use a (12) ……………. energy directly
from the sun.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Right. And if I can ever get my home nuclear reactor kit to start working, I've
got it made.
NARRATOR: It costs four times less to power (13) …………….…………….…………….than it
does to run it on gasoline. But if plug-ins become the car of the future, will there be enough
electricity to keep them all running?
DAVID GREENE: Our existing electric utility system could handle tens of millions of plug-in
hybrid vehicles, if they would be recharged during (14) ……………. times, such as at night.
NARRATOR: With today's batteries, plug-ins can only go so far on electricity, but Frank
believes they're a (15) ……………. toward more efficient transportation.
ANDY FRANK: I'm hoping that the car companies really get serious and start building these
things, because (16) ……………. they get it out in the hands of the public, (17) ……………. we
can begin to transition ourselves off of oil.
NARRATOR: Martin Eberhard is convinced that cars can be (18) …………….……………. . He's
the founder of Tesla Motors, and his electric sports car is built to prove electrons are a (19)
…………….……………. winner over gasoline.
MARTIN EBERHARD (Founder, Tesla Motors): A gasoline engine is terribly inefficient. It's
below 20 percent efficient, typically. But an electric car like ours is, you know, in the
neighborhood of 85 percent efficient. It's that kind of difference. So it would be like (20)
…………….……………. equivalent: big difference in a car that (21…………….…… 60 in four
seconds.
NARRATOR: The Tesla Roadster can go 250 miles on a single charge. But it takes a lot of
batteries to go even that far, and they come at a price.
MARTIN EBERHARD: The Tesla Roadster costs (22) ……………., right now. You can buy (23)
……………. and spend more if you like.
(24) …………….……………. we have is to create the next great American car company. It's
insane, right? We (25) ………………. some big guys out there.
NARRATOR: The first 600 roadsters are being handmade (26) ……………. . At Tesla
headquarters in Silicon Valley, engineers are refining hardware and software for the next, more
affordable model.
MARTIN EBERHARD: A lot of the complexity that you find in a typical car has moved out of
mechanical things and into electrical things and software.
NARRATOR: The mechanics of the Tesla are (27) …………….……………. . The electronics
module is the brain that controls the battery pack, which (28) ……………. for at about a third the
cost of the vehicle and powers a 75-pound motor that (29) ………………… wheels.
MARTIN EBERHARD: If you look in our motor, there's one moving part. And that drives a very,
very simple (30) ……………. . But to make that motor (31) ……………. requires a fairly large
box of fairly sophisticated silicon and (32) …………….……………. it to make it do what it needs
to do. So a large amount of the drive train development was pretty natural to do right here in
Silicon Valley.
NARRATOR: The power supply is filled with lithium ion batteries that have revolutionized
portable computers and electronics.
MARTIN EBERHARD: Well, first of all, lithium ion batteries are just the (33) …………….
……………. today. Lithium is readily available and fully recyclable. The significant advantage of
lithium ion is it's not a heavy metal, so, in the (34) …………….……………., you don't have a
health hazard.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: It's already broken. They have it on the lift.
MARTIN EBERHARD: Practically the first thing they put in this building was the lift.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: You know, we have the same lifts in our shop, except ours are all covered
with grease. Where's the grease, Martin? Where is the grease? This is a grease-free shop.
MARTIN EBERHARD: So this is all (35) …………….……………. , and even the structure
behind, you can see, is carbon fiber.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: So this is the battery pack, and it's got little batteries in it?
MARTIN EBERHARD: Yeah,(36) …………….……………. batteries. I might have one here, hold
on. There you go, yeah. Like that.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Just like that.
TOM MAGLIOZZI: And how many of these are in there?
MARTIN EBERHARD: (37) …………….…………….…………….……………., approximately.
TOM MAGLIOZZI: How do you write that number? Couldn't you round it off to seven thousand?
RAY MAGLIOZZI: I don't mean to throw a (38) ……………. ……………. on the whole issue
here, but I know there was some talk about some laptops that were (39) ……………. and...
MARTIN EBERHARD: Yep. We were actually quite (40) ……………. about what would happen
if one of these batteries were to catch fire, early on. And we (41) …………….……………. the
battery packs so that if one battery catches fire, it doesn't (42) …………….……………. on fire.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: What is it about lithium ions that makes them so special and makes them so
different from other batteries?
MARTIN EBERHARD: Energy density—how much (43) …………….……………. into a small
package. Lithium ion batteries are about four times the energy density of previous car batteries.
And that's a phenomenal difference. That's like a (44) …………….…………….…………….. So,
that's where the driving range comes from. It comes at a price, today, but I think that the driving
range is one of the most important things to make electric cars become acceptable.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: I'm in. Put your seatbelt on. (45) …………….……………..
TOM MAGLIOZZI: You don't mind if I don't look?
NARRATOR: Perhaps foolishly, Martin lets his multimillion dollar prototype (46) …………….
without a chaperone.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: See you!
MARTIN EBERHARD: First time driving?
NARRATOR: Tom's next car might be a (47) …………….…………….…, if he's got the money.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: We could probably be in Mexico in about two hours with this car.
NARRATOR: Pushing the envelope of technology always brings a cost. But if alternative
vehicles are going to (48) …………….……………., they must be sold not by the hundreds but
by the millions, at an (49) ……………. price.
This is a challenge for large automakers, but to meet it, they must make big changes in what
they sell.
JOSEPH WHITE: The question is whether the car companies can (50) ……………. from selling
horsepower and start selling (51) …………….…………….. We're starting to see that.
CHEVROLET VOLT COMMERCIAL: Ladies and gentlemen, the 2007 Chevrolet Volt concept.
NARRATOR: Meet the Chevy Volt, a hot new contender in the green car (52) ……………., a
car that's designed for a world without oil.
ROBERT A. LUTZ (Global Product Development, General Motors): So if your (53) …………….
is 40 miles a day or less, and you charge the vehicle every night when you get home, you will
never need to buy gasoline during the entire life of the vehicle.
NARRATOR: (54) …………….……………. of the Chevy Volt is an electric motor that can be
powered in several different ways. Lithium ion batteries (55) …………….……………. give it a
driving range of 40 miles. Batteries can also be charged by a generator that burns ethanol or
gasoline, extending the (56) …………….……………. . The motor can also be powered by
hydrogen fuel cells.
The Volt is a prototype built to promote the idea that affordable, practical cars can be powered
from diverse energy sources. But it's not for sale yet. The problem is (57) …………….………….
RAY MAGLIOZZI: So tell us, when's this going to happen? Or is it going to happen?
JOSEPH WHITE: They both are good questions. I think General Motors would seriously (58)
…………….…………….…………….. The question is...
6. What’s the question? What’s the problem with the Volt?

JOSEPH ROMM: I think General Motors should be taken seriously. I think that if they build it,
people will buy it, plus, the competition—Toyota, Honda—will introduce plug-in hybrids, I have
no doubt. So I think that there is much more reason to be optimistic now than in a very long
time.
NARRATOR: G.M. hopes to start producing the Volt by the end of the decade, but today it
stands alone (59) …………….…………….……………. and high-powered road machines. Will
cars like the Volt ever replace them? Tom and Ray aren't so sure.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: It's right next to the Ford Mustang with (60) ……………..
BETH LOWERY: Yes. And the Camaro convertible. Isn't that great?
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Yeah.
BETH LOWERY: America is all about choice. If you want a Camaro, buy a Camaro.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: But if (61) …………….…………….……………. ...
TOM MAGLIOZZI: With 500 horsepower? (62) ……………. needs 500 horsepower?
BETH LOWERY: Obviously not you.
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Why do you make such ♫? I mean it's ridiculous!
BETH LOWERY: You mean these popular vehicles that are (63) ……………. ?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Yeah, these popular vehicles. Five hundred horsepower...jeez!
BETH LOWERY: It creates a little excitement, doesn't it?
RAY MAGLIOZZI: You're good, Beth.
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Thanks a million.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Thanks for your time.
BETH LOWERY: Thanks.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: (64) …………….…………….……………. .
BETH LOWERY: That's okay. I'm used to it.
NARRATOR: After a century of making cars fueled by gasoline, how quickly can (65)
……………. change their course?
ANDY FRANK: We've got to get alternative vehicles into our society as quickly as possible.
Because when (66) …………….……………. , we will have economic disruption like you cannot
believe.
JOSEPH ROMM: We can't wait. We have to reduce our emissions starting in the next few
years. If we don't we're going to find it virtually impossible to avoid (67) ……………. warming.
NARRATOR: But (68) …………….……………. to be left in the hands of carmakers and
consumers?
DAVID GREENE: We're not able to (69) ……………. individual decisions in the marketplace to
solve the problem of climate change, to solve the problem of oil-dependence. It takes collective
action. It takes government action.
JOSEPH WHITE: It's asking a lot of the auto industry to force the change all on its own. It's not
really their job.
BETH LOWERY: If we decide we really want to reduce dependence on petroleum as a society,
then we have to have (70) ……………. ……………. to do so. And that includes making sure we
have the right government policies in place, that we have the right vehicles in place, the right
fuels, and the customers understand that that's really a priority.
NARRATOR: But will customers buy these new kinds of cars if carmakers build them? How
willing are (71) …………….……………. change in something so fundamental to our lives?
AMORY LOVINS: Ultimately, as citizens and as consumers, we're responsible for the world we
create. If we don't like the way it's (72) ……………. , let's change it.
JOHN HEYWOOD: Individual choices and actions matter. They really do. (73) ………………. .
NARRATOR: If we do embrace change, future generations (74) …………….……………. on
today's cars as dinosaurs from a (75) ……………., relics from the age of oil.
DAVID GREENE: This is an achievable goal. It'll take time. We can't do it tomorrow. We can't
do it even in five years. But every year that we work on it, the situation will get better.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: So let me know, are you ready to (76) ……………. and get something new? I
mean, are you...
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Well, I've seen a lot of very interesting technology, and I know what I want.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Really, what's that?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: I want you to turn that into a plug-in hybrid.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Really?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Yeah.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Oh, let me see, (77) …………….……………. some fuel cells, maybe. We'll
throw some carbon fiber panels on it. Let's get out of here, will you? Ethanol tank, fuel cells, so
what else do you want?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: (78) ……………. .
RAY MAGLIOZZI: When do you want it?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: How about tomorrow?
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Sure. Five o'clock?
TOM MAGLIOZZI: Five o'clock is fine.
RAY MAGLIOZZI: Works for me.
NARRATOR: On NOVA's Web site, examine extensive expert interviews, see a (79) …………
of alternative vehicles or download (80) ……………. and interview clips to make your own video
about The Car of the Future. Find it at PBS.org.
To order this NOVA program, for $24.95 plus (81) …………….……………., call WGBH Boston
Video at 1-800-255-9424.

Hosted by
Tom and Ray Magliozzi
Narrated by
John Lithgow

End of the Documentary.