Wow, this is FANTASTIC NEWS!
Of course, according to Merriam-Webster fantastic can mean:
1 a: based on fantasy : not real
b: conceived or seemingly conceived by unrestrained fancy
c: so extreme as to challenge belief : UNBELIEVABLE; broadly : exceedingly large or great
2: marked by extravagant fantasy or extreme individuality : ECCENTRIC
To quote from the press release: “...is manufacturing a pre-production of 10 Mark I engines to test performance and quality control before going into engine production on a larger scale.
These Mark I engines have a max 5HP rating. They will be installed by our customers and potential licensees in their systems such as...”
Anyone want to take a show of hands as to how many out there would like to buy a brand new car so that the manufacturer can allow you to ‘test performance and quality control’ before they go into production? Oh, wait, car companies can’t do that,laws prohibit such activities to protect customers and the public.
Personally, I find it “fantastic” to expect customers to spend their hard earned bucks for the honor of performing your testing and quality control. Seems to me that would be pretty altruistic, assuming risk and future customers. Just what warranty are they being given in exchange for such an added risk? Are they being required to keep detailed operating logs so that Cyclone actually learns from what they experience? What kind of rewards are they being given to compensate them for their risks and efforts? It would seem to me that these customers would deserve heroic terms of sale given that engine builders typically assume the cost of testing and quality control themselves and then offer ALL their customers the best product they can manage.
Interestingly enough, the Mark I doesn’t appear to be an integrated, turn key product. The following are direct quotes from the press release stating that these engines will be run in applications including:
-- Solar powered systems
-- Power from waste heat specifically in automotive and trucks
-- Golf cart engines fueled by natural gas, diesel & gasoline
Solar power systems won’t be using a burner or conventional boiler, so someone must be providing hardware for this portion of the system. Likewise, for waste heat to generate steam in vehicular applications is going to require some pretty sophisticated and specialized steam generators. Actually, one could question why organic working fluids aren’t being employed for the first two applications given that the engine has to work off of relatively low quality energy. Of the three options above, only the last has the potential of being an integrated, turn key product.
I’m sure someone out there can point out where I am going wrong, but to me it seems a bit improper to sell off part of your company as a waste heat engine business and then turn around and start selling waste heat engines. That would, to my mind, imply that either you didn’t turn over control over all the unique technology that you implies was associated with waste heat engines OR that there was no unique technology to sell off in the first place. I’m sure I am misreading something.
I thought the following quote from Harry Schoell, CTO of Cyclone, was especially “fantastic”:
"This allows us the opportunity to see our engines actually working in various applications and to serve as an example to the worldwide end-users of our engines."
Does this mean that they haven’t previously seen their engines “actually working in various applications” after years of development, many patents taken out and millions of dollars spent? Does this mean they have been building engines for years and NOT actually hooking them up to real-life hardware? Would it have cost too much to hook one of their 5 HP engines to a go-kart and have kids race it around the track all day, every weekend?
Utterly "fantastic"
AI
