I want to make money on my investment just like everyone here, but dismissing the Torvec timeline as spam because it hasn't paid off before this is making a lot of assumptions. They didn't have a drivable FTV till 2000. To go from that first design to revisions to the Ford based one to the one the Air Force is demonstrating, in 10 years, is pretty good for a tiny company. O.E.M.s used to take at least 3 years just to create a new model which often was based on a platform they already had and many times recycling major systems for the 'new' model and that is with millions of dollars and tons of equipment. Did you ever see the original garage where the first FTV was created? They had to go outside to turn around.
Then they hired the experts who knew all about marketing to the auto industry. That experiment took a couple of years. At least the engineers were moving forward, even if the marketing wasn't. The Basket Road years were amazing for what they got done with the resources they had. Moving to the present location, setting it up with the dyno, was pretty time consuming because to do the kind of testing the O.E.M.s respect, required unusually tight specs on the dyno bed and wiring and airflows, etc. You can say these are excuses, but many others would say it's the real world.
The first workable FTV should have been put into production by one of the Japanese O.E.M.s. I'm sure most at Torvec thought that had a good shot. I think at least one Japanese or Korean company missed the boat, but I don't have to worry about market saturation, changing production lines or domestic sales craters. During the past 10 years we all know how all the O.E.M.s saw historic swings in their profits. Is it really a surprise that in a world where GM goes broke and kills half a dozen lines, no one has taken a leap on radically different technology as offered by Torvec which didn't have the reams of verifiable testing the industry expects till the last year or two?
I say anyone who thought this company would make a fortune based on CAD designs, prototypes and even workable first generation testing, was being unrealistic about how heavy manufacturing works and how complex this tech is. Just knowing what is required to do an industry spec MPG test is sobering and that is the easiest part. It is remarkable that Torvec managed to design any kind of workable engine control system. That one problem takes many times the budget of Torvec at any O.E.M. you want to pick.
Hey, I would be first to the party if Nissan had bought in big before they stopped making trucks. Wait, it's Chrysler who is having Nissan make their trucks or visa versa. Anyway they didn't and here we are with the stock flat on it's back under .50. So I guess the cynics are right, except the really hard stuff is done. The differentials are designed, tested and starting to actually go out on the road. Maybe soon the CV joints will be working underground and hopefully will start to pop up in truck drivelines somewhere. It IS tiresome waiting to cash in, but at least the FTV is demonstrating capabilities that no other company can match to people who do look for that sort of thing, instead of companies with entire divisions who fight tooth and nail to keep outside innovation from downsizing them or at least taking some of their budget.
Of course some disagree with all this, but there are some facts in there. I like the stuff because the metal works and I respect the effort, skill and talent it takes to actually make components that are better than the rest of the industry. I could attack Torvec for mistakes they have made and I have done that on this board. Count me as someone who has seen way too many management types with sparkling resumes and nothing to back them up, which is why I was very skeptical and vocal about CXO. Doesn't matter, but you wanted a reason why it hasn't taken off yet. That is one.
I hope Cadillac rolls over BMW, Audi, etc. and I hope their interest in Torvec is one of the reasons why. I hope Hyundai continues to scare Toyota and stays aggressive. If they are as smart and willing to take risks as they have been, Torvec is exactly the kind of edge they should take a hard look at. Same for all the rest of the irons. Will the Torvec team be able to light one of these candles this year? I don't know what factors may enable them to do that. I'm just glad that after all the struggle to get here, at least it seems like there is more real O.E.M. involvement than in the past. Which would be the opposite of spam. IMO, EOM
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