Tesla Motors: The Future Of Automotive...And How I Hope To Be A Part Of It

Truthfully, I've been a Tesla Motors fan since 2013. But as far as electric cars, that idea would've made sense, to me, as a kid.

You may recall, if you've followed me long enough online, that I got to ride in a Model S. That was via an invite, by Mitch Melassanos from the LA Fashion magazine. That was, for me, a glimpse into the future. But it also made me realize that Tesla is still in need of one more marketing angle: sports cars.

For example, a special edition of the Model 3, with a running gear out of a P90D Model S, would be the Tesla equivalent of a Mercedes sedan with an AMG conversion. Go back to muscle cars: Chevy COPO built 427 Camaros and Chevelles, Mopar does performance accessories for Dodge and Chrysler. The "Special Vehicle Team," or SVT, for the Ford Motor Company.

What should make Tesla any different? Within the walls of that company, there should be a department, or division that specializes in race-and-performance. Again, an "AMG" equivalent for the Tesla make. As a vice president or CEO, that would be the next step-up, in my car company, that I would look into investing in.

But another thing as well, and that's on the subject of sustainability. I am physically-challenged, and yeah...it's obvious that I like cars! But facts are facts: our community, like the rest, needs conveniences like voice activation, auto pilot driving and parking. 

That technology would make it possible for the physically-challenged community to drive, but it also happens to be spilling-out to the mainstream. For my community, I need to be able to make Tesla technology available, and besides racing and performance, accessibility is far more important. All of these things, I feel, are the core ideas that I am able to bring to Tesla Motors.

Research And Development 101: Go Karts And The Disabled...What Does Motoring Teach Us About Ourselves And Others?!

Recently, a female family member, who, for the sake of this segment will remain unnamed, had expressed to me her hurt feelings over some things that had happened a few years in hindsight.

During that conversation, this family member had taken the time to communicate to me and one other, that her feelings had been hurt, first, by yours truly, second, by the rest of the family who had taken that piece of data and made a laughing stock out of it. The event in question was one that had happened somewhere between 2009-10, but as for the conversation in question...that took place just a few days before the blog that you are reading was published.

First, what I took from that conversation is the same data, the same overall idea that Aaron Baker, Elliott Hulse and others had been trying to tell me for nearly 3 years: everyone is fragile, and everyone is easy to break. As for "Sal," he is not above that, "Aaron Baker" and "Elliott Hulse" are easy to break as well.

Here's what I learned from Aaron Baker, Gary Custer and others: If you're going to get involved with, motorsports, for example, then it's going to be easy for every single person to cry like a little bitch; this morning, before I wrote this blog, I myself, who wants so much to be "the Fonz," sat in the corner and cried like a little bitch. That's embarrassing, but hey...it happens!

I cried like a little bitch because that's pretty much how I feel every morning that I wake up. But you know something? It really is a blessing in disguise to feel that way sometimes, because when you're in that much of a rut, that's when you start to write blogs like this one.

Whenever you're involved with motorsports on a non-professional level, there's not too much research 'n development involved, or "RND." Right now, as I am writing this in June of 2015, my sister is taking care of my baby nephew, who will be turning 3 next month. As a first-time uncle, I have to do a little time-traveling and think for the future.

There will be a time when little Gionni will not be so little, and that's when he'll learn how to drive. For me, it's not necessary to pull out a stats sheet just to get together and build a street car with my nephew. But once that kid gets enrolled into "karting academy" and gets ready to suit-up, no matter how he may bitch-and-cry, that kid's going to have to learn the concepts of timing, and how it's important to check score sheets once you're done.

And even for me and Aaron, grown men with or without physical challenges, these same general principles apply. What seems to be the problem is the mentality, the mindset...but that's why we have numbers and outputs, because at the end of the day, numbers really do tell all. Aaron looks like he's going pretty fast whenever I go with him and CORE to MB2 Raceway. But what impresses me, his fiancee or anyone else are the numbers that show-up on the timesheets.

My scores, my lap times are so weak in comparison to Aaron's; at MB2's, I'm currently down to a 31.5-second lap time, where Aaron is in the 19s or whatever. If you look at some of MB2's most competitive racers, they are literally running at about 50 miles per hour, with 18-20 second lap times.

But here's the thing: my uncle is a good bodyman, my dad has done it professionally since 1980...but I know a lot more about Ultimas and McLarens than do my dad or uncle, but the both of them can smoke me on paint-and-body, while I'm still the fastest kart racer and Aaron Baker is the most bad-ass dirt biker. But that goes back to last year's conversation with the guy from GNC about fitness: you really can't have it all!

It was the guy who was selling me my protein snacks from GNC who told me one day, "Bro, I spent some of my life trying to get fit, but now because making money is my goal, I don't have time for the gym!" That same language can be translated to the karting scene at MB2's. Aaron had told me one day in his office at CORE, after I had asked him about bike racing at Kamikaze, "You know what it is, bro; you're a 'drag racer!'"

I didn't really know what Aaron had meant by that, but I figured it out pretty quick once I got into karts. Again, you look at Aaron Baker, you look at Sam Schmidt: these guys are better in road-racing than myself, Italian-American who has the "Grand National" logo tattooed on his left arm.

But that's because I'm a drag-racer; what do I know about going fast through corners? But then you take Neftali Valdez, who is my in-home provider. Dude only runs 27-28 second laps, and he's able-bodied! So what's his excuse?

That's why when opening this blog, which is really one about MB2's and go karts, I used my own family as an analogy. Because that family member had really had their feelings hurt, and this was a person who, for years, I had visualized as being unbreakable, the same way I had viewed able-bodied friends and family my whole life.

Truthfully, I liked being a jerk growing up; since I was disabled, I thought it was okay to mistreat other family members because they weren't. The way I always visualized my own parents, my sister who is my only sibling, is that they are bigger and better than me anyways, so why bother to consider theirs or anyone's feelings? After all, they can take the abuse, where guys like me and Nick Sapon are not able.

One thing Sapon and I had in common, growing-up, is that we would have done anything to break our mothers' hearts; who were they to practice "witchcraft," while guys like me and Nick couldn't get ahead?!

But this is what you learn from go-karting, and from automotive in general, even across genres: Not everyone can have the same abilities, and not everyone can yield the same results. My father, the owner of Westside Collision in Lancaster, California, could probably get along with Aaron Baker, Gary Custer...pretty much anyone in that circle about off-road and karting. But I can talk about turbo Buicks for 8 hours, write a volume on them....while my brother-in-law is an ace mechanic when it comes to everything VTec.

In this life, you just don't know what strengths and weaknesses other people may possess. I mean, look at that family member who said that her feelings were hurt, by me and by others. This woman, who is so outspoken and attractive, was not as strong as I was emotionally.

I wasn't expecting that, but I think this may be why it was/is so important for me to be a part of MB2 and CORE, because both of these experiences made me realize that every person on earth will get hurt sometime, but that's even more the reason why you can't be rough with others, even if you are disabled. Don't think that your friends and family are bigger then you are, because when we go back to that conversation about laps at MB2 Raceway, what did we say about numbers and statistics? We established that those are the data entries that tell all, and about everyone.

On the day that my grandmother died in January of 2009, she didn't take the "Park Avenue" or the Lexus with her. In fact, by the time the woman was sick, she couldn't speak for herself on a lot of things. But God bless her, on the day of her funeral, she had "Bicycle World" and the Catholic saints blasted all over her casket.

She went into the ground with a poem written by her grandson, yours truly. What that tells me is that Grandma was a woman who had a lot of things to be grateful for. Business, friends...for all the money that my grandfather made, his fanbase just didn't quite equal grandma's!

But this is my fault too, because I'm not the nicest guy in the world, and Grandma was the one who taught me to be a nice guy. She would set Grandpa straight on any day, and that's because she was real! But then I guessed the reason that she liked me is because I liked keeping it real. I don't think she would've liked me very much, however, if I would've went around trying to be someone who I'm not.

So again, getting involved with MB2 Raceway taught me that that's what life really is; opportunity is not for everyone, and not everyone can do the exact same thing. Grandma baked cream puffs and blackberry tarts; around the same time, me and mom were playing Super Nintendo. Grandma used to buy me my video games, but mom knew how to play 'em! Dad knew how to pull a dent out of our family's Taurus, but Grandpa cooked the most gourmet clam sauce anyone in the San Fernando Valley had ever tasted.

That doesn't qualify one over the other; it's just that my dad worked on cars, and Grandpa was a chef. My dad's LS Nova is one of the best compact muscle cars I've ever seen, but his old A-Body had better interior features. I mean, you can't hook-up with a girl who looks good and cooks; it's a balancing act.

My hope with karting at MB2's is that it will help me to reinforce that very thought pattern. First, I couldn't drive without smashing into a wall, then I started driving, but slowly. Currently, I have a 31.5-second lap time; when I first started, it was closer to a minute.

Power of the human will? Could be, but if karting has taught me anything, it's that the real disability is mental. But there's another thing I've learned that I hope to take with me to my grave: You really want to hurt someone else's feelings, take them out on a race track and tap the brake pedal halfway through a straightaway; nothing says "cold vengeance" like tail lights in a drag race. You may not learn everything in high school auto, but that's one lesson about motoring that sure is served to you, by the time you're a teenager, on a silver plate.

Guys with fast cars like to talk; let's get some score sheets, and if you're going to play with another person's emotions, do it with stats, not blows...

The Sustainability Of Powered Wheelchairs: Yet Another Argument Toward Autonomous Transportation

What the disabled community has discovered over the years is that power chairs are much more than medical equipment; they function, both figuratively and literally, as sustainable transportation. The formula that our committee has found, in terms of overall running dynamics on power chair platforms, is one that says that the workload has to be underneath the chair's actual running speed, but that the running speed can never exceed the actual workload, or wattage.

This is mostly because with Permobil's front-to-mid drive as our test layout, we found a substantial amount of rear tipper vibration, in environments where the top speed matched the vehicle's actual watt output, or workload.

That language can be further translated to the bus, rail and paratransit networks. With conventional buses and vans, you always have human error, but if that same bus or van was fully-autonomous, then you would have no human vision or judgement at all.

The ideal solution is to have both, so by building a paratransit system that's both capable of being autonomous and driven, you can have real human judgement, but without the error component attached. 

Tesla, Slot Cars And The Atari Culture: What Does Slot Car Racing Have To Do With Our Daily Transport?

We don't usually talk about beer and muscle cars on a forum that has to do with Tesla Motors. Actually, we do the opposite: we speak formally about the intuitive vehicles that will change our lives in the near future. We don't talk about "girls" and KISS concerts either; usually when we talk Tesla, we're talking straight business, as ours is not a concern with sex and glamour, but with transport and practicality.

But in the case of Tesla Motors, automation of vehicles, the literal integration between hardware and soft, is of key importance to the business itself. We're business people, so naturally, we don't want to get too silly, too "KISS-concertish" with this very idea of building automated vehicles. In other words, we're not trying to build loops-and-corkscrews for some big-ass, toy car to run around on.

And that's ironic to even say something like that, because back in the early-'90s when we were kids, we had Tyco and other slot car tracks long before we ever messed with "Crash Bandicoot." And let's face it: the beginnings of the video game era signified the end of Tonka trucks and mud pies.

Bitchin' technology? Yeah, it was and still is, but...we have to pay a little deeper attention to this whole idea of being "whimsical." What does that mean? Slot car racing could be considered "whimsical," but then look at the technology behind it.

I mean, it's easy for us as thinkers to take apart nearly any piece of technology and dissect its very running gear, but here's the point: slot cars only leave their lanes if they're driven too fast within too short of a timeframe, and when they are timed incorrectly.

But do they stay on track? Absolutely! Why, because they're on a track, which means that each vehicle is guided. But here's the other thing...slot car tracks use electromagnetic rails to drive/power their vehicles. This means that the tracks themselves are used to propel-and-guide the vehicle in question.

Can this same language be applied to our everyday mode of transit? Who knows; we've lived under the umbrella of bureaucracy for so long that we don't know any other way to do things!

Now...let's look at that same picture or vision, if you prefer, from a Socialist standpoint. First, Tesla platforms are intuitive, which means that it would not be too hard for the company to integrate their services into the overall grid, providing a whole new system of interstate travel. It would be one that consists of intuitive highways and freeway lanes, saving the grid money that would prove substantial in the long run.

So have we been "Socialist" in our approaches so far? We're still burning gas, still eating-up oil while the globe continues to rise in temperature...I think we need a new way!

Again, this does not mean take away business from the mainstream. Instead, why not use technology, our wealth and material resources, to integrate that very vision of intuitive, electromagnetic transport into the very heart of public transportation? The solution, you will find, is a simple one: build intuitive vehicles, something Tesla already has down, but then build intuitive corridors, giant "slot car tracks" for those vehicles/platforms to drive upon.

Bottom line: intuitive vehicles need smarter ways of getting around. If that means getting a little silly, then so be it!

This platform sketch gives a rough illustration of how "Smart" transit would/could work.

"XK-1" Simulated Platform Proposal: How The Motion Pro II From CXC Simulations Opens Doors For Adaptive Driving

Objective:

This conventional Momo wheel is perfect for endurance racing, but not conducive to building an accessible platform.

Objective:

The main dilemma that the physically-challenged commuter faces is the same one that every commuter faces: time-and-money. We often talk about motorsports, but we all too frequently forget to take a look at one of its most important elements: product development, an obstacle that originally spawned the development of the idea behind "Tesla Mobility."

Because we're primarily concerned with platform and not the vehicle itself, we don't care what make the simulator's body is; only that the platform is fitted with a can-am body.

Product development, the stuff that we use in order to execute a specific task, is probably even more important to the motoring process then is vehicle/platform selection. Because what are vehicles and platforms if we don't have the equipment developed to be able to use it?! Product development, the actual testing phase of development in the struggle to make driving accessible, is undoubtedly the biggest challenge to the disabled, motoring community.

The "J-Series," multi-directional joystick from EMC Adaptive Driving is ideal for steering and throttle control on nearly any intuitive platform.

Ironically enough, it is also this need for product development that is a necessary stepping stone to the automotive craft as a whole. But we still need a platform to test from. For this reason, we are formally presenting to Tesla Motors and CXC Simulations an idea for a simulated platform that would serve multiple purposes.

"SmartVan" Business Proposal (Draft 1)

Tesla's intuitive chassis allows for optimum power transfer and various accessory hookups

Abstract:

We need to stop kidding ourselves; if something is not done to revolutionize mass transit as we know it, then mass transit, "as we know it," will continue to be just that. The technology is there. Not only is the technology there, but the systems are already in place. The problem is not with the system itself, but with us; we simply haven't been doing "it" the right way.

So what is the right way? Well...to begin with, we have to build a paratransit network that's intuitive. This is not only true of the public transportation scene, but of the automotive industry as a whole. Face it: vehicles are becoming more and more human by the decade, they're becoming "smart."

For this reason, the SmartVan, paratransit platform seeks to become everyone's new solution to the common dial-a-ride. Our more conventional systems have served their purposes, but then our world is changing, and so are we!

Web app development will allow us to create a smart interface from which ride reservations can be booked in realtime

Proposed "smart lanes" would allow for integrated freeway corridors exclusive to the SmartVan fleet

Step-in entry on the Model X makes for wheelchair and ambulatory access

The J-Series joystick from EMC adaptive driving, like the one that could be used to manually propel a Model X

Tesla's all-electric, "Model X" crossover features falcon wing doors with step-in entry. We're thinking that features like these, along with others, will make for a more ADA (American With Disabilities Act)-compliant platform

Kangen Water And The Model S: Building A Grid Geared Toward Wellness

Today at the gym, I had been speaking with a woman named Pat, who, like myself, is a workout regular. Truth be known, I enjoy talking with people like Pat; the majority of people are non-receptive when it comes to adapting new ideas and philosophies. But not Pat; she's among the few and the proud.

A conversation that usually comes-up between us during our workout sessions is Tesla Motors, and that conversation naturally leads to one of overall wellness and economics. Truth be known, the dialogue regarding Tesla and Elon Musk is not one that revolves as much around cars and trains as it does common sense and practicality.

In this instance, if we were to conjure a diagram or pyramid, the schematic is one that would outline three things all together: Solar power, electric transportation and now, a third element, kangen water.

You see, it's not a thing of selling people on cars, solar panels or drinking water. All of these things work together to form one, solid system, and it's a system that seeks to rebel against everything we've ever known since the very beginnings of the Industrial Era. Here's how it boils-down: you drink better water and follow the rules of proper nutrition, and by doing this you better yourself as an individual.

We'll take this model of thought even a step further: by drinking good water and following a suitable diet, you are better and therefore feel better. By feeling better, you think better, and this is the selling point, because by using your mindpower to its fullest, you're able to engage in other activities that lead to smart moves.

"Smart moves" are the ones that lead you to spend money on smart purchases, like Tesla vehicles. By thinking clearly and therefore buying a smarter vehicle, you have not only refreshed your very thought process, but you've essentially overhauled it in a way that has driven you to buy an "appliance" that can help to make your overall existence that much easier. In regards to solar power, that's just another appliance that can help to contribute to your overall well-being.

But this is also where the discussion of water comes in, because the water that you drink will inevitably have an impact on the quality of your overall existence and function. This is because more than 80% of our bodies consist of water, but as has happened within the automotive industry, there has been a myth or series of myths that have been embraced and pushed-forward.

Think about it: why have we been using fossil fuels in any contemporary mode of transportation? Oh, I know what most people would say: "it's a tradition," it's just the way things are. Back in Nazi Germany, people held the same overall attitude about Hitler's reign over that nation: "This guy knows what he's doing, and this is just the way it has to be." That model of thought seemed to work until it was too late, and by that point, the consequences were catastrophic.

America's not too far from Germany, believe me; if we're willing to accept one, then why wouldn't we accept the other?! Oh yes, the reign of terror and the system of propaganda that was Nazi Germany extends itself to the United States today. Why do we use gas and oil in our cars? Because it puts money in someone else's pocket. And why do we drink bottled water? For the same reason!

In Osaka and elsewhere in Japan, however, there is an alternative method to everyday living that seems to make the most sense. "Kangen" is a Japanese phrase that means, "return to origin." That's what their drinking water does; it returns us to our origins. When a fetus is inside its mother's womb, it develops within an alkaline-based environment. This is why babies are born with such soft skin, and scientifically-speaking, cancer can not exist within an alkaline setting.

But guess what kind of water the Japanese drink on a normal, if not everyday basis? That which is alkalized, and that's exactly what kangen water is. With kangen water, electromagnetic currents are used to purify and alkalize drinking water, and one of the ways that the process achieves these results is by making water molecularly-smaller than most. This means that it gets into one's vascular system, and it's in that fact where the water's healing properties lie.

Cancer and other disorders have been said to have been cured through kangen consumption over extended periods of time. Is this to say that the water itself is a cure-all? Certainly not, but then there are some health-related challenges that its consumption can help to alleviate.

My personal testimony of kangen water is that it's helped me to be energetic, strong and focused. It's boosted my overall creativity and ability to read and write. Again, this doesn't mean that it's been a cure-all, but it certainly has helped with what I consider to be among my most common obstacles.

What does this have to do with Tesla, or even the notion of making solar power a part of our grid? Just remember that pyramid we drew-up earlier and it makes sense all over again. Water is a part of wellness, but so are electric vehicles; as we start to use these things in conjunction with each other, we start to see the bigger picture.

Again, think about it: What is the portrait of a "perfect" home or facility? It's one that uses kangen for its primary water, solar as its primary source of power and has an EV parked out front or in the garage. That's not to say that mainstream society looks like it will be going in that direction anytime soon, but hey, you can't get mad at the bureaucrats for the things that they simply can not help or control. And I mean, who can blame them?! After all, it seems so much easier to go to church, stick to traditions and hope for the very best; that's the "American way!"

But take the bureaucracy out of the picture, hell, take Congress out of the picture and what can you see? For myself, I have a vision that includes electromagnetic mass transit, DC-powered cars and trucks, nutritional foods that better our health and restore us from the inside and, of course, kangen water that can boost our oxygen intake, while bettering the health of our skin and immune system.

Is it really that simple?! You have to ask yourself, is there anything simple about building an internal-combustion engine with raw fuels and moving parts? Is there anything simple about the fact that McDonald's laces your morning coffee with aspartame? Which one seems like the "simpler solution?!"

The answer is one that's inside of each and every one of us; it's just a matter of searching...

Amusement Parks Are SOOO Cool: Tesla's "Electric Avenue" Theme Park And Resort

Abstract:

When Walt Disney created Disneyland during the 1950s, there were several styling cues and techniques used to create what would essentially serve as a model. That "model" was to be one of what Disney envisioned as the "perfect city."

Among these "perfect city" cues were the now-famous monorail, which Disney had allegedly proposed to be a public transit possibility for the future. Goodyear Tires' "People Mover" attraction, once up-and-alive in the former "Tomorrowland," also presented a model of what could soon be in the realm of mass transit. Amusement parks are more than places of fun and entertainment; they inspire us, either through steel rollercoasters or audio animatronics.

In that spirit, we present to Elon Musk and Tesla Motors a new and refreshing approach to the whole "theme park" motif. And it's one that uses what I, myself often like to refer to as the "Tesla Touch."

General idea:

Most roller coasters and water rides use traditional wood, steel and tire-based pulley systems to drive what is essentially an archaic system of motor torque and chain drive. The difference with Tesla's "Electric Avenue" theme park and resort is that all attractions, from roller coasters to restaurants, use the same DC and solar technology that has already put Elon Musk, Solar City and Tesla Motors on the map.

Solar Power Brings A New Approach To Dining And Lodging:

Solar power and linear motor technology is not exclusively for Viper and Free Fall; at Electric Avenue, we offer the best in wining and dining, while cooking your food and preparing your drinks in the best kangen water the wellness industry has to offer.

It's the same filtration system that we use to produce alkaline water throughout Electric Avenue's park-wide plumbing network, which means that when you use the restroom at Electric Avenue, the water that comes out of the sinks, as well as toilet and urinal water, is alkaline water that has been processed through a system of electrolysis. That system guarantees that all of the park and resort's water is purified and stays that way.

Solar-Powered Rides And Attractions:

Why use conventional pulleys and chain drives, when flat, DC motors and solar panels do the exact same thing...but better?! The vision behind the Electric Avenue resort is that we build roller coasters with loops, corkscrews and all the other "good stuff," save for the steel that normally beats you up at a Six Flags venue.

Here's how we do it: imagine the most radical steel coaster at Magic Mountain, but constructed using carbon fiber, which is an advanced plastic proven by the automotive industry to be lighter and stronger than steel. In the past, Ferrari and Lamborghini dealers have claimed carbon fiber to be "sketchy" in the sense that it could do anything after long-term exposure to the sun and atmosphere. Part of the vision is to then anodize or blanket roller coaster and water ride tracks with a naturally-based solution that would offer weather protection to the carbon-based tracks.

But why solar and why flat, DC motors? Because Elon Musk has made it clear that flat motors are the ones that will power the capsules inside the Hyperloop, and seriously, have you ever been on Superman?!

DC motors replace traditional drive systems; they're faster and far more efficient. Here, we use electromagnetic poles or markers to drive attraction vehicles, which would also be carbon-based for minimal weight and maximum construction. It's the same technology, save for the flat motor format, that we use in the Model S and other Tesla vehicles. Solar panels are, of course, used to regenerate those motors, driven by the same lithium batteries used by Tesla.

In this spirit, there really is only one question left: Will Tesla's "Electric Avenue" be able to stamp-out the "happiest place on earth" or America's "thrill ride capital?!" Using DC and solar to power not only rides, but animatronics and other attractions, we shall all find out...