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Re: (ET) Wheelhorse and their last ET in 1983
Steve,
excellent summary. I tend to agree in every point you made, thanks
for the writeup.
I had toyed with the idea to try to produce an electric garden tractor
two years back when B.G. quit his business. I eventually came to the
insight that it would be possible to produce a high=priced, individually
build tractor that maybe a handfull of people would by. Potentially
enough to keep a 1-2 person business busy. But supporting such a product
seems almost impossible for a small business and reaching a lot of buyers
is also close to impossible. To educate and mass buyers a large company
and a huge effort (marketing) would be needed - plus a long term
financially
viable plan. However big companies are very careful these days with long
term investments I fear. Everything has to pay of quickly (Return on
Investment).
A CEO is not measured by the successes his successor will have due to the
wise investments the previous CEO made :) But is measured on the yearly or
quaterly outcome.
Somebody wise told me one time a quote I like that brings it to the point:
"What made the Rocket fly to the moon? The money!"
Ok, as you said, back to day to day business
Markus
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu
> [mailto:elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu] On Behalf Of
> Steve & Carol Welch
> Sent: Dienstag, 12. Dezember 2006 03:05
> To: John Casey
> Cc: elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> Subject: Re: (ET) Wheelhorse and their last ET in 1983
>
>
> I couldn't agree more with Jack's last sentence. You have to
> engineer an excellent, reliable product, while undercutting the "old
> technology" competition. The lower price entices non-zealot
> consumers to "give it a try". Also, as the Ford guy stated in the
> "Who Killed the Electric Car" movie, if average people perceive that
> the item you're selling has less capability than the competition,
> they (reasonably) expect to pay less for it.
>
> The problem is that launching new technologies like these cost more,
> not less (at least initially). It takes a company with deep
> pockets,
> good engineers & marketers, and a long-term commitment to succeed.
> Witness Toyota and the Prius, now on generation two (plus the
> Camry &
> Highlander & system sales to Ford) - think they've recovered their
> Hybrid Synergy Drive R&D by now?? Had GM not been so schizophrenic
> with the EV1, they might be in a much better place in terms of
> marketable (maybe even profitable) "green" products today.
>
> I also wonder if the ET was a victim of the well-established ICE
> sales & repair industry. Not necessarily by intent, but just by not
> fitting in with the usual product. Plus, no tuneups, plugs, oil,
> filters = less service money for the local dealer (kinda like the
> EV1). Maybe if a big company (Deere) made a good electric and sold
> thru Home Depot (appliance-like merchandise, no service dept to
> threaten) perhaps it would sell better. It would require a very
> intentional, determined advertising / education campaign. I firmly
> believe there is an excellent case to be made - home lawn tractors
> are an excellent use for electric technology - much better than
> cars. You're never more than your property line away from a
> recharge, plus no messy gas, oil, & noise - what's a suburbanite not
> to like?
>
> Okay, off soapbox now. Y'all in the choir can go back to whatever
> more important you were doing... ;^)
>
> Steve
>
>
> On Dec 11, 2006, at 12:45 PM, John Casey wrote:
>
> > ...snip...
> > They did not see that selling a new concept against strong
> > competition almost always dictates that you must price lower to
> > build a
> > following.
> > Jack
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Matthew callahan" <callahanrc hotmail com>
> > To: <maxo iname com>; <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
> > Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 9:24 AM
> > Subject: Re: (ET) Wheelhorse and their last ET in 1983
> >
> >
> >> Gee, I wonder if that did have anything to do with it... <VBG>
> >>
> >> Were there other factors? High cost was probably one. How about
> > marketing,
> >> did wheelhorse do a good job marketing their electric
> tractors, or
> >> did
> > they
> >> pull the same thing that GM did with the EV1? Did the tractors
> >> have any
> >> safety issues, premature failures, or anything of the sort?
> >>
> >> Matt
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: "Max Hall" <maxmatic gmail com>
> >>> Reply-To: maxo iname com
> >>> To: elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> >>> Subject: Re: (ET) Wheelhorse and their last ET in 1983
> >>> Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:06:05 -0500
> >>>
> >>> Gasoline hit its peak in '81, and plummeted almost uninterruptedly
> >>> through '86 to less than half the '81 peak.
> >>>
> >>> I don't know if thast had anything at all to do with it, though.
> >>>
> >>> -Max
> >>>
> >>> On 12/11/06, Matthew callahan <callahanrc hotmail com> wrote:
> >>>> Hi all,
> >>>>
> >>>> Could any of you enlighten us with your insight on why
> GE sold the
> >>> original
> >>>> ET line, why New Idea only produced it for what? one
> year?, and why
> > did
> >>>> Wheelhorse stop making them in 1983? What were the reasons that
> >>> contributed
> >>>> to their downfall at that time?
> >>>>
> >>>> Any historical references or articles from that time period
> >>>> regarding
> >>> the
> >>>> downfall of ETs would be greatly appreciated.
> >>>>
> >>>> Cheers
> >>>>
> >>>> Matt
> >>>>
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> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
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