Rich Ruggles: Physicist, Entrepreneur, Visionary
I met Rich Ruggles just a few years ago. He was looking for a mechanical engineer who was local to help him with a personal project; some kind of go-cart he was trying to build. I wasn't too interested in cars, but being self-unemployed at the time I agreed to meet with him. "I need this car body modeled in Rhino," Rich started out. "Ever use Rhino?" I hadn't, but that didn't stop Rich. "That's OK, you'll figure it out." And I did. I started getting interested when he told me this car was going to get upwards of 200 miles per gallon. I watched him over the succeeding months take a concept out of his head and start building the Quickie; he was making his dream a reality. Rich enlisted others to help with Quickie, but things couldn't happen fast enough for him. He was bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, and none of us realized how little time he had left. He wanted a website to publish all of his ideas and inspire others. Again he turned to me: "Can you build me one of these websites where I can put all the content in myself?" "Yes!" was the answer, because when you're around Rich, everything is possible. Sadly, Rich lost his battle with cancer in October 2007. This website is one of his legacies. Within this site are his instructions to us for carrying on his vision: a cleaner, safer and less violent world that no longer depends on fossil fuels. It's not only possible, but essential.
Rich Ruggles is no longer around to come up with new polling questions, or rant and rave about big oil, but the rest of us can help spread his message. Tell others about the site. Send us your suggestions, links, news items and original articles. We want to know about other FEVs being designed and built in peoples' garages, and create a forum to share ideas between people working on similar projects. We want to hear from people outside of the US: in Europe, Japan and Asia. We want to hear from universities. We want to hear from you.
I met Rich Ruggles just a few years ago. He was looking for a mechanical engineer who was local to help him with a personal project; some kind of go-cart he was trying to build. I wasn't too interested in cars, but being self-unemployed at the time I agreed to meet with him. "I need this car body modeled in Rhino," Rich started out. "Ever use Rhino?" I hadn't, but that didn't stop Rich. "That's OK, you'll figure it out." And I did. I started getting interested when he told me this car was going to get upwards of 200 miles per gallon. I watched him over the succeeding months take a concept out of his head and start building the Quickie; he was making his dream a reality. Rich enlisted others to help with Quickie, but things couldn't happen fast enough for him. He was bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, and none of us realized how little time he had left. He wanted a website to publish all of his ideas and inspire others. Again he turned to me: "Can you build me one of these websites where I can put all the content in myself?" "Yes!" was the answer, because when you're around Rich, everything is possible. Sadly, Rich lost his battle with cancer in October 2007. This website is one of his legacies. Within this site are his instructions to us for carrying on his vision: a cleaner, safer and less violent world that no longer depends on fossil fuels. It's not only possible, but essential.Rich Ruggles is no longer around to come up with new polling questions, or rant and rave about big oil, but the rest of us can help spread his message. Tell others about the site. Send us your suggestions, links, news items and original articles. We want to know about other FEVs being designed and built in peoples' garages, and create a forum to share ideas between people working on similar projects. We want to hear from people outside of the US: in Europe, Japan and Asia. We want to hear from universities. We want to hear from you.
08/15/2008 Cars that cut your gas bill in half
These three minis manage to combine maximum gas mileage with just enough zoom.
08/10/2008 Ex-Ford exec says 180 m.p.g. car possible
With fuel prices as high as they are and prospects none-too-positive for things getting better in the near future, the premise of a car that can achieve 180 mpg (1.3 L/100 km) is wonderful, if a bit Pollyanna.
Robert Riley, whose alternative vehicle designs have appeared in magazines such as Popular Mechanics, is selling construction plans for his XR3 hybrid car, which he says gets up to 225 miles per gallon.
Honda's apparently aiming for a fuel economy of 60 MPG or higher with the new Honda hybrid expected to show its face at the Paris Motor Show. We're also hearing "Insight" has been tossed out the window as an option for the name.
08/10/2008 106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions
(CNN) -- You've heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, "fill it up with air."
07/29/2008 What Kind of MPG Rating is Possible?
Automotive engineers have focused on increasing the horsepower of their products and boosting the creature comforts they offer for years. What would happen if those same minds turned their attention to boosting not horsepower, but fuel-efficiency? One industry expert has an answer: 180 mpg by 2050.
07/06/2008 A Highway to Hell
Soaring gas prices, anxiety about petro-terrorism and worries about global warming are all chipping away at support for the auto industry in Washington.
07/06/2008 Engineer Gets 110 MPG Out Of '87 Mustang
Ohio Man Competing For $10M Prize
07/05/2008 Laugh at High Gas Prices With a 235-MPG VW
With gas prices going through the roof and regulators requiring cars to be ever more miserly, Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term "fuel efficiency" with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets a stunning
07/05/2008 GM may sell 40-mpg Beat mini-car in U.S.
General Motors Corp., which popularized the 7,800-pound Hummer, may begin selling a mini-car more than a foot shorter than anything else it markets in the United States to win back buyers deterred by record fuel prices.
