Like most of us, I frequently get asked the "Where do you plug it in?" question.

I respond that every couple of miles I get out and hand crank the battery up to full power. Some people actually believe me when I say that and ask where the crank is.

I've also been known to respond that the battery is recharged by forcing compressed air through a turbine. And, yes, upon further inquiry, I admit that the engine compresses the air. No one has yet to carry this one step further - that the battery drives the engine making a completely closed system - perpetual motion.

More serious questioners ask how can a car gain efficiency when the process of storing it in a battery before using it represents an energy loss by the second law of thermodynamics (the entropy law). This is a nice lead-in to an explanation of optimizing system efficiency even at the expense of some local inefficiencies.

'06 FEH 2WD "Sainte Marie"