{"id":3188,"date":"2014-01-05T17:32:42","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T07:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2017-10-25T10:08:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T23:38:11","slug":"renewable-energy-upstages-traditional-holden-vs-ford-car-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/renewable-energy-upstages-traditional-holden-vs-ford-car-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Will this incredible solar innovation by Ford make Holden irrelevant?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"solar<\/a>

Those 3 x 100W Sunpower panels could power 75% of your trips.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week we discussed<\/a> how remarkable innovation in the renewable energy sector will change the way \u00a0energy is sourced in buildings such as office blocks and factories. We looked at how recent developments in photovoltaics allow office windows to be both transparent enough to let in sufficient light, as well as sensitive enough to act as efficient mini solar panels.<\/p>\n

This week sees us delve into the traditional Holden vs Ford wars, though with a renewable energy twist.<\/p>\n

If you have grown up in Australia you may well be aware of the Holden vs Ford preference. Actually this is more a deeply-ingrained prejudice than a simple preference. It’s a blokey thing that runs back to the dawn of time (well the arrival of the internal combustion engine in Oz anyway). If your father was a Holden man, chances are that his Dad was one too. The same applied to Ford men and to a lesser extent women in my experience.<\/p>\n

The tribal loyalties played out in backyards and pubs and came to the fore during racing events such as Bathurst when no quarter was asked, none given.<\/p>\n

There were exceptions of course, my Dad being one of them who moved to Toyota. However this was an economic decision after the oil shocks of the mid-70s. But Australian Dads in general continued to retain their brand loyalty.<\/p>\n

Now Holden has been in the news recently<\/a> for all the wrong reasons. After announcing it is pulling out of its Australian manufacturing, leaving many hundreds of Aussie workers high and dry, the brand has suffered a major public relations setback.<\/p>\n

A high-powered advertising campaign, designed to convince Australians that it still cares (read wants to you buy their products) has done little to shift this sense of disgust. I should point out here that my polling data is highly unscientific, limited as it is to my extended family and the er…people I hang around with and chat to. However you get the idea. Please feel free to challenge this theory mercilessly in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile bitter rival Ford has kicked a goal, at least in renewable energy innovation and motor vehicles.<\/p>\n

News from Ford HQ this week has the car manufacturer boasting (yes boasting) of the C-MAX Solar Energi<\/a> family sedan which it estimates can power up to 75 percent (count it) of all trips made by an average driver from a Sunpower solar panel system in conjunction with a concentrating fresnel lens designed to replace your carport roof. And to make it even more sci-fi the car will autonomously move slightly backwards and forwards to keep the lens focused on the panels when it is parked. All is explained about 1:20 into this video:<\/p>\n