For the past twenty years we've witnessed GM, Ford, and Chrysler are being left in the dust by Japanese automakers like Toyota.  In recent years it is best exemplified by the big three’s lack of building a bestselling hybrid that could compete with the Prius.

The Prius debuted in the US market in 2001 and in the years soon after left all of the big three licking wounds in the hybrid market. Fast forward and today the race is on for a fully electric car or plug-in hybrid that can be a best-seller to mainstream Americans.

Chevy is taking the charge with the 2010 Volt, a fully electric car with a 40 mile electric range. The Volt has a built in generator that burns gasoline to create electricity and power the car beyond the first 40 miles extending the range to an impressive 300 miles per tank.  A game changer for electric cars…

How did GM get this idea? Using hundreds of engineers? Probably. But what I do know is nearly 10 years ago there was a backyard mechanic in Oregon named Mr. Sharkey building his own version of the Chevy Volt.

Mr. Sharkey converted his 1978 VW Rabbit to a fully electric vehicle getting the same 40 mile range as the upcoming 2010 Volt.  Mr. Sharkey found this 40 mile range to be limiting, and not being deterred he went to the drawing board. What he came up with is a trailer made out of another rabbit that could push his rabbit down the road, giving it an unlimited range just like the Volt.

My point is Mr. Sharkey came up with a fully electric vehicle with and an add-on trailer giving it an unlimited range at the same time Toyota was launching the Prius. Mr. Sharkey isn’t alone out there creating innovative products; there are literally thousands of “eco-modders” building projects just like the diesel pusher in backyard shops across the US.  Chevy, Chrysler, and Ford why not tap some of this talent for ideas? A focus group with a few Mr. Sharkey’s would probably go a long way….

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