Oh my God do they ever lie.

[im10ashus]

All of them: Big Auto, Big Oil, BushCo, Pennzoil and Havoline and Saudi Arabia and crusty Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and the oil lobbyists and lackey scientists working for the Department of Energy and all the rest, on down the line and right up to your garage door.

Lie lie lie lie lie like evil little ratdogs because they are, after all, corporate greedmonkeys and war profiteers and duplicitous oil-sucking cretins (is that too polite?) who would eat their own mother's heart for a notable uptick in share/barrel price. Nevertheless, it's always a bit of a jolt when you see it all up close and personal and they basically rub it in your face.

Just look. Look over here. It's a new sports car. It's a new sports car that looks deliciously like a Lotus Elise and reportedly drives like Michael Schumacher's wet dream and goes from zero to 60 in about four seconds with so much torque and freakishly instantaneous power it makes the gods swoon.

This car, it has a top speed of 130 mph. It has a range of 250 miles. It also has GPS navigation and air-conditioning and air bags and it surely will come with a very badass sound system. It has heated seats and (I presume) iPod integration and Bluetooth. You know, just like a real car.

cont'd...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/08/02/notes080206.DTL&feed=rss.mmorford

[samsingh]

1. there are lies coming at us from all sides

[Rosemary2205]

2. My only question

I need a big vehicle that can seat 5 on legs and one on a wheelchair. 6 people with all the travel gear ......... can I go from Atlanta to Cincinnati in 10 hrs? (no long recharging stops)

This is the major problem I've seen with total electric. The size of the vehicle is small and the freeway range on the batteries is under 250 miles before an "overnight" recharge stop is required.

[Bigmack]

3. Not for everybody.

The smaller electric and hybrid vehicles aren't for everybody. But....

The next time you're on the freeway, look at all the single-occupant vehicles. They sure could be driving the smaller, more efficient cars.

We're going to have to wait for larger capacity vehicles to join the hi mileage revolution. Until that happens, try to look at it this way:

per passenger mile

your costs are probably better than the one guy driving his F-250 to work.

If those that could change to higher mileage cars did it, total fuel demand would go do down.

[Rosemary2205]

6. My big vehicle has only one or two in it quite often.

People buy a car for their greatest need not their least. Meaning you'll see a big vehicle that is well filled on many many occasions out in rush hour with only one person. IMHO we need better, more accessable public transport that people actually want to use for the metro commuters.

[itzamirakul]

8. Talking about public transportation...

This morning's paper had a large pic of a woman about 5'3" standing on an extremely crowded subway car, holding onto a pole. Facing her and crushed up against her was a guy about 6'2" holding on to the pole at a much higher level. Her face was exactly at his stinking, sweat-smeared underarm. YUK!

[bluethruandthru]

4. I'm starting to think that everything we've "heard" about

electric cars in the past...or any kind of alternative fuel...has been a load of corporate crap - designed to keep us dependant on oil. We all know that big oil and the automakers have done everything in their power to squash emerging technology...and pooh, pooh attempts at electric/hydrogen/or other powered vehicles.

I'm hoping that this car may be a break in the dam.

Once the public realizes it can be done....it will be done on a massive scale. (fingers crossed)

[Mind_your_head]

5. Most people don't need big vehicles ALL THE TIME

People run around doing errands and shopping locally or commuting ALONE to work etc. That's MOST of PEOPLE's driving....and that sort of driving is well suited to electric vehicles.

Alot of people in America can afford (and do have) a second or even a third vehicle. How about if Americans start driving smarter and used a small electric vehicle for a lot of their local & regular commuting trips and used the bigger vehicles 'when necessary', when the smaller/short-distance vehicle isn't appropriate? :shrug:

[Rosemary2205]

7. A THIRD vehicle?

I can tell you flat out the bottom 50% are struggling to afford what they have now. Let alone buying yet another vehicle. IMHO, if you want the family car sitting in the driveway then investing in great public transport that people want to use is a better solution.

[Mind_your_head]

10. Agreed about public transportation

but I don't see that even getting started anytime soon in most places around the country. Heck, around here the old train tracks got ripped out years ago and the old train-track bed is a jogging/bicycle path with luxe homes built on either side - those folks would fight (with big money) to not have a new track go thru there again.

IIRC, Cape Cod used to have a rail system running Boston to Cape Cod, that was also ripped out years ago. There's probably lots of places around the country that have the 'same story'. So, even though the country "needs great public transport", I just don't see it. We've moved in the opposite direction the past 100 years or so.

I think we both agree that "SOMETHING's got to be done". So, for the people that could afford it (the upper 50%, you say), electric vehicles could be a terrific start, IMHO.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[madrchsod]

9. one of the first cars to travel across the united states in early 1900`s

was an electric car. the biggest problem they had was finding places to plug it in.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

11. Here is another example of corporate and Government Lies! & Worse!

Check out water energy! A must see video!This video is from the Lone Lantern Society: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3333992194168790800&q=water+energy See Stanley Meyer's Water Powered Car. Dennis Lee and Stanley Meyers drove together in Stanley's water powered car from California to New York powered by 28 gallons of Water. Stan was subsequently conscripted to work for the Pentagon and then was allegedly murdered by poison when he hoisted a toast to success powering Army Tanks with the hydrogen in water.

[im10ashus]

12. Thanks for the link.

Everyone should check this out.

:hi:

[Odin2005]

14. Water-powered car? Thats snake oil.

I've taken enough chemistry courses to know that water is NEVER a fuel source except in a few exotic chemical reations that are only safe to do in a lab and are not cost effective as a fuel source; water is a WASTE PRODUCT of buring something with hydrogen in it, IT CANNOT BE A FUEL.

I'm sick of con-men fooling fellow DUers with tales of thier super-inventions being supressed.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

15. A lot of people are going out of their way to catapult that propaganda

What do you or anyone have to gain by silencing this hypothesis or theory? What is it hurting,if it gets someone interested in this theory,even if it is to dispel it,as so called snake oil? If enough people are encouraged to study this and other sources of energy,I see hope. Suppression of information,when it comes to science is nothing new.Can you imagine the first to say the world was round,or that you could fly or talk to someone in another town. They are lucky, they weren't burned at the stake. The truth is sometimes hard to believe,but very easy to dismiss... 'From Mother Jones: When President Bush unveiled his plans for a hydrogen-powered car in his State of the Union address in January, he proposed $1.2 billion in spending to develop a revolutionary automobile that will be "pollution-free." The new vehicle, he declared, will rely on "a simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen" to power a car "producing only water, not exhaust fumes." Hydrogen's Dirty Secret: http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2003/05/ma_375_01.html

[Karmakaze]

13. A nation truly dedicated to riddingt themselves of petroleum...

could do it quite easily, and without the problems of range that affect battery operated electric cars.

The simple answer is - induction. Much like electric trains run by receiving power through a third rail or overhead lines, it is possible to use induction to power road vehicles. This would ba a major infrastructure investment, but if the will was there, it could be done. Vehicles could have batteries for when they are not travelling on induction supplied roads, which are recharged while the vehicle is using the induction system, and when parked in garages with power supplies.

Imagine such an induction system stretching right across the US - you could drive from one side of the country to the other without stopping.

[B Calm]

16. Clinton got a blowjob.....