GM Produces the Volt!

[Ian]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

Hybrid cars....the leading cause of smug in the world: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1002

I am a proud member of the Prius Elite.

[Coito ergo sum]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

Hybrid cars....the leading cause of smug in the world: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1002

I am a proud member of the Prius Elite.

Enjoy your sense of smug self-satisfaction!

[Ian]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

Hybrid cars....the leading cause of smug in the world: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1002

I am a proud member of the Prius Elite.

Enjoy your sense of smug self-satisfaction!

I will.

[Coito ergo sum]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

Hybrid cars....the leading cause of smug in the world: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1002

I am a proud member of the Prius Elite.

Enjoy your sense of smug self-satisfaction!

I will.

Oh, and your girlfriend called. She wants you to trade-up to a Chevy Malibu or a Mazda Miata.

[Feck]

Still a wee bit pricey.

My Prius lease ends on August 31st. I'll probably get another Prius.

Do you have a dreamcatcher hanging from your rear-view mirror?

What's a dreamcatcher?

45mpg, sucker. I love my car.
(Yeah, it's advertised as 51/60, but I accelerate fast)

so not much less than a small gasoline engine and more than a normal diesel then .

how much they cost in CO2 to make

[Ian]

Still a wee bit pricey.

My Prius lease ends on August 31st. I'll probably get another Prius.

Do you have a dreamcatcher hanging from your rear-view mirror?

What's a dreamcatcher?

45mpg, sucker. I love my car.
(Yeah, it's advertised as 51/60, but I accelerate fast)

so not much less than a small gasoline engine and more than a normal diesel then .

how much they cost in CO2 to make

Nothing abnormal. I drive it mostly for the gas mileage (and 'cause I think oil prices will be going back up a lot within the next few years). Any environmental benefits are just a bonus.

[Robert_S]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

I have seen a dramatic reduction in the gas guzzlers driving around my area. Some people used to go around to the backs of SUVs and slap stickers on them that said "I'm changing the environment. Ask me how!"

Volts are not better for the environment.

One, most of the electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like oil and coal power plants. Thus, it's actually more inefficient because you have to burn more coal and oil to produce the electricity to produce the same amount of power to move the vehicle the same distance. Chemistry and physics.

Transport Watch ....found that diesel cars produce half as much CO2 as electric cars when the fossil fuel required to make the electricity is taken into account.
The study concludes “We conclude that the notion that electric cars will reduce emissions is a fiction.”
The study also took into account electrical energy leaked lost between the powerplant and the point where the vehicle would be charged. This leakage was estimated to be an astounding 76%. Diesels on the other hand achieve a 45% efficiency.
The research was done in the UK where only 20% of electricity is generated by renewable energy. It was estimated that in China, for example, where most electricity comes from coal, a change from diesel to electric vehicles would double CO2 emissions.
The research implies that burning fuel within the vehicle produces less emissions than creating electricity and sending it down the grid.

http://gm-volt.com/2009/04/19/study-cal ... s-fiction/


Two, the environmental nightmare of millions of batteries is nothing to sneeze at.


Three, the mining of the materials necessary for the huge batteries is itself another environmental nightmare. For example, Lithium. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008 ... elect.html

It seems we ought to be investing in good public transportation. I hate riding the bus, but I do it.

What struck me about the Hummers and SUVs was that they were gratuitously wasting fuel as a status symbol. Most of the people who live, work or play in rural areas where you need that kind vehicle drive pickup trucks. The SUVs were minivans for people in denial of their suburban lifestyle. They also constituted the vast majority of inconsiderate and/or aggressive driving that I've seen in the past decade.

[drl2]

$41K for basically a Chevy Cruze-platform-based (small crappy car) vehicle that requires high octane fuel to keep it running if you burn through the 40 miles worth of electrical charge sucked from coal-burning power plants across an aging, inefficient power grid, only to eventually leak nasty chemicals into the groundwater when it's scrapped? I'll pass. I'm glad hybrids are being built and the designs are being improved and people are buying them to help fund further development; but for me, they're just not a viable alternative yet. The closest I've seen to a hybrid I'd buy is the Ford Fusion one.

Of course, my current vehicle has a special feature that, given my current financial status, makes it far preferable to any gas savings a new car could give me. It's a little upgrade I did myself, and I like to call it: PAID FOR.

[Coito ergo sum]

$41K for basically a Chevy Cruze-platform-based (small crappy car) vehicle that requires high octane fuel to keep it running if you burn through the 40 miles worth of electrical charge sucked from coal-burning power plants across an aging, inefficient power grid, only to eventually leak nasty chemicals into the groundwater when it's scrapped? I'll pass. I'm glad hybrids are being built and the designs are being improved and people are buying them to help fund further development; but for me, they're just not a viable alternative yet. The closest I've seen to a hybrid I'd buy is the Ford Fusion one.

Of course, my current vehicle has a special feature that, given my current financial status, makes it far preferable to any gas savings a new car could give me. It's a little upgrade I did myself, and I like to call it: PAID FOR.

RAmen, brother. Paying off my vehicle was a happy day.

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

[leo-rcc]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

[Ian]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

It's no option for me either. I live in a decent suburb, but moving more than five (out of 20) miles closer puts me in a crappy-looking high-crime area. We'd also be just about the only white family up there. So, fuck that.

[Coito ergo sum]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

It's no option for me either. I live in a decent suburb, but moving more than five (out of 20) miles closer puts me in a crappy-looking high-crime area. We'd also be just about the only white family up there. So, fuck that.

For many of us, driving something other than an SUV is "no option for me" either.

So, you've made a judgment call that that environmental benefit is not worth the cost to you. I reserve the right to make the same judgment.

[Coito ergo sum]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. desirable in light of the cost. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

We all make choices about what is feasible for us in light of our income.

[Ian]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

It's no option for me either. I live in a decent suburb, but moving more than five (out of 20) miles closer puts me in a crappy-looking high-crime area. We'd also be just about the only white family up there. So, fuck that.

For many of us, driving something other than an SUV is "no option for me" either.

So, you've made a judgment call that that environmental benefit is not worth the cost to you. I reserve the right to make the same judgment.

I don't look down my nose on gas guzzlers (well, maybe just a little bit). My wife drives a minivan. Since we have three kids, it's a necessity.

[Coito ergo sum]

Plus, people could do well just to move closer to work. Even if you drive a hummer, if you commute three to five miles to work, the gas consumption is small. The main reason Americans use so much gasoline is that our commutes are really long. I've run into people who have called my SUV an environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzler. Then I did the math with their commute vs my short hop-skip-and-a-jump, and I demonstrated that they were actually using more fuel than me by far.

That is not always possible. Foe example the housing market close to Florham Park where our head office is, is so expensive that on my salary I would not even be eligible for a mortgage let alone afford the cost of living there.

It's no option for me either. I live in a decent suburb, but moving more than five (out of 20) miles closer puts me in a crappy-looking high-crime area. We'd also be just about the only white family up there. So, fuck that.

For many of us, driving something other than an SUV is "no option for me" either.

So, you've made a judgment call that that environmental benefit is not worth the cost to you. I reserve the right to make the same judgment.

I don't look down my nose on gas guzzlers (well, maybe just a little bit). My wife drives a minivan. Since we have three kids, it's a necessity.

I look down a little on people with long commutes.

It's not a necessity. Lots of people with three kids don't have minivans or SUVs. It's what you prefer because it makes your life a little easier and you can afford it.

And, how do you justify looking down your nose at someone with a "gas guzzler" when you have one as well? (minivan) Maybe those other people also find their guzzler to be a "necessity?"