Jul 10: Is nothing sacred?
Jul 9: Who Killed the Electric Car?
Has anyone seen the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"? We watched it last night, and I'm still all fired up.
It deals mainly with the GM EV-1, and all-electric car that came about because of the zero-emissions mandate enacted by California in the early 90's. It shows how they were fast (really fast!) and quiet, but doesn't shy away from their downsides, mainly their limited range (60 miles per charge at first, but 120 in the later models--newer lithium-ion batteries in an EV-1 could easily do 300).
They were much loved by the people leasing them, but then when the leases were up, GM wouldn't re-up the leases, collected all the cars and destroyed them. No official explanation was given, but several auto industry representatives said that no one wanted a car that could only go 120 miles per charge and required charging overnight (but could get an 85% charge in an hour). This was in spite of a huge waiting list due to the fact that they insisted on hand assembling the cars, which artificially drove up the price and increased production time.
Personally, I would LOVE a car that I could plug in overnight that would take me to work & back each day with some charge left over for some errands. To think that such a thing existed, was actually on the roads and was killed really turns my stomach, especially in light of the mess we're in right now with gas prices. Since they were taken off the roads, we could've had 6 more years of development and improvement on these cars, but instead we're wasting money and time on pie-in-the-sky ideas like hydrogen cars and half measures like hybrids, with a bright light being plug-in hybrids that should be here 'soon.'
I can only imagine how well these would sell these days. If only GM had stuck with it, they'd be raking in the money instead of losing billions on big gas-guzzling SUVs.
I highly recommend this movie. I can't recommend it enough.
This guy, however, disagrees. While there is some truth to some of the points he makes (specifically the list in #1), mostly he's having fun calling conjecture 'fact.' You can have your own fun by comparing his argument tactics to Wikipedia's list of logical fallacies. While you're at it, you may as well figure out which one I'm using in this paragraph 
On a side note, the movie also touches on how, in the mid 20th century, GM bought out a bunch of streetcar companies, dismantled the electric streetcars and replaced them with GM buses. More info here.
Has anyone seen the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"? We watched it last night, and I'm still all fired up. It deals mainly with the GM EV-1, and all-electric car that came about because of the zero-emissions mandate enacted by California in the early 90's. It shows how they were fast (really fast!) and quiet, but doesn't shy away from their downsides, mainly their limited range (60 miles per charge at first, but 120 in the later models--newer lithium-ion batteries in an EV-1 could easily do 300).
They were much loved by the people leasing them, but then when the leases were up, GM wouldn't re-up the leases, collected all the cars and destroyed them. No official explanation was given, but several auto industry representatives said that no one wanted a car that could only go 120 miles per charge and required charging overnight (but could get an 85% charge in an hour). This was in spite of a huge waiting list due to the fact that they insisted on hand assembling the cars, which artificially drove up the price and increased production time.
Personally, I would LOVE a car that I could plug in overnight that would take me to work & back each day with some charge left over for some errands. To think that such a thing existed, was actually on the roads and was killed really turns my stomach, especially in light of the mess we're in right now with gas prices. Since they were taken off the roads, we could've had 6 more years of development and improvement on these cars, but instead we're wasting money and time on pie-in-the-sky ideas like hydrogen cars and half measures like hybrids, with a bright light being plug-in hybrids that should be here 'soon.'
I can only imagine how well these would sell these days. If only GM had stuck with it, they'd be raking in the money instead of losing billions on big gas-guzzling SUVs.
I highly recommend this movie. I can't recommend it enough.
This guy, however, disagrees. While there is some truth to some of the points he makes (specifically the list in #1), mostly he's having fun calling conjecture 'fact.' You can have your own fun by comparing his argument tactics to Wikipedia's list of logical fallacies. While you're at it, you may as well figure out which one I'm using in this paragraph
On a side note, the movie also touches on how, in the mid 20th century, GM bought out a bunch of streetcar companies, dismantled the electric streetcars and replaced them with GM buses. More info here.
Jul 3: Long live the Yaris!
To replace the newly-dead Camry, we bought a used 2007 Toyota Yaris. I had been looking into them a few months ago, but couldn't justify buying anything until the Camry kicked the bucket. It's too bad, though, because with the price of gas going up, everyone is buying Yarises (Yarii?) and the prices reflect the increased demand. When I was first looking, I found several used ones for around $10,000. Now, though, they're really hard to find and the prices have gone up. The dealership I bought from had two and was the only dealership within a hundred miles to have two. All the others had one or none. When looking, I would see a new listing and it would be gone
I wanted something small, looked ok and was more fuel-efficient. Oh yeah, it had to be affordable. The Yaris is definitely all of these things. It's small enough on the outside to park basically anywhere. Yet, it's surprisingly roomy on the inside and is quite comfortable even in the backseat. I was nervous about picking up slugs in it, so I got in the back even before the test drive. I did have two huge guys as slugs the other day, and it was a little snug.
I found a list of the top 8 or 10 most fuel-efficient cars of 2007 & the Yaris was #7. The rest were hybrids and costed on average twice the price of my Yaris. The 2007's mileage was listed as 34 or 35 city and 39 highway. The EPA changed how they calculate mileage, though and the new ones (same exact car) are listed as 29/35. Using some moderate hypermiling techniques, I'm hoping to get over 40, though. I plan on posting more on this later.
So, I love my Yaris. I've never really had a car that I actually liked. They've always been just cars. But, I actually enjoy driving the Yaris. It's like driving a go-kart (in a good way). Here are a bunch of pictures of it that I snagged from the dealership's site.
Jul 2: The camry is dead, a eulogy
To replace the newly-dead Camry, we bought a used 2007 Toyota Yaris. I had been looking into them a few months ago, but couldn't justify buying anything until the Camry kicked the bucket. It's too bad, though, because with the price of gas going up, everyone is buying Yarises (Yarii?) and the prices reflect the increased demand. When I was first looking, I found several used ones for around $10,000. Now, though, they're really hard to find and the prices have gone up. The dealership I bought from had two and was the only dealership within a hundred miles to have two. All the others had one or none. When looking, I would see a new listing and it would be gone
I wanted something small, looked ok and was more fuel-efficient. Oh yeah, it had to be affordable. The Yaris is definitely all of these things. It's small enough on the outside to park basically anywhere. Yet, it's surprisingly roomy on the inside and is quite comfortable even in the backseat. I was nervous about picking up slugs in it, so I got in the back even before the test drive. I did have two huge guys as slugs the other day, and it was a little snug.
I found a list of the top 8 or 10 most fuel-efficient cars of 2007 & the Yaris was #7. The rest were hybrids and costed on average twice the price of my Yaris. The 2007's mileage was listed as 34 or 35 city and 39 highway. The EPA changed how they calculate mileage, though and the new ones (same exact car) are listed as 29/35. Using some moderate hypermiling techniques, I'm hoping to get over 40, though. I plan on posting more on this later.
So, I love my Yaris. I've never really had a car that I actually liked. They've always been just cars. But, I actually enjoy driving the Yaris. It's like driving a go-kart (in a good way). Here are a bunch of pictures of it that I snagged from the dealership's site.
I wanted something small, looked ok and was more fuel-efficient. Oh yeah, it had to be affordable. The Yaris is definitely all of these things. It's small enough on the outside to park basically anywhere. Yet, it's surprisingly roomy on the inside and is quite comfortable even in the backseat. I was nervous about picking up slugs in it, so I got in the back even before the test drive. I did have two huge guys as slugs the other day, and it was a little snug.
I found a list of the top 8 or 10 most fuel-efficient cars of 2007 & the Yaris was #7. The rest were hybrids and costed on average twice the price of my Yaris. The 2007's mileage was listed as 34 or 35 city and 39 highway. The EPA changed how they calculate mileage, though and the new ones (same exact car) are listed as 29/35. Using some moderate hypermiling techniques, I'm hoping to get over 40, though. I plan on posting more on this later.
So, I love my Yaris. I've never really had a car that I actually liked. They've always been just cars. But, I actually enjoy driving the Yaris. It's like driving a go-kart (in a good way). Here are a bunch of pictures of it that I snagged from the dealership's site.
