I finally found a copy of "who killed the electric car" and watched it.
Sad about how many folks loved their EV-1s and were totally shut out by GM when they tried to renew their leases.
Even More sad about the claim how oil is a dwindling resource so let's keep using it so that as reserves get scarce, they can charge more for it.
Was very disillusioned hearing how Hydrogen power is just another case of smoke and mirrors - costing more than gasoline, having less travel range and very limited refueling options.
I should watch it again with a double scotch in hand to make it a bit less painful.
google for "who killed the electric car" torrent (you need the bittorrent peer to peer client)
I found it a compelling arguement towards why the backward thinking shortsightness and greed of gm should not be allowed to continue. wagoner himself has said killing the ev1 was the worst decision he made at gm; yet he has made no effort to rectify that or learn from that mistake. I was pleased that washington showed him the door.
Oppie, you will be happy to know that one of the main charachters, Chelsea Sexton remains on at GM in the Alternative Vehicles dept. You will also notice that it's not just GM nowadays, Honda's newly "lease-only" hydrogen car is folowwing down the same path, only available for lease for a year, only in Hollywood, CA and most likely will be crushed afterwards. The Song Remains the Same......
Ford refuses to import fuel-efficient cars here, has for decades. We never got the REAL focus or Festiva which averaged 40mpg or more. Ditto with other car mfg., USA with its strict bylaws says no import. I guees that here in the US of A all of these small cars have to withstand accidents with our ever so popular lard-assed multi-tarded SUV drivers.
Nobody , NOBODY held a gun to us fatasses and said "you will drive a school-bus sized baby killing SUVs". Nope, it's our Texas mentality. Bigger is Better. Americans LOVE driving in 8 to 10 passeger SUVs, (even if there is only three in the family) so the companies made them. Now we pay and the Micheal Moores of the world cry foul. Bullshit. I can honestly tell you all about it, I see it every day, people are fatasses and want f***ss lazy 12 cupholder DVD in the front SUVs, except NOW they want 40mpg as well, LOL.
btw - I found the extras on that DVD even more interesting.
But marx, dontcha know that ain't OUR fault -- it's the fault of the Big 3 and their advertising partners that brainwashed us poor simpleton consumer victims into buying SUVs that we didn't REALLY want or need! :) Actually, I don't know why I included the smiley -- the currency the "consumers as victims" argument has is actually too frightening for levity....
quote "the currency the "consumers as victims" argument has is actually too frightening for levity...."
yea- and Sarah Palin is the head of the Mensa Society.....c'mon, next thing you know fatasses will sue McDonalds for making them fat...oh, wait a minute.... :-P
My fault, no doubt, but I'm not getting the relationship between my reply (the quote) and your response. Can you please explain? Thanks! (Actually, I'm hoping you've misread my reply. :) )
ok, maybe I mis-read your post, my bad pun then...lemme 'splain...
I understood what you said to mean: that the "consumers are victims" argument lacks of seriousness. (after all that's what levity means).
I meant that argument has as much "levity" as to say that Sarah Palin is the head of the Mensa Society (a group for above average geniuses). I further elaborated upon the sentiment of "the customers are victims" to the likeness of a few years ago when a bunch of obese Californians sued McDonald's for "making them fat". So much for the media saying that GM "forced " customers to buy gas-guzzling unsafe SUV's.
In plain english: Consumers were never "forced" to buy these vehicles and saying so is a joke.
Got a chance to watch the extras. You're right. Especially liked the bit on who killed the electric streetcars. GM conspired to buy up all the electric streetcar lines and replace them with GM busses running on Goodyear tires and powered by petroleum.
My cousin, who lives in LA added this: === Yep, first the old Pacific Electric Railway here in Los Angeles was scrapped, and then GM canned their EV-1. Of course, the auto makers all claim the electric car is just on its way to America - the Chevy Volt that never seems to be released just yet and the Tesla that looks great and runs....50 miles on a charge, I think. Big help that is, in trying to get to my rental property 180 miles away (and that is the "nearby" one).
The Pacific Electric railways were torn out and most of the neighboring property owners grabbed the land back so that it is now impossible to run any mass transit system along them (such as bus ways, new electric trolleys, or monorails). Typical Los Angeles short-sightedness. ===
As an engineer myself and having a conscience; in any project undertaking, I have to ask myself whether the project is simply in the best interests of my company or the greater good. Would be nice if big business thought that way also.
Interesting idea that I had was to make the Hybrid vehicle more modular. Make the basic vehicle a battery powered electric. This gives you a base mileage. If you need a longer range, offer an add-on generator on a trailer. An engine turning a generator at constant speed is much easier to optimize for emissions and power output. Output voltage could be controlled by means of varying the generator field current.
Ah, I see. No, my intended point (perhaps clumsily made) was that the argument that consumers were in someway "forced" to buy the gas-guzzlers seems to have such broad acceptance that it is too scary to belittle with a mere smiley (the smiley denoting levity).
saying so is a joke.
We agree. By the way, on Gov Palin: she was smart enough to get herself elected mayor of her town, governor of her state, where she reportedly maintains a favorable rating in the 70s and got herself noticed by the people involved in selecting the vice presidential nominee of the country's second largest political party. I think I'm fairly smart (albeit far from MENSA material) but I know I'm not smart enough to accomplish all that she has!
...If you look back, the PE red cars were losing money big time. They were on life-support from the '20s and by the '30s were simply existing (similar to Amtrak) on government funds.
By contrast the Chevy Volt will only go 40 miles on a charge - how lame is that! If that is enough for someone to get to work and back, they wouldn't be able to run any errands. GM hasn't really changed since the days of the EV-1.
Aptera makes an electric version of their commuter car, the 2e, that I think is incredible. They once published the estimated range of the all electric version, which I believe was around 200 miles, but I can't find that information on their new web site.
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