Dying for a Chevy Volt, but....

As I sit here at my computer in the great state of Alabamastan, it's

47°F, damp and cloudy outside and not a very good day for solar power. When I lived and worked out in the middle of The Pacific Ocean, the days were warm and sunny and great for solar power. Ways of storing the free energy from the sun will have to mature before it will work for everyone. I'm all for energy storage systems but would like to see a way to store the actual concentrated heat that can be produced by solar power. Perhaps super insulated tanks of molten salts would work. I like the systems in use in places where underground ice banks are used to help cool building in warmer months. The ice banks are frozen during the winter months and used as a heat sink for air conditioning during hot weather. I don't see why heat energy from the sun couldn't be stored in the same way and used as a source of heat for buildings or for heat to produce electricity. O_o

TDD

Naaa, they're a bunch of apolitical nonfunctional females much like bees. ^_^

TDD

It wasn't. Nor is it where the Rabbit "originated." The K70 was actually an NSU, much heavier than the Rabbit. The Rabbit was an all-new car, with an engine developed jointly with Audi.

It was. Starting in 1974. It was called the "Golf" in Europe. Later, the "Golf" name was adopted in the US, as well.

The Rabbit's dry weight was around 1,750 pounds (790 kg). The Renault R10 was identical in weight to the Rabbit.

FWIW, the old Beetles were somewhat lighter -- around 1,630 pounds for the 1200 cc (ended in 1964, IIRC).

Come for dinner! Bring wine.

Ah, yes, the Austin America -- British Leyland's attempt at grabbing a piece of VW's 1960s action in the U.S. As I recall the Austin America actually debuted as a 1968 model, though a variation of it was sold as the "MG Sport Sedan" in the U.S. several years beforehand. (The Sport Sedan was a 4-door with 1100cc engine, the America a 2-door with 1300cc.)

Did it manage to get to 20k miles before needing a complete overhaul? :-) The 4-speed automatic transmissions were particularly problematical. The transmissions in these cars lived in the crankcase and worked with the engine oil. Clever packaging, but not a recipe for longevity.

The few Austin Americas that didn't have their drivetrains self-destruct just out of warranty crumbled to heaps of rust within a relatively few years. There's a reason that so few of those cars were sold and almost none survived! (Even at this late date original VW Beetles are not an uncommon sight. On the other hand, It has been decades since I've seen an Austin America.)

The Austin America was a very advanced car for its time, but could not compete at all with the relative anvil-like reliability of the antiquated VW Beetle.

You were wrong. :-) Although a popular configuration, far from "all cars" make use of it.

It morphed into the Passat/Dasher before coming here.

The White House? You don't know the difference between the Rvolutinary War & the War of 1812. Only cowards, likethe British burn buildings when they occupy a city.

Sure we did. After they bombed Pearl Harbor.

Yawn... What has England won?

After England lost them as a colony in 1974, and it really stuck in your craw.

The US also had:

Organization of American States Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Jamaica Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

as allies against:

People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada Cuba Soviet Union (advisory)

You have a long history of being greedy, bloodthirsty fools who start wars for no reason, and you lost many of them. Then you needed our help in both World Wars.

He won't get it. He only knows the crap they printed in the British tabloids they wrapped his fish & Chips in.

Junk food? Blood pudding sounds like junk food to me. Something any civilized people consider waste. Then there are the biblical warnings not to use the blood as food. Most of the crap meals I've seen from the British aren't fit to feed to a hog, are are perfect for you ignorant limeys.

You just keep droning on! ;-)

You want to minimize the residue, or you have to clean the barrel quite often. That can get you killed in a prolonged battle.

The duty of any soldier is to kill as many of the enemy as he can, without getting killed.

If he really lives there, and isn't the butler or gardener.

Too stupid to live, but no one has told them yet.

If, at all. The technology just isn't there yet and likely never will be unless they can make batteries that are tiny, indestructible and weightless while allowing you to drive across the US without being charged.

> Yeah I know that most people don't believe their lyin calculators, but > then most people believe in angels. They're proud that nobody can > hornswaggle them outa that notion, or into an EVil. Well, I don't know whatcher beef is with RCMers, but there are plenty of RCMers/AMCers/AHRers who could build a "servicable" (ie, not luxurious) electric car. One even built one already.

And I never laid claim to that idea being *practical* -- I simply mentioned it metaphorically, if you will, to make the point that the BigfuknAuto (and gummint) is making much ado about sumpn fundamentally simple. If you want

10 fukn air bags and teleporting navigation, then yeah, that might be tough for an RCMer, but if you want a vehicle that can go from point A to point B real cheap, then plenty here could do it.

And Big Auto apparently CANNOT do it -- or won't -- economically, despite the fact that there is 1/100 the mechanical complexity in an electric than in an ICE. Altho the Prius c is starting to get there.

As far as Wrangler peeple being able to afford a volt, why not stick Mercedes in there, as well? Wrangler people can afford a Volt, but they're not going to buy them. Honder Fit/Toyoter Yaris peeple want Volts, but will NEVER realize any ROI on such an inflated purchase. You need to keep yer apples with yer apples, and yer oranges with yer oranges.

The Volt is $11K more expensive (over 5 years) than a Nissan Versa. Go figger.... And, CR would disagree with those figures anyway. The cheapest car to own, according to CR, is the Honder Fit, at 44c/mile. Other vehicles easily hit

60, 70, 80c/mile. If you figger the avg schmoe drives 100K in 5 years, the costs, and the differentials, become much greater and wider.

These days I'm too old to be concerned about which wheels have the power applied. The only thing I want is a reliable, cost effective, car that can move 4 persons in comfort. You are correct in assuming that I don't drive cars that I don't like.

Next you'll want to borrow the teleporter to save on your shipping costs. :)

I don't know of anybody in America that thought these cars were very good. Perhaps it's different in the UK. No matter, the idea changed everything.

Your options for RWD cars are pretty good these days. Most of them are cars in the "sporty" and/or high-priced market luxury segments. If you just want a good old family car that an average Joe can afford, your choices are pretty limited. This is pretty much the way it's been since the 80s.

What can I say, I have a BUZZ from all the pain meds I must take. I was doing a bit of climbing yesterday to install and certify a CAT6 cable in a Kmart yesterday. At least I wasn't having any chest pains. O_o

TDD

Of course there is the little issue of the big honking, expensive battery. And meeting all the federal mandates that a hobbyist building a golf cart doesn't have to deal with. It's not that big auto can't do it. It's that no one can.