[Cialug] O.T. Who Killed The Electric Car ?

[Nathan C. Smith]

I saw that "smart car" go by the other day.

I blinked twice and threw away my bottle. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Champion [mailto:dchampion at visionary.com] 
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 10:19 AM
> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] O.T. Who Killed The Electric Car ?
> 
> You do get the impression that they're really not trying too 
> hard. If Chrysler can make their big boat 4000 pound cars 
> that get 30mpg, why can't they make a little 2500 pound car 
> that gets 45mpg? It's like they're trying to just make the 
> minimum mileage requirement.
> 
> It's really sad that one of the best conventional mileage 
> cars available in the US is the Toyota Corolla, and it gets 41mpg.
> 
> VW sold a tiny car in Europe called the Lupo (now replaced 
> with the Fox), that gets 78mpg with a 3 cyl diesel engine. 
> Not exactly a luxury car, but I bet they'd sell a few of them 
> here, with the gas prices what they are now.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Lupo
> 
> The "smart car" is going to be sold in the US starting later 
> this year.
> There was a story on chan. 8 news about a lady in Clive that 
> imported one from Canada recently.
> 
> http://www.smartusa.com/
> 
> There are way too many cars out there that get less than 
> 20mpg, which is a joke - albeit a very sad joke.
> 
> -dc
> 
> Brandon Griffis wrote:
> > <snip from Scott>
> > Do you really think that all of the engineers in Detroit 
> can't figure 
> > out how to make more fuel efficient vehicles?
> > </snip>
> > 
> > This is the bigger point to me.  I would love to see a 
> larger market 
> > of electric cars, but that won't happen as long as there's 
> no reason 
> > for the automotive industry to make a change.  Ford is now 
> advertising 
> > at hybrid SUV that gets.... wait to be amazed.... 31mpg!
> > 
> > Are they kidding?  I have a 96 Oldsmobile 88 (massive boat 
> of a car) 
> > that can get 30.  An almost 12 year old car doing the same as a 
> > present day "hybrid", even sedan vs SUV is just sad.
> > 
> > No regular passenger vehicle sold today should get any less than 
> > 30mpg.  No hybrid should get less than 50mpg.  The tech 
> exists to do 
> > this.  It's just not being used.
> > 
> > That and too many people are buying 1 ton trucks for their daily 
> > commute to the office.
> > 
> > -B
> > 
> > On 5/24/07, Ingvaldson, Scott <SIngvaldson at guideone.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org 
> [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On 
> >> Behalf Of James Shoemaker
> >> Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 1:53 PM
> >> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> >> Subject: Re: [Cialug] O.T. Who Killed The Electric Car ?
> >>
> > Dan Hockey wrote:
> >> This will give something to think about the next time you fillup?
> > 
> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHQ4cEr5Wao&NR=1
> > 
> >   The EV1 was fine if you wanted a $44k car that could drive 75-150 
> > miles on an 8 hour charge with room for 2.  GM (rightly in my mind) 
> > realized that there wasn't much market for that.
> > 
> > James
> >>
> The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings doubled 
> between 1975 and 1985, but they've barely moved in the 20 
> years since then.  Do you really think that all of the 
> engineers in Detroit can't figure out how to make more fuel 
> efficient vehicles?  Now we can choose between a Hummer and a 
> Solstice, (or a Viper) but there's no market for the EV1?
> >>
> See http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php
> >>
> Scott
> >>
> -----NO PGP SIGNATURE-----
> >>
>         Sorry :-(
> >>
> -----NO PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> Cialug mailing list
> Cialug at cialug.org
> http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
> >>
> 
> > 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --
> 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Cialug mailing list
> > Cialug at cialug.org
> > http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Cialug mailing list
> Cialug at cialug.org
> http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
>