Dial up “Live Rust” on your MP3 player while you kick back to read Neil Young’s auto call to action over at Huffington Post. Young has gotten plenty of mileage lately off of his involvement with Team LincVolt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental outfitted to run on electricity. But if you’ve missed out on Young’s non-musical endeavor, here’s a taste:
If the Big three cannot agree to make only cars that are fuel efficient enough to get at least 50 MPG by 2011, 75 MPG by 2013 and 100 MPG by 2015, then they should go into bankruptcy and fend for themselves like all the other businesses that are having trouble. The truth is this can be done and innovators know the way to do it.
source: Huffington Post, Project LincVolt
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Delay And Deny Posted 9:19 am
05 Jan 2009
Giving extra gas mileage to mainlining rock stars only increases their chance of getting to write a book in rehab.
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GonzoDon Posted 11:08 am
05 Jan 2009
Their sheer mass exponentially increases the danger to innocent bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers of smaller cars who have the misfortune of having to share the same road.
Impossible to see around SUVs if you are trailing in a normal-size automobile, and those SUV dinosaurs are rediculously slow to start moving at intersections -- hence they unnecessarily slow down traffic overall and make auto congestion and accident hazards exponentially worse.
Their massive gasoline purchases help fatten the coffers of ass terrorist thugs and their enabling theocratic regimes throughout the Middle East.
Spewing CO2 accelerates global warming.
Usually driven by yuppie jerks yakking on cell phones -- statistically as dangerous as drunk drivers, but don't dare say that in a Starbucks or you will be beaten to death with soymilk frappucino cups.
OK, I'll add a sixth:
6. Think they are invincible when snow and ice are on the roads. They aren't. Once their tires lose grip on slick roads, they are as out of control as anybody else. Only much more dangerous to everybody else.
There. Just thought I'd get that off my chest.
It's easy to make fun of Neil Young and other rich rock stars, but at least those folks are trying to do the right thing. It's a start.
In contrast, a disproportionate percentage of SUV drivers I see are self-absorbed assholes. Sorry to be politically incorrect, but it's generally true. I encourage you SUV-ers to prove me wrong.
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amazingdrx Posted 1:17 pm
05 Jan 2009
RMI's SUV is different. Carbon fiber, plugin hybrid, all it lacks is the nerf outside shell.
The core of the vehicle should be carbon fiber body/frame sections, just like the original Hypercar design, but the outside panels should all be made with flexiible plastic over energy absorbing foam.
This would actually save production cost too. The carbon fiber core body could be angular with no compound curves, greatly simplfying the stamping of these parts.
The aerodynamic curved outside parts could be easily molded foam and plastic composite, the outside plastic could be colored, so no painting would be needed. Surface repairs could be done with heat and plastic filler.
This would stop a lot of injuries and insurance/repair costs too. Just a slight safety tweak of the Hypercar design, Amory, hehey.
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