Yes. An equally large problem is the disposal or recycling of the current 2 billion vehicles on the road. There is no profitable business model on the horizon for this. Potentially, as I said upthread, EVs have a longer service life but someone has to step up on the back end to make costs work. In terms of hybrids, Luscious Garage in SOMA is fantastic in that regard, patching up much of the city's taxi fleet. Well someone who works there who shall remain nameless actually hit me with their car while I was riding, depositing me on the hood before sliding off, but hey I really like the garage anyway.
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
The i8. Ha!
IMG_20141112_134844495.jpg
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
Discovery needs to put a show on TV where a custom car shop owned by a few renegades with tattoos and facial hair buy old cars and convert them to electric propulsion. Like Neil Young's Lincvolt project, but less preachy, mission-driven, and high-minded. I'm only half kidding.
"As an homage to the EPOdays of yore- I'd find the world's last remaining pair of 40cm ergonomic drop bars.....i think everyone who ever liked those handlebars in that shape and in that width is either dead of a drug overdose, works in the Schaerbeek mattress factory now and weighs 300 pounds or is Dr. Davey Bruylandts...who for all I know is doing both of those things." - Jerk
I long ago had all the plans put together for an EV conversion of a Karmann Ghia (I'd call it Karmann Electra... ) and it would have been sweet. But alas, I did not have the funds to make it all come together. Now, with no garage and no time, it's not going to happen. Which is too bad, because my back of the envelope calculations said I could probably get ~180 miles of range with OK to good performance with what I had planned, and this was 10 years ago with lead acid cells.
on the flip side - what in the world was VW thinking when they came up with the "e-Golf"? It doesn't look like an electric car? How will people know there is a smug asshole driving it? (sarcasm people!)
2015 VW e-Golf | Volkswagen
Auk's words to live by:
Blow up and pin a picture of M. Bartoli on your wall. When you achieve that position, stop. Until then, stretch, ride, stretch, ride, eat less, and ride more.
They will know by carefully studying the trim and noting the blue accents.
"As an homage to the EPOdays of yore- I'd find the world's last remaining pair of 40cm ergonomic drop bars.....i think everyone who ever liked those handlebars in that shape and in that width is either dead of a drug overdose, works in the Schaerbeek mattress factory now and weighs 300 pounds or is Dr. Davey Bruylandts...who for all I know is doing both of those things." - Jerk
Auk's words to live by:
Blow up and pin a picture of M. Bartoli on your wall. When you achieve that position, stop. Until then, stretch, ride, stretch, ride, eat less, and ride more.
"As an homage to the EPOdays of yore- I'd find the world's last remaining pair of 40cm ergonomic drop bars.....i think everyone who ever liked those handlebars in that shape and in that width is either dead of a drug overdose, works in the Schaerbeek mattress factory now and weighs 300 pounds or is Dr. Davey Bruylandts...who for all I know is doing both of those things." - Jerk
Auk's words to live by:
Blow up and pin a picture of M. Bartoli on your wall. When you achieve that position, stop. Until then, stretch, ride, stretch, ride, eat less, and ride more.
I dunno, a lot of people want to go stealth mode with their vehicles perhaps due to peer pressure. I think, well they are covering bets with dual paths. Can't really hurt much - their MQB platform plays equally well with ICE and E-engines.
On the Toyota lot recently there were 3 ERav4s at $50k, discontinued and dusty. Gray on the outside, an accent-less gray hole inside. That is a vehicle that has zero appeal to anyone.
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
Vis-a-vis renewable energy, E-vehicles, auto manufacturing and the global marketplace this is extremely interesting to me:
"At the same time, China’s solar power presence is growing in the Bay Area. With the help of ChinaSF, the city’s public-private agency, seven Chinese clean-tech companies, mostly solar, have set up offices in San Francisco alone, including major ones like Yingli and Trini Solar (the latter ranked No. 1 for good environmental and social behavior in Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition’s latest survey.)
Last month, Hanergy Thin Film Power, a solar power panel manufacturer in Beijing, announced that it will set up an R&D facility in Silicon Valley The company described Silicon Valley as “an important base for product development ... . The base in the United States of America will enable a more extensive access to the global market.”
“Chinese solar and clean energy companies are looking for investments over here, of $100 million and above,” said Darlene Chiu Bryant. “I think that trend will continue.”
From Climate deal shines sun on Bay Area solar - SFGate
Many of the large auto manufacturers have already set up plants in Mexico; that massive investments are being made on the Pacific Rim in solar speaks volumes about Chinese solar companies' confidence in its salable future. Really exciting stuff.
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
Things are happening at an astonishing pace. Elon is not the only guy thinking of EVs as part of the Distributed Energy solution, albeit on an extremely limited scale:
Nissan Begins Testing V2H Technology with Leaf-to-Home Charging Units - The Auto Future
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
Haters gonna hate. This thing is cool. I do admit that part of the appeal is the little blue and white roundel, not sure I'd be so enamored if it were a KIA. One snuck up on me while I was riding, sounded like the whirring Jetson's car.
IMG_5025.jpg
What I like about it is
- it's unashamedly concept-looking; none of this overly-focus-grouped granola bullshit put out by most other automakers.
- its construction type is a huge leap forward for a 'family' car.
It's an exciting thing, and the first versions of such groundbreaking cars always remain appealing; I'd cite the Lamborghini Countach and Renault Twingo (seriously) as examples.
Neil
I was waiting for that reference. There's a meme for everything:
spaceagemeetsstoneage.jpg
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
I've given up four wheels for two as a full time vehicle. My Ducati goes about 100 miles on a tank. The shorter interval is a little bit of a pita but I've adapted. My family could easily live with one of our vehicles having a 75-100 mile range.
In a world where the i3 exists, so must its glorious antipode:
"Old and standing in the way of progress"
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