Gee, wonder why it's taken so long for Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlers:

...At his (Herb Chambers, who owns more than 40 dealerships across Massachusetts and Rhode Island) Mini dealership, Chambers said people have been turning in Chevrolet Suburbans for the tiny British car in recent weeks. He currently has a one-year waiting list for the coveted Smart Car, an 8-foot-8-inch vehicle that gets more than 40 miles per gallon. ...

 

suv's being swapped for mini's =

 

I love my Touareg and wouldn't trade it in for a POS Mini...

 

I prefer my low to the ground, gas guzzler....18MPG FTW!

 

those monstrosities should have been off the roads a long time ago. how is it a 1000 hp, 16 cylinder, 4 turbo, 250 mph car can be engineered but anything north of 35-40 mpg is unattainable?

 

It is all about priorities.

Compared to the demand for a 5000lb luxo-barge, the demand for lightweight, economic commuter cars is almost zero.

Fuel economy per pound pushed has improved fairly well over the years, but cars (and trucks) have simply got heavier and faster.

Do you really need that 300hp, 5500lb SUV to commute in ? Or would a 65hp 1400lb 80mpg car suit you better ?

Of course, most commuters need nothing more than a scooter - 200lbs, 40hp and 200mpg FTW

 

but you would dump it for a $26K STi down the street?

 

to think....I just bought a 12mpg SUV.

 

A few weekends ago I happened to be at Carmax. Honestly, they should soon rename it SUVmax, given the large number of SUVs on the lots, seemingly nearly half the inventory. Most people browsing the lot were looking at cars, only a couple people I saw were actively looking at the SUVs there.

This phenomenon has been a long time coming. The majority of people who bought SUVs did so needlessly, using them mostly as single user commuter vehicles or to haul small families around. I dont know how many people I discovered once having their first child in their family, ran out and bought a disproportionately large SUV anticipating the huge amount of 'stuff' they now have to tote about because of now having a kid in the fold. And haul they did. One of the first purchases after the required child seat was more often than not a stroller so massive it could be used, with baby in place, to hunt landmines, with the resulting explosions mere entertainment for the baby. "Eeee heee! Boom! *giggle* *clapclapclap* AGAIN!" The next sad truth ends up being the SUV-sized stroller pushed around malls and stores, running people off crowded sidewalks, filled with so much junk and stuff that the baby now has to be carried. Gas prices are a needed reality check.

There will always be a need for SUVs and big vehicles. The new energy reality will serve to make people more aware of their needs and priorities.

 

the flip side is people buying a Prius, thinking they're being environmentally responsible. Umm, no. A ten year old Civic that gets 40mpg is a smarter purchase for the environment than that.

 

until these are off the road...
i will never be commuting on .

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!! someone else understands that hybrids are crap. they aren't the answer, they are a bandaid on a bullet wound

 

Diesel locomotives use electric motors with power generated by constant speed diesel engines... It's more efficient.

read the latest issue of Winding Road. Matt Davis does a good article talking to three big wigs in powertrain dev. If you take an all electric, put in a 6 gallon tank and a small diesel not coupled to the drivetrain but to a generator (this is known as a "range extender") you can get over 100 mpg.

If you use the dual mode hybrid drivetrains in large trucks and the like, you can get a 25%-40% increase in fuel efficiency on something where it actually makes a difference!

One of those wacky English electric Minis with 640 HP (uses 4 160 hp hub motors) when equipped with the "range extender" gets 900 miles to a tank of gas...

Makes you think, don't it?

Matt

 

Hybrids, while making use of energy wasted in braking, actually scales better to larger vehicles. Diesel hybrids, with plug-in capability and large battery arrays are the best as far as overall energy efficiency.

 

this is the kind of thing that we need to be focusing on. this is a much better idea than the traditional hybrid. now if the wheel could be equipped with some form of alternator to help maintain a charge in the motors imagine what extra mileage could be achieved

 

or a 08 Honda Fit 5MT that can do over 42mpg while monitoring on
a ScanGauge2. (so they say). measured by actual gallons per mile not
thorough the scangauge's readings. mine does 36-37mpg on average.

 

yah, i like that plug-in option.

 

.... and my MINI got about 12mpg at the Dragon...

 

dragon must be one of the most polluted roads in the US.

 

except anything that you plug-in should not be an option, ever.....the energy from that plug comes from somewhere.....coal, oil, gas, LNG, or nuclear.....all of which are either consumable themselves, or end user pollutants with no easy answer.

 

Ok, what about all the solar panels that my neighbour has?

 

Heating water, or making electricity??? How much is he returning to the grid? If he is not returning to the grid, where does he store? Solar panels unto themselves are not the answer.

Is your neighbor off the grid completely?

I would be much more friendly toward your neighbor if it was a windmill.

But in either case, the initial answer still holds. How much is he producing, and how much is he returning to the grid? If he is returning nothing to the grid, or breaking even daily, plugging in a car is not the answer.

Bottom line, electric cars are not the free environmentally friendly thing that people seem to think. Cruising radius is too short, and while the pollutants may not be in that locals environment, where ever the electricity and the batteries are produced/disposed of, there is pollution....electric cars, like hybrids are a band aid answer.

 

it's more about which is more efficient at the end... the bicycle you
pedal is using energy from you eating junk food which requires fuel
consuming factories to produce it.

where does it end? it's about which is more efficient.

 

Neither is more efficient......in the long term.....

If you are HONESTLY looking for an alternative fuel or propulsion system, electricity, unless entire produced from wind or solar, is not the answer. And for it to still be efficient, you can't use batteries at any point.....since their production, unto themselves is inefficient and require energy and pollutants of their own.

Playing with the semantics of the equation isn't the answer.

 

yah, reading your posts takes more energy then me going to the pump
to get more gas.

 

...back at'cha!!!