10 million cars off the road by 2012?

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madmadscientist

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Hello All,

Did anyone else read this on treehugger?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/gas-7-per-gallon.php

The study has a dire (for ICE vehicles I should say) prediction of when gas hits $7/gal that people will start abandoning their cars in droves.

Here's what I find strange-no mention of EV's as the solution in the article or the original study?

Don't y'all think this is going to drive people to buy fully electric cars (like the Think City my current fav)-especially where they dont have great public transit?

Thanks,

Daniel Neumansky
Alameda CA
 
It's not like they even have much of a choice to do anything else but buy an electric/hybrid car.

Well, there is that other option we all know and love so much. :wink:
 
in the 60s, little europian sports cars came with tiny motors. as small as 600CC in things like some Fiats. 900cc was a respectable size in a small convertable Austin Healy Sprite or MG midget. And they got pretty good milage. they had 30 to 40HP tops, but then the cars weighed only around 1000 pounds

So I had this idea. Bolt a brushless motor onto the side of a restored old sportscar, and have it drive through the belt, in place of the alternator. 7500 watts of power peak from an RC type brushless motor would be a huge boost, and let you build your own hybrid.

it would be useless on a big motor, but on something like the original Mini, with its 900CC, it would be perfect.
 
More of an Economist's opinion, not a study really... nevertheless, oil & gas will continue to climb, because people who can afford it will buy it. Those that can't afford it are SOL, and will need to find other options.

@Drunk
I like the conversion concept. A way to open the valves or bypass the motor altogether and things look doable.

Bring back the Yugo... electrified!! :twisted:
 
My buddy just today sent me a link to this article that mentions a company that will replace the alternator with a generator to save like 60% gas mileage or something to that effect.

I like your brushless motor idea better.
 
TylerDurden said:
More of an Economist's opinion, not a study really... nevertheless, oil & gas will continue to climb, because people who can afford it will buy it. Those that can't afford it are SOL, and will need to find other options.

@Drunk
I like the conversion concept. A way to open the valves or bypass the motor altogether and things look doable.

Bring back the Yugo... electrified!! :twisted:
Click to expand...

Its a market-research study done by a company that specializes in the auto industry. So yes not a scientific study, but these 'studies' carry a lot of weight with wall st. investor types...

While the author does mention hybrids I don't think he even mentions PHEV or pure EV's it seems like a glaring omission...

Daniel Neumansky
Alameda CA
 
10M is a drop in the bucket...

One of the numbers that continues to shock me is that there are as many cars in America as there are people. I mean think of that, this is the one country in the world where we manufacture, literally, these machines to carry us around that are expensive, that require these mass industrial infrastructures, requires this huge energy industry, highly inefficient, incredibly polluting. We pay an incredible price in terms of quality of life and health instead of committing ourselves to mass transportation options, and we do that to the extent that there are literally as many of these machines around as there are people. Now what do you think is going to happen today when China, with 1.2 billion people, follows that same development knowledge, when China becomes laced-over with ribbons of freeways and every Chinese is driving a car, 1.2 billion people. You have to understand that there are currently only about 4 or 5 million cars in China. Now, to a capitalist, to a business man, that's an opportunity, it's a chance to create the world's biggest car market, it's a chance to cash in on the big one. There's not going to be a larger car market in the world, and that mentality is blind to the fact that it also means the death of the planet.

Herbert Chao Gunther
President, Public Media Center
 
I agree that China and India can not follow our lead or we will all be toast. They need to follow the Europeons with quality mass transit. I wish I could afford to live in Manhatten where you absolutely don't need a personal vehicle....
 
madmadscientist said:
... need to follow the Europeons with quality .....
Click to expand...

Hi madmadscientist,

BTW, gas is already $10/gallon here and there are still people driving. As for quality mass transit - it all depends on where you are. In Britain, the authorities seem to have forgotten that there is a population outside London. Rural mass transport is a joke here.

My work takes me all over the place, so I am always doing the sudden transition between rural England where there is no effective public transport and urban Europe, where it generally works very well. Last time I bought a train ticket in Germany, I had to get the guy to repeat the price, because it was about one quarter of what I would have had to pay in England.

Nick
 
did the rest of europe privatise their railways? it seams that most of our woes stem from thathers decision to privatise the network.
 
TylerDurden said:
10M is a drop in the bucket...

One of the numbers that continues to shock me is that there are as many cars in America as there are people. I mean think of that, this is the one country in the world where we manufacture, literally, these machines to carry us around that are expensive, that require these mass industrial infrastructures, requires this huge energy industry, highly inefficient, incredibly polluting. We pay an incredible price in terms of quality of life and health instead of committing ourselves to mass transportation options, and we do that to the extent that there are literally as many of these machines around as there are people. Now what do you think is going to happen today when China, with 1.2 billion people, follows that same development knowledge, when China becomes laced-over with ribbons of freeways and every Chinese is driving a car, 1.2 billion people. You have to understand that there are currently only about 4 or 5 million cars in China. Now, to a capitalist, to a business man, that's an opportunity, it's a chance to create the world's biggest car market, it's a chance to cash in on the big one. There's not going to be a larger car market in the world, and that mentality is blind to the fact that it also means the death of the planet.

Herbert Chao Gunther
President, Public Media Center
Click to expand...

This is the part that is puzzling me. Why someone with some bucks has not just developed another EV. they would sell like hotcakes if priced affordably. Watch Washington bail out Detroit this year because of the idiots running things and their corrupt little boys club of golfers with Exxon and Chevron boys. If someone had a reasonably well made EV with a decent range, I think the picture would change very fast.
 
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