[PeakOiler]

The other day on my commute home from work in my 2003 hybrid Honda Insight, I saw a black Dodge 4x4 pickup truck with a window sticker reading:

Death Before Prius

Yikes!

It’s just a reminder that there is a segment of US society that doesn’t give a flip about energy resources, does not want to conserve, probably doesn’t believe in any significant anthropogenic forces responsible for climate change and all I can say is those people must have money to spare or waste, and doesn't care about this planet. It’s really sad.

☹

I have doubts if the majority of the sheeple in this country will ever wake up to the reality of limits.

I will be so glad when my work commute comes to an end later this year. Not dealing with greater Austin’s traffic will be such a relief.

[Sixstrings]

Death Before Prius

It's just a marketing problem. Right now the automakers target a certain liberal yuppie hispter demographic, the same folks shopping for arugala and exotic italian olives at Whole Foods.

Once that market is saturated, and EV's / hybrids come down in cost, then they can make something like a Prius with as much appeal as a Bud Light.

[dinopello]

When NASCAR goes electric it will appeal to bubba

Edmunds has learned exclusively that Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, will enter the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2015.

Paul Ryan, spokesman for the Tesla Racing initiative, confirmed that the long-rumored program is moving forward, pending an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, which is committing to a three-year, $62 million deal that will allow Tesla to develop the racecar, and for sponsorship on one of the two Tesla racers.

Under the supervision of Tesla's in-house engineering team, Lidocad-daleoxide battery technology is being developed specifically for the racecars at a Czechoslovakian research facility, Blázen Dubna, Ltd.

I've been to Richmond Raceway which is in the NASCAR Sprint series a long time ago. It was deafening. It will be much more civilized when all you hear is the tires squealing and the high pitch buzz of electric motors.

[dolanbaker]

Formula E is already out there, http://youtu.be/BS1ZP1I_9xM

[Sixstrings]

Formula E is already out there, http://youtu.be/BS1ZP1I_9xM

Well see there you go, that's marketing, sponsor some kind of e-nascar thing and target that demographic and that's how you expand the market.

The market hasn't expanded beyond liberal "eco conscious" demographics because the automakers aren't ready to yet. And now gas is cheap again, so I don't know if that keeps EV market share right where it is, stuck in place or not.

About rednecks and their trucks, by the way -- they cannot all drive a honda. A lot of people that own trucks do some kind of work that requires a truck, maybe they've got a lawn business or into contracting or the trades or any number of things. There's reasons to own a truck, so go make a cool ev truck that's affordable and has horsepower too, add some marketing into that, and people would buy it.

Isn't it a bit ridiculous to just expect everyone to drive a honda, it's not their fault, not everyone works in a cubicle and food just appears by magic at the Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

[Shaved Monkey]

Global warming deniers should be declared a terrorist organisation.

[Sixstrings]

Global warming deniers should be declared a terrorist organisation.

Instead of throwing them into jail, how about making an ev truck that is affordable that can be used by some guy that owns a roofing or contracting business.

You needn't throw people in jail, just make a product that works for them and then do smart advertising.

[Keith_McClary]

It will be much more civilized when all you hear is the tires squealing and the high pitch buzz of electric motors.

You didn't read the article.

[dinopello]

It will be much more civilized when all you hear is the tires squealing and the high pitch buzz of electric motors.

You didn't read the article.

Ha, I skimmed it. After your post I thought maybe it said that the racing electric motor made a deafening whine that would make your filling dissolve, but the actual paragraph is even more ridiculous!

Reportedly Evernham has already addressed one issue facing the Tesla racers, or any electric car: It will need to make noise, both for the crew's safety and the fans' enjoyment. Supposedly Evernham has already purchased a retired Dodge Charger from Penske Racing, and will record the sounds the engine makes on a chassis dyno, and the Teslas will broadcast that sound through tiny but powerful speakers developed by another partner in the project, Bose.

Although lack of noise is both a plus and minus for electric cars in an urban environment as well. It's nice for the outdoor cafe diners but creates a hazard for pedestrians since you can't hear them coming you have to really pay attention with vision.

[dissident]

Global warming deniers should be declared a terrorist organisation.

The damage they are causing is vastly more than any the terrorists can achieve. That's for sure.

[KaiserJeep]

Global warming deniers should be declared a terrorist organisation.

The damage they are causing is vastly more than any the terrorists can achieve. That's for sure.

Why? Even if we stopped all burning of fossil fuels overnight, the planetary ecology still dies. The extinction event is the presence of 7.3 billion humans on a globe that could support AT MOST 1 billion in a sustainable fashion.

We passed the sustainable population level around 1805 and are more than 600% beyond that level today, and we have been over-consuming for 200+ years.

The problems caused by the population overshoot are habitat destruction, overfishing, slash & burn agriculture, pollution, peak minerals, peak fresh water, peak oil/coal/gas/uranium, topsoil erosion, topsoil exhaustion, climate change, etc. etc. Why would you ever believe for ome moment that if we stopped burning FF, we would live?

Human populations are still rising exponentially, and the rate of species extinctions is also rising on a exponential curve. The presence of 7.3 billion humans is the extinction event, climate change is a symptom of this problem.

[Keith_McClary]

When NASCAR goes electric it will appeal to bubba

PALO ALTO, California, April 1, 2013

Re: Tesla To Race in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
by mistercrash » Sat Apr 06, 2013 10:32 am

Lidocad-daleoxide battery technology  Made in a Czechoslovakian research facility...? Blázen Dubna, Ltd  Which translates to ''April Fool, Ltd''
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewto ... =7&t=48959


[dinopello]

When NASCAR goes electric it will appeal to bubba

PALO ALTO, California, April 1, 2013

Well, you're no fun today, Keith McClary

However, my point stands - when NASCAR goes electric so will J6P.

And that Formula-e BS doesn't count at all, it's gotta be NASCAR.

It's like Jazz at the Pit Stop

[dolanbaker]

When NASCAR goes electric it will appeal to bubba

PALO ALTO, California, April 1, 2013

Well, you're no fun today, Keith McClary

However, my point stands - when NASCAR goes electric so will J6P.

And that Formula-e BS doesn't count at all, it's gotta be NASCAR.

It's like Jazz at the Pit Stop

Only in the US, everywhere else in the world follows formula1.

[PeakOiler]

But it's mainly the American attitude that needs adjusting...

[kuidaskassikaeb]

It's just a marketing problem. Right now the automakers target a certain liberal yuppie hispter demographic, the same folks shopping for arugala and exotic italian olives at Whole Foods.

Once that market is saturated, and EV's / hybrids come down in cost, then they can make something like a Prius with as much appeal as a Bud Light.

You are so right. The "more organic than thou" vibe used to sell the Prius, which even I find obnoxious once in a while, can be used to market a backlash product to a resentful demographic. Toyota itself makes some pretty big pickups.

Below is a rant, no reason to read.

I find the "rolling coal" diesel pickups way more than irritating and I don't think these guys are just going to work. I don't think I can stand any more Identity country. This whole "don't fuck with America" song fest, that is so transparently manipulative, and bad for the people being manipulated. One of the things that always drove me crazy is the POW MIA movement, and how it was used. I don't think that it was so crazy that the Vietnamese kept some prisoners. But the people who decided not to make a stink about it were Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who were Nixon's and Fords secretaries of defense, not Jane Fonda, who may have been a pain in a lot of ways, but wouldn't have had been able to leave anybody there. Still, guess who all those guys voted for. I sure am glad that we liberals are harder to manipulate than that ( sarcasm). Were doomed

[Pops]

Right on Kub.

I saw an opinion piece the other day ranting about the whole "thank you for your service" bit - chanted to the tune of Toby Keith "uncle Sam's boot up yer ass" and it ties in with what I mentioned before about the ridiculous number of jacked 4x4 coffe cup haulers in the central valley of CA (of all places) that I noticed on my return.

I'm gonna go on a limb and say it is half an outlet for the guilt I think we try to hide for the whole downhill slide of America in the eyes of the world that I'm going to lay directly at Bush/Cheney's feet.

But it also half a finger in the eye of those who say that oil is going away, that carbon is poisoning the planet - It is like the relative who goes off like Limbaugh on a Facebook Rant to his friends and relatives as if he thinks that is the way to win friends and influence people.


It is a tantrum, plain and simple. But wait, it is just starting ...

[kuidaskassikaeb]

Dear Pops:

For those of us with feet in both camps. I think both of us own pick up trucks also, and occasionally mine is a cup holder.

Probably the rolling coal thing started with those old truck pulls, when they made huge clouds of black smoke. Even somebody as liberal as me had enough humanity left to think "cool." Then, of course, I found out that that diesel smoke was probably the worst thing you could put in your lungs. It ruined that for me, and as a liberal we have to ruin it for everybody else. It really didn't start out as a poke in the eye.

But you're right, the rage comes from getting close to a nerve, maybe American decline, like you think.

[Pops]

I am at least partially a gearhead and perhaps more than a little "homesick" for the good old muscle car days of heavy iron and light guilt. LOL

I did buy a big coal burner, 7.3 international power stroke Ford - they were discontinued because they couldn't make the emissions standards. Two reasons: it can pull anything I can load in it, (the idea being loading everything I have in or behind it) and with the 6 speed stick it has a reputation for going forever; at 175k miles it is just getting broke in. If it goes over 200k before I croak I'll be surprised. It's like a pistola or a shotgun, it holds it's value fairly well so it doesn't cost much to just sit there and be ready. I have $10k in it more or less (with some maintenance) and I'd bet in 10 years it will still be worth most of that at 200k.

I hope to get my shoulder worked on this year so I can get a little bitty motorcycle to ease my liberal conscience. My net MPG then will be 50MPG!

[Keith_McClary]

Reportedly Evernham has already addressed one issue facing the Tesla racers, or any electric car: It will need to make noise, both for the crew's safety and the fans' enjoyment. Supposedly Evernham has already purchased a retired Dodge Charger from Penske Racing, and will record the sounds the engine makes on a chassis dyno, and the Teslas will broadcast that sound through tiny but powerful speakers developed by another partner in the project, Bose.

Although lack of noise is both a plus and minus for electric cars in an urban environment as well. It's nice for the outdoor cafe diners but creates a hazard for pedestrians since you can't hear them coming you have to really pay attention with vision.

This does not seem to be April Fool:

For the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost, Ford sound engineers and developers worked on an “Active Noise Control” system that amplifies the engine’s purr through the car speakers. Afterward, the automaker surveyed members of Mustang fan clubs on which processed “sound concepts” they most enjoyed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... ml?hpid=z2