Cars! Cars! Cars!

An Alternative It Is

Idea maybe for a new blog, hmm? Yes? OK, enough of the Yoda talk. Can you imagine if more people did this rather than driving? 42 bikes in one car spot.

Referenced articles

gizmodo: How Many Folding Bikes Does It Take To Fill a Parking Space?

Fancy Ford Gettin' Friendly With O

Man, we could have come up with all sorts of headlines!

1. Ford Meets The Big O
2. Screw Chrysler
3. Is Ford The Missing Piece?
4. Ford Gets Big Sale From Government Because They Are Fiscally More Sound And Don't Make Nearly As Many POS As Other American Car Makers
5. Ah Ha! Fusion! We Get It! It Fuses Regular Old Engine And New Fangled Whatchmcallit... Mmm, Candy.

Of course, it's just two dudes in the Obama administration so it's not like the whole U.S. fleet is going Ford. And, really, two sales ain't a big deal. Unless you are an automaker. In which case, Jaysus, tell your friends!

Referenced articles US News & World Report: Ford Scores Another Obama Hybrid Sale

No Bailout

There should be no bailout for automakers. Before we get too far into this, our love affair is with cars*, not the makers. Their short-sighted motives for high-profit (and low fuel economy) vehicles have created a mess that they themselves are responsible for and we see no reason to foot the bill.

For years Detroit shrugged off suggestions that fuel economy rules were unfair and so they put no serious money into research and development of newer technologies that would help with fuel economy. This sounds so familiar... Oh, safety!

And understand this: It will not turn out to be a loan.

What should happen:

• The government should say no and tell them to get their loans elsewhere.

What will probably happen:

• Congress will pony up the loans
  
• CEOs will not be canned (they should be)
  
• Unions will take a larger portion of the blame than they should
  
• China will come in with big investments to one of the Detroit Three

It's funny that once this depression (it will be labeled a depression before long) subsides, unions will have been fully busted (as a relic of the past and as part of the problem) but folks will need them more than ever before.

No one could have predicted these horrible sales were going to happen.

Referenced articles
NY Times: Frank Sees ‘Disaster’ if Auto Industry Fails

McClatchy DC: No commitment on auto bailout despite union concessions

Huffington Post: Big Three Promise Green Future But Spent Almost $50 Million Since 2007 Lobbying Against It

*And Claire, Alison and Summer. Oh, Summer, have mercy our on catalytic converter!

Plug It In, Plug It In

While it may not happen in our lifetime (yeah, you, you old SOB you), it will certainly happen during the lifetimes of the children being born today: Electric cars will get most people from here to there.

And, really, there are no downsides to this. We'll still have road freedom, but we'll have no pollution from the operation of these vehicles. Our nation (and nearly all nations) will no longer be held hostage to those with the fuel needed. Because it will all come from the sun.

Meanwhile, we're busy working on a new sun-ray device that burns off clothes without harming the delish below.

Referenced article

AlterNet: Electric Cars Are the Key to Energy Independence

Walkin

Eschaton makes a good point with his "Driving Less" post. Essentially, places that can be made more walkable, should be.

Power Without The Plug

Thanks to researchers in Ohio, our waste heat might not be so wasted any more. Well, it's not ready yet, but the long-haired thinkers out in Oh Aych Ten have figured out something with something and then, boom, you gots yourself from power from garbage.

Yeah, we didn't get it either. But maybe, down the road, it means less moving-parts stuff in our cars!

Referenced article

ScienceDaily: New Material May Help Autos Turn Heat Into Electricity

Electricity, E-lec-tric-ity

Man, it's all plug in, all the time! Lately, anyway. This totally makes sense as every current hybrid sold is really a regular car first and a hybrid second (meaning it really relies on the old-style engine we all know and use the battery system -the hybridy part- as supplemental power). But we we're starting to see the opposite happen... and even cars that are fully electric.

In the GM article below, we wonder... are all the manufacturers talking and working together to make the connector bits universal? Will the Volt have the same plug bits as the Tesla Roadster? Or as the Electric Lightning? Would be a big drag to have to go to different charging stations based on the car you are driving.

Referenced articles

arstechnica: GM, utilities to develop plug-in stations for electric cars

engadget: Blighty's electro-supercar 2.0 uncloaked today

autobloggreen: Electric MINI will be in US customer hands in summer 2009! (Thanks to engadget for this link, too.)

Full Of Air (Hot or Not)

Man, talk about alternative fuels! Here's a car that runs on compressed air. And, in India anyway, will cost just $2 to fill up.

Compressed air has been talked about before, but this is the first one that we know of that is production ready. As a commenter posted (follow the link below): "And even if it doesn't turn out to be a winner, at least they're trying stuff over there. It would be nice if we'd do the same. Remember when we used to hear about good old American ingenuity?" Right on, brother!

By the way, even NYC tried the whole compressed air system... over 140 years ago. Of course, not only were there technical obstacles to overcome, but there political ones as well. Just like today. ahemoilmeninwhitehouseahem.

Referenced articles
Cogitamus: Want
PBS: The Secret Subway

Use The Sun!

Before you nay-sayers, uh, nay say on the whole idea of running the A/C via solar panels (i.e. what if it's hot and cloudy?), we say, "Rock on, Toyota!"

Great ideas often start small and this is the kind of movement forward we need. Yes, it's a start. Now let's see GM one-up Toyota.

Referenced articles
engadget: Prius to go (partially) solar

That Sticky Peanut Butter Saaaaandwich!

No, they weren't using peanut butter in the fuel cell thingies, it was something else. And, turns out, it was pretty inefficient. Using some long-haired books, the folks at MIT (fyi: do not send them a photo of you writing your admissions essay while wearing only a motherboard from an original Lisa... an original! prudes) have managed to make fuel cells 50% more efficient. Holy flying-past-the-old-style-fillin-stations, Batman!

In other news, Honda has purchased MIT.

Referenced articles
Register Hardware: Boffins' breakthrough boosts fuel cell output by 50%

Thanks to Gizmodo for the link. You guys rock.