[Leica] Further adventures of a completely screwed up guy: longand occasionally on topic

[jplaurel at spectare.com (Jim Laurel)]

You're absolutely right, Don.  And no of the alternative energy  
sources will be "cost effective" or "economically viable" until all  
the oil is gone.  So I say burn as much now as you like.  the sooner  
the oil is gone, the sooner we'll get alternative energy.

If you ever wanted a real fire-breathing car that runs on gasoline,  
now is the time.  The new BMW M5 has a 507hp V10, sequential manual  
gearbox with paddle shifters, goes to 60 in 4.1 seconds (per Road and  
Track's recent review) and with the limiter removed, hits 204mph.

Burn it up now because between the time when the oil gets scarce and  
when battery technology really improves, we are headed for a period  
of extremely boring cars.  (think Toyota Prius)  The light at the end  
of the tunnel is that pure electric cars have much greater  
performance potential than combustion-engined cars.  But the energy  
storage problems have to be solved first.

--Jim

On Jan 29, 2006, at 11:23 AM, Don Dory wrote:

> Seth,
> I get the feeling that if we want to drive something resembling a  
> car in ten
> years or so, then the first manufacturer to figure out how to cut  
> 1000 lbs
> or 450 Kilo's from the current automobile will win a large slice of  
> market
> share.  Less weight means a smaller power source which opens up new
> technologies for similar performance.  Even with an IC engine less  
> mass
> means less power inputs required for similar performance.
>
> As the oil producing states become a little more radical, and as  
> the world
> demand for cheap energy grows, traditional hydrocarbon inputs will  
> become
> very expensive.  Up to now, the western world has been very  
> resistant to
> cutting back on life style, but has instead found alternative ways  
> of doing
> things.  We will see if the Western world is still up for  
> challenges or
> whether the baton will be passed on to other cultures.
>
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
>
>
> On 1/29/06, Seth Rosner <sethrosner@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>> Frank is factually right; BUT - regulatory requirements have added  
>> a huge
>> weight penalty to every automobile produced today. Crash-ability,
>> bump-resistant bumpers, airbags (that entail electronics, motors and
>> bags...
>>
>
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