The do exist: Toyota Prius. With the hybrid powerplant, MPG is 52/45/48 city/highway/combined. MSRP $19.995. I own one and love it for my commute.
Posted on 06/17/2002 8:50:59 AM PDT by jimkress
Edited on 05/25/2004 3:03:03 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Some local radio stations are refusing to air commercials from the Sierra Club that attempt to paint Detroit auto workers and Chairman Bill Ford Jr. as treasonous for building the light trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) that Americans love to drive.
(Excerpt) Read more at detroitnews.com ...
Works for ME!
Sierra Club mission statement, in a nutshell.
Or should that be "...in a nutcase?"
They will studiously avoid the troubling subject of the oil oligarchy's financial sponsorship of much of the Big Environmental movement.
Big Business, Big Environment and Big Government---the un-Holy Trinity of the status quo.
Nor will the Sierra Club take on the immigration issue even though they claim that human expansion is one of the greatest threats to the environment. This is because their sponsors---Big Business--support mass immigration and the general lowering of wages that accompanies mass immigration. So, naturally they go after auto workers. It's much easier to poop on the head of the low man on the totem pole, after all......
Hmm looks like they didn't know what they were talking about back then either.
I bet 60-85% of the people working for the Sierra Club are SUV drivers. They are nothing but hypocrites.
Agreed.
Conservatives - get with the 21st century and endorse the research into the perfection of alternative fuels - it won't make cars smaller or take away jobs - in fact it may create a new industry in the US that could rival the computer revolution. I believe that in 20 years all cars and SUV's will be hybrid or electric anyway, and oil use will go down naturally from this technological advance.
I don't know of anyone who opposes the research and perfection of alternative fuels. The automotive industy by nature needs to sell the consumer what it wants. As the science improves and the automakers are able to supply an electric or alternative fuel vehicle that fits the consumers performance and utility needs at a reasonable price, they will sell a bunch. Until those needs are met, the consumers will stay away in droves as they do now. When those needs are met, the consumers will flock to the dealers to purchase them no matter what the fuel source is.
If an automaker could offer me a 4 wheel drive electic/alternative fuel SUV that could seat 7 and pull a 10,000 lb. boat trailer for $25-$30K I'd buy one. Or if they offered a electric/alternative fuel 2 seater sports car that didn't look like a golf cart, would do 0-60 in under 6 seconds, and cost less than $25K I'd buy one of those. Or even a 4-5 seat family car that costs less than $25,000. But the fact of the matter is, they don't exist. And without govt. subsidies or incentives (i.e. taxpayer help), most are not within reach of the average American family. We don't buy them because they don't fit our needs or are within our budgets not because we are opposed to cleaner/non-emmission vehicles. As technology improves and prices come down, then Detroit will sell a load of these vehicles. Not because the gubmint inflicts disincentives on us to force us out of our current choices.
There does seem to be a limit on the size/weight vs. mpg/miles-per-recharge that keeps hybrids and electric cars small.
There is no limit on the size of hybrids. All modern train locomotives are diesel-electic hybrids. The only reason the current mass-market hybrid cars (Toyota and Honda) are small is that they are aiming for maximum gas mileage.
The do exist: Toyota Prius. With the hybrid powerplant, MPG is 52/45/48 city/highway/combined. MSRP $19.995. I own one and love it for my commute.
It's fine for a family of 5 midgets. Until they come out with a Camry/Taurus sized one, it won't fit the needs of an average family for anymore than a trip to the grocery store permitting they only need a few things.
I don't doubt the value as a commuter car though, or even the Honda Insight. I, in fact, have a strange attraction to tiny cars. I love the old Austin Mini's, Mini Mokes, and King Midgets. Which is kind of funny given I'm 6'3" 260 lbs. I've got my eye on the new BMW Mini Coopers as well, but right now I own a Caravan, an F-350 Crew Cab, and an Escort Wagon for running errands with. With the wife, two car seats (and another car seat on its' way), anything Escort size or smaller just won't cut it for the average family. That's not to say it's not possible and the sacrifice isn't worth it for some families. But for most it's not.
Careful, your naiveté is showing.
The companies that sell the oil will never let oil use "go down". They are driving the market that keeps their billions of dollars flowing in. Only when they own all of the technology that allows these cars to be built will they allow it.
For example, do you know the name of the company that owns just about ALL of the facilities and resources today to manufacture the materials used in the production of solar electric cells?
Mobil Oil.
I take exception to that stereotype. It is ignorant to think that conservatives in general do not want to find ways to combat pollution. Several on this thread have already pointed out the reason why we haven't gotten to that pristine state the Sierra Club so wants, I'll not bother repeating.
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