Recent Comments:
Volkswagen up confirmed to be FWD, delayed five months {Autoblog}
Jul 21st 2008 12:28PM You're right that an FR layout makes little sense in a small economy car, but this one was supposed to rear-engined, it was kinda the whole thing that set it apart in the first place. Now that they dropped that, it's just another econobox. As such, don't expect it to be fun to drive.
VIDEO: Nanosolar makes a one gigawatt printing press {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2008 1:01PM Oh man, the old solar vs. nuclear battle.
Calm down people. Neither nuclear nor solar power ALONE are the answer to our problems. Only a mixed solution makes sense economically and environmentally.
-Uranium is a limited resource, yes. But using breeder reactors and reprocessing, we probably have enough of the stuff for several centuries. And that's counting only known and easily exploitable reserves.
-Uranium is not the only nuclear fuel. For example Thorium, which is favored for high-temperature reactors (which are physically unable to undergo meltdown, btw), is even more abundant than U and produces less long-halflife waste.
-Solar will NEVER provide base-load capability, contrary to nuclear power. On the other hand, solar is very well suited to balance peak demand during the day due to its decentralization potential and low maintenance.
-BOTH still require government subsidies to be even remotely attractive.
Maybe you should think in gallons-per-mile instead of MPG {Autoblog}
Jun 21st 2008 8:31PM There's a reason for that, you know:
Because it IS inherently better.
Because it is based on hard science (vs. arbitrarily defined), internally consistent and more natural to use (decimal steps).
Pretty much the only reason why imperial and customary units are still used in a handful of countries is "cuz people are used to it". Even those are now defined in terms of equivalent SI units. Otherwise, exact science or commerce would be impossible because pretty much the entire world uses the metric system. You do know that, right? It's why they call it SI - Système International (d' Unites).
lol @ "crawling out of the woodwork"
Anyway, back on topic - mpg or l/100km does contain the same information, but mpg is much better for marketing purposes, so automakers would probably never willingly adopt it.
Mahindra's diesel pickup drops 'Appalachian' name {Autoblog}
Jun 14th 2008 8:26PM I like it because -looking the way it does- people won't buy it to look cool, they'll buy it because they need a truck.
Is this the iCar? Nah, couldn't be {Autoblog}
Jun 14th 2008 5:27AM In that case, I stand corrected.
Is this the iCar? Nah, couldn't be {Autoblog}
Jun 13th 2008 12:13PM Almost.
It's "The VW of tomorrow" ;)
Is this the iCar? Nah, couldn't be {Autoblog}
Jun 13th 2008 12:12PM I've said it before, I'll say it again: Do not, ever, trust anything you read in Auto Bild.
That they use a picture of the iPHONE to illustrate the sentence "As easy as an iPOD (The VW of tomorrow)" perfectly illustrates the quality of journalism you can expect from that rag.
Valentio Rossi's new helmet a scream {Autoblog}
Jun 7th 2008 10:17PM Psychological warfare?
Though, for maximum effect, he should've put it on the back of the helmet XD
Mercedes-Benz shows off 2009 G 55 AMG {Autoblog}
Jun 6th 2008 8:30PM Oh Wolf... what have they done to you.
Predator EV3 Roadster under develpment, looks very familiar {Autoblog Green}
Jun 5th 2008 2:43PM Erk, late reply. Anyway.
Thanks for your input John Q.
I was specifically concerned about the VW axles, I have no problems with three wheelers in general. I just had a "WTF?" moment because today, there are suspensions that are just as cheap and easily available but offer substantial better characteristics, for instance the semi-trailing arm suspensions of later VWs.
From your comment I gather that the car in the video was a very early, garage-built prototype never meant for commercialization, so yeah, my objections and concerns regarding "60s tech" are largely unfounded.
I still stand by my notion that a truly modern EV design should use more advanced energy storage than plain old lead-acid batteries, but of course I recognize the points about cost and availability vs. Li-ion cells. Luckily, there is a lot of effort going on to change this.
