Electric Cars

Believe it or not, I am a big fan of electric cars. That seems to go against my favorite subject, Global Warming Is Crap.
Though I am a climate skeptic, I still do believe we should cut down on fossil fuel consumption as much as is reasonably possible.
Ay there's the rub, "reasonably."
I've been here a bit before, but it's too cool to leave alone.

Electric cars are getting better all the time, and are fast becoming practical, especially with the rapid increase in charging stations.

Here are a few links to some electric car manufacturers, and some other links of interest.

DETROIT ELECTRIC
The name is from a company long gone, but this is a startup. Very spiffy. Lotus based.

Detroit Electric Home

TATA TECHNOLOGIES
This is not a production car, it's a design study. But it does appear tantalizingly close to realization. We may someday see these on American streets.

Tata Technologies eMO

TESLA
So far, this seems to be the greatest of all electrics. Performance, luxury, long range. Nothing to dislike.

Tesla Home

MITSUBISHI
At the other end of the spectrum from Tesla is the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. I know someone who drove one of these and he tells me it's basically an enclosed golf cart. Crazy overpriced, except for one dealer!

Mitsubishi i-MiEV home

But there is a dealer in Illinois who offers leases on these for $89/month, making it the most affordable electric car out there, as far as I know. It was $69/month back in January 2013. Just let the video play, it'll show you the lease option.

O'Brien Mitsubishi

FISKER
This one makes me sad. What a beautiful car. High performance too!

Why Fisker crashed and burned

Here's the company home page, for however long it stays around.

Fisker Home

MYERS
A few years ago, this was the Corbin Sparrow. Nice to see the quirky looking thing is still around.

Myers Home

TANGO
Very narrow, it looks very odd, like it had been squashed. But with a 0 to 60 time of 3.2 seconds, and a top speed of 150mph, this is one FUN electric. Crazy expensive too. But then, most fun things are.

Tango Commuter Car

CODA
Much more conventional in appearance and function. Still, a very interesting car.

Coda Home

NISSAN
Can't leave this one out! About the most affordable electric car around that isn't a tin can.

Nissan Leaf



END
Well, no, not the end of electric car lists. There are others, such as Chrysler's GEM. And there are several under development right now. Startups from all over the world. It's an exciting time in the world of electric cars.
Some will fail. Some have already, such as Phoenix and Ox. Many have taken millions of taxpayer dollars down with them unfortunately.
But those that survive will make the world a little better place I think.

GM Bailout

The Democrats love to crow about how successful the auto bailouts were. I've noticed they particularly mention GM. Well of course, Chrysler was handed over to Fiat (percent ownership is a detail), but GM is truly Government Motors!

Here is an article that does a great job explaining the reality:

Democrat's GM Fallacy

In the face of this truth, it is interesting to go back to a discussion of this very subject in 2008:

Bailouts: Where to draw the line?

Notice that the two auto companies discussed were GM and Ford. Note that GM got the bailout, and is still not viable, while Ford avoided bailouts, and is doing fairly well (certainly making much better vehicles).

Ford Focus may become world's best seller

But on the GM side:

GM using sub prime loans to drive sales


Chrysler is now led by Sergio Marchionne of Fiat, and a great job he seems to be doing!

Chrysler Sales

GM sales are not so bad, in part due to the sub prime loans and the fact that the federal govt including the military is buying GM cars almost exclusively. But the fundamentals are no better than they were before the bailout so it's a pretty good bet that it'll crash again. Pray they don't get another bailout.

Tools Explained

This is at least 3 years old, and I can't find out who first wrote it. But it's funny enough that I can't resist posting it.


DRILL PRESS : A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL : Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light . Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Oh shit!"

SKIL SAW : A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS : Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER : An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW : One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS : Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH : Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW : A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK : Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes , trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW : A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST : A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER : Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER : A tool for opening paint cans . Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR : A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER : A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER : Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE : Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

SON-OF-A-BITCH TOOL : (A personal favorite!) Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "Son of a BITCH! "at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Hope you found this information useful.

One Crapped Honda - Hello Mercedes

As some may know, I have a 99 Honda Accord. 4 cylinder VTEC, automatic tranny, leather.

Not an exciting car I felt, but a good solid reliable car. Hondas such as mine typically go 200,000 miles or more with little or no problems.
When it got up around 80,000 miles, I used to smile looking at the odometer because if I had an American car, I'd have had to start thinking about getting rid of it. I was so damn happy that I had finally gotten a vehicle that wouldn't start shedding parts before 6 digit mileage.
Well, I guess I have very bad karma, because at about 116,000 miles the tranny started slipping. It was the shift between first and second, no check lights, and the D light does not flash. That means it's not a simple $200 pump, but a rebuild is required.
I kept driving it and now have 120,000 miles.
Then the ignition started acting up. I start the engine, and when I let go of the key, the engine stutters and stalls. It'll stay running after about the third or fourth try.
Also, it just randomly stalls while driving. If I'm going along at road speed, it kicks back in after a couple of seconds, but if I'm going very slowly, say walking speed, it does not.
So now I need a tranny rebuild, which will run me at least $2,300 if I go to a shop many miles away. Close to home, it'll be $2500 minimum and likely more. And that's not including the ignition problem.
Then too, the shocks and brakes need replacing, so by the time it's done, I'm looking at a good $3,000 to get back to reliable running. That's if there's nothing else wrong and if the ignition problem is easy, like the switch or a loose wire or something related to the tranny.

Well, I talked it over with my wife, and we decided that before repairing the Honda, we'd see if any of our friends could lead us to a good used car instead.
One friend told us that his aunt had recently passed and his uncle was selling her 87 Mercedes 300e. I wasn't that interested as I explained to him that I couldn't afford the parts prices and that I wouldn't be able to handle the extreme complexity.
He convinced me to do some research, and I discovered that the car is old enough that I can get most any part after market and don't need to pay OEM nosebleed prices. Also, the thing is old enough that it's not very complicated and I can do much of the work on it myself!
Another problem I had with the Honda was that the trunk wasn't big enough. I carry a lot of equipment around for work quite often, and I'd have to put some of it into the back seat, thus preventing me from taking my kids anywhere. This Mercedes' trunk is so big, I can fit all my stuff in it! That's a big plus.
And the sub $3,000 price was most attractive!

So here is my humble, way lower middle class self tooling around in a Mercedes. All I can say is

I LOVE IT! I LOVE THIS CAR! THIS IS THE GREATEST CAR EVER!

I've never had a European car before, and I must say I do like the overall feel better than the Asian cars I've owned and driven. This thing has a solid, purposeful feel to it that must be experienced to be believed. It handles far better than its smooth ride would suggest. It's amazing how it just glides around fast corners so flat and with little effort. I've got the dinky 6 cylinder, but the engine does love to rev, much like the Honda's 4, though this one is much more torquey.
I am sold. I just love driving this thing, it's a joy!

Now, I will say that it's not perfect. The car only had 84,000 miles on it when I bought it a few months ago, and now there's a bit over 87,000. Still, the years got to it a bit, and I suspect the previous owner fell down on care during the last couple of years of ownership. I've already had to replace the centerlink and one tie rod (there's a story there that I will post later). The valve seals are shot, so oil consumption is high and I found out that this was common on these cars during the 80' as Mercedes used bad material. That's going to set me back about $500.
The shocks are a bit worn, there's a driveshaft coupler that needs replacing, a bad headlight connector, needs front brake rotors, and a glitch in the courtesy lights.
None of this is bad enough to prevent me from driving it though, so I can get it done bit by bit.
All in all, it would have been cheaper to fix the Honda. This was the gamble we took, fix the Honda and hope nothing else is wrong, or buy another used and hope nothing goes wrong.
Well, we're going to fix the Honda later this year anyway as our oldest daughter will be driving. So buying the Mercedes now wasn't totally the wrong thing to do.

Except that I've now completely lost interest in the Accord. All I want is another Mercedes!

Global Warming is Crap VII

Conflicting data it seems. Just ask a farmer.

Crops under stress

But of course GlobAL GOREming will not be denied. The soldiers of truth shall carry on despite the ignorant self destructive naysayers.

Too narrow a time frame? Global warming (more accurately, GlobeAL GOREming. I got that off another blog or article, can't remember where for the life of me. If I ever find out, I'll credit it) is a long term thing? Can't use individual incidents to try and prove/disprove it?
Right you are:

Dying Aussie Bats

Geez, when it's hot out, that's global warming. When it's cold out, that's global warming.
Any science going on around here anywhere?

On a slightly related subject, I do have to defend public transportation after reading this article. I couldn't sleep otherwise:

Think twice about 'green' transportation

Well, this seems to be putting the cart before the horse so to speak. Mass transit becomes more efficient as more people use it. Sure, it could be less efficient than a car or even SUV if there's few riders, but if I were in a position to use it, I would ignore this 'few riders' logic.
I do want to point out that those who revile SUVs and large cars across the board are boneheads too, as one would have to measure energy use per passenger and big vehicles are pretty efficient when you pack the family in them.

Big Three Ad Campaign

This is a first. Absolute truth in advertising (even if it is satire).

Throw Da Bums Out

The One just scored a very big point in my book.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081207/ap_on_go_co/congress_autos

I want to see an American version of Fiat 2004 (see previous post), except that I guess we'll be stuck with gov't involvement and further meddling.

Awww, the Poor Widdle US Auto Companies

My very first post of this blog was an explanation of why I have no interest in buying an American car.

US Auto Non Buyin Rant

Looks like I was right.

The big three are foundering and now begging the govt for a handout like a stereotypical "welfare queen."
Yet the bastard CEOs fly down to beg in their private freakin' jets! My theory here is that they did not know they were doing anything wrong. In other words, the sense of entitlement is so complete that they did not see the problem with it. Understand, I don't mean they rationalized or hoped no one would notice. I mean they had no comprehension of wrongdoing whatsoever.
These people cannot be left in charge.

Here is the CEO of a company that was in a terrible fix. See what he did (If you don't want to read the whole thing, go to page 2 and read the first paragraph under Pumping Iron, it is extremely enlightening):

A Successful Turnaround

I intend to send that to my Federal reps and suggest they insist on the same damn thing before handing over dime one.

A former presidential candidate wrote a great op ed piece on the auto bailout:

Let em go bankrupt

I also got an email from the Libertarian party that I thought was wonderful. I reprint it here with no permission at all:

This week, the main buzz is sure to be about possibly bailing-out the automotive industries in Detroit, known as the "Big Three." The Big Three consist of the three major automotive manufacturers: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Politicians looking to appease their nervous constituency, interest groups (both from the United Auto Workers and those representing Big Automotive) looking for a handout and know-nothing political pundits looking for a juicy story will all tell you this is necessary for the economic well being of the nation.

In this time of economic turmoil, it's easy to suggest government has the answers, especially when it is backed by sweet-sounding rhetoric and promises of better times. For those that don't know the historical failures of government intervention in the market, it just might sound good enough to swallow.

However, like most government programs, the reality is far, far different from the rhetoric.

Bailouts are ALWAYS bad for the taxpayer, for the economy, and for business. Why? Because rewarding the mismanagement of American corporations with a taxpayer-subsidized lifeline does NOTHING to encourage reform or fix the problems that pushed the companies to the brink of failure. As we said in a recent statement, these bailouts do nothing but prolong the inevitable collapse of companies suffering from extreme mismanagement and poor investments.

This is especially true in the case of automotive companies.

Detroit auto manufacturers have failed to keep up with trends in the automotive industry, locked themselves into destructive union contracts and demonstrated a complete lack of initiative in automotive innovations that make their products enticing to consumers.

Why are taxpayers being used to reward this mismanagement?

This is why Daniel J. Mitchell, a senior fellow at The Cato Institute, said the bailouts were like "giving an alcoholic the key to a liquor cabinet." Mitchell went on to list three important reasons why bailouts are bad news:

• A bailout will hurt the overall economy by misallocating resources. When politicians grant special favors to a certain industry or a particular union, such decisions necessarily mean that market forces are being replaced by special-interest deal-making. This type of interference with free markets is why nations such as France, Germany and Japan tend to grow more slowly and enjoy less prosperity.

But if America goes down this same path of government intervention, it is inevitable that we will suffer the same fate of stagnation and higher unemployment.

• A bailout will encourage other industries to seek taxpayer handouts. The Wall Street bailout was a disaster in many ways, most notably as measured by the weak stock market and economic volatility. But another negative aspect of the bailout is that other industries have now decided that it is OK to stick their snouts in the public trough, as well.

First Wall Street's high fliers get a bailout. Now the inefficient management and union at the Big Three want a handout. Who will be next in line to pillage taxpayers? Giving handouts in exchange for political support is akin to getting high. Once politicians decide they like the buzz of campaign contributions, they'll turn into junkies with ordinary Americans footing the bill.

• A bailout is a perverse transfer from poor taxpayers to rich taxpayers. America's Founding Fathers surely never envisaged that the federal government would take money from one group of Americans and give it to another group. Yet much of the federal budget is devoted to redistribution programs.

So, if the government can't bail-out these companies, what should happen to them?

Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is by no means a no-hassle "way-out" for companies that have made bad decisions in the past, but it is by far preferable to taxpayers footing the bill for these companies struggling to stay afloat.

Bankruptcy will allow these companies to restructure to a more cost effective format, and it will allow them to "trim the fat" from their overhead so that they may once again become productive (and profitable) without risking trillions of dollars in taxpayer money. With court-oversight, these automotive factories may also redo expensive and entangling contracts with the Unions—a major reason why these automotive companies have become so costly to operate.

Overall, letting these companies go into restructuring, instead of preserving the status quo with taxpayer funds, is best for the long-term economic stability of both these companies and the nation.

There is no magic bullet for the current economic situation. However, we can learn from our mistakes, and refuse to repeat them—that is, don't run to the government to solve the problems that the marketplace should be taking care of itself.

At the beginning of the financial crisis, before government decided it would bailout these firms (by the way, check out how your money is being spent), other companies were looking to buy up their devalued competitors. Then, government rushed in to do a patch-job, and ended what could have been a very healthy market work-out without the government's help. Instead, government made the problem worse, with your money on the line.

Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats were behind it, leaving the taxpayers with no representation while your money was at stake.

Only the Libertarian Party is the true friend of the taxpayer, and we want you to know we are working night and day to maximize your economic freedom by limiting the power of the government to get involved in the economy. You've heard of the separation of Church and State, well, we'd like a separation of economy and State.

Live free,

Andrew Davis
Director of Communications
Libertarian Party

And a Business Week article from almost a year ago on executive pay. Read the responses, the one from Kimmer parallels my first blog post:

GM Execs: No Pay Cuts for Me

Here is an excellent article on why we shouldn't bail the bastards out:

Ten Reasons Why the Auto Bailout Is a Bad Idea

Well said, all of you.

How's about we put Romney in charge of GM as a requirement for a handout? Yeah, I know, govt money is a obviously bad idea, that's the gist of this whole post, but I think it's a forgone conclusion that they'll get the money.

By the way, consider Chrysler. Remember back in the 80's when the govt bailed them out and Lee Iaccoca took over? That seemed to work well right? OK, so later on they are hurting again and Daimler Benz devours them. That didn't work, so Daimler dumps them on Cerberus and now Chrysler is dying again. For crying out loud that's 3 times in a little over 20 years that they've needed saving and now their dying again?
As much as I love some Chrysler products, such as the new Challenger, I really think it's time to take the patient off life support for the last time. Then again, who'd buy Jeep?
Oh well.

Screw You, SUV's are great!

I'm sick of all these self righteous little envirofreaks dancing around in joy over the drop in SUV sales.
Yes, they are a bit over the top compared to the rest of the world's vehicles, but DAMN they are so great at what they were designed for!

Are you smug weasels so hopelessly out of touch that you think people will be happier with little tin cans? Do you honestly believe that dumping the Tahoe and buying a CRV is anything but a decline in the quality of life for a family (not an individual)?

Long story, boredom shall ensue:

I used to hate SUV's too. Why spend all that extra money for fuel and maintenance? Heck I was driving 2wd pickup trucks winter after winter and rarely ever had any problems. I just did not feel the added costs were worth the extra bit of traction of 4wd, unless you were a serious off-roader or construction worker or some such.
I could understand needing the extra room for a family, but why not get a mini-van or even a full size van or perhaps a station wagon (they still made big wagons back then, another vehicle I really miss)?

Then I got married, had a family, and the pickup had to be replaced with a family hauler.
Well, now I sure as Hell did not want no stinkin' mini-van! To me, that was the final step on the road to domesticity. The public admission that I was no longer a man, but just a castrated drone. Besides, they didn't handle and had no power.
I wanted a Caprice wagon, which was the only big wagon available late model used left at the time, though no longer built. It didn't handle that great either, but there were aftermarket parts to help with that, and it had a V8 engine as God intended cars to have,instead of some wheezy V6 turd like the mini-vans.

Wifey was having none of that, however, so being, in fact, a castrated drone though not wanting to admit it, we got a mini-van.
Now I began to understand a little why so many people liked the SUV's. You could have the room but at least be able to look like you had a pair.
I was a bit depressed, my only consolation was that I still had a motorcycle to prove to others, if not myself, that I still had a life to live.
Well now, the first time I threw a mountain of junk plus the family in that thing, I was a changed drone. I no longer cared that it had no power and didn't handle. Admit I was a fat, sappy eunuch? Yeah buddy, for the convenience of that mini-van, I'd shout it to the world and not give a rat's patootie.
Packing for a trip was now a breeze. "Uh,do you think we shoud bring-" "Yeah, throw it in." "What about this?" "Yep, that too, and that other thing over there, and those, and these..."
Once again, I lost respect for the SUV drivers. I had the space at less cost, and it did quite well in the winter.

That mini-van was a Ford, and like any Ford outside of a GT40, it was garbage. So, well before we were ready, we had to replace it, after spending a king's ransom trying to keep it alive (note to Ford owners, if it has over 80k miles on it, and the repair is over $100, just get rid of it).
We decided at this point to go Jap, no more American cars for us.
Ah, but Jap mini-vans have a very high resale value. OK, can't afford that, let's look at wagons - uh, nope not many of those around either - oh no...
Then at the Honda dealer, the salesman showed me a Passport, which is a smallish mid size SUV (it's junk too, but I didn't know it at the time. Subject for a future post). Damned if it wasn't right in our price range and just the right legroom, though much less storage space than the mini-van.
We bought it, and I didn't feel too hypocritical since I considered it no more than a 4wd station wagon.
And then the first snow came. And my wife got stuck in the driveway, she having to hurry to an appointment and having no time to shovel. Normally, time to reschedule, but she just popped it into 4wheel and drove right out.
Oh Mary, blessed mother, why did we not buy one of these long ago? More snows followed. Blizzards, freaking white out blizzards. Weren't nothin' to us, just throw 'er into 4wheel and mosey on down the road ("mosey" being the operative word because the brakes don't work any better on a 4wd than any other vehicle). The weather was simply no longer a factor in any of our travel plans. It was freedom, power, control.
After that, I loved SUV's, adored them. I decided that we would always have one from now on, and as soon as we could, we'd get a big one to get back the cargo capacity of the mini-van.

Alas, it was not to be.

The time came to say goodbye to the Passport. The Nissan Armada had been released and it was love at first site for me. I nearly swooned when one went by, which was a real pain in the ass if I was driving. Those things had it all and then some. Oh what a fantasy made real, to cruise down the road with all the family in comfort and an idiotically huge pile of stuff in the back, and with 4wd. Aaand, 0 to 60 in 7 seconds!! Oh be still my beating heart, I'd only ever had one car in my life that could do that. I was a kid again, and yet still a dad. No longer just a drone. I could have vehicular fun and a family at last.

But, as always when attempting to buy a new vehicle, I ran smack into my financial inadequacy. I simply couldn't afford an Armada.
What to do. American vehicles were not on the radar, and big Toyota's were even more dear. I hung my head, gave up dreaming, and checked out the Toyota AWD mini-van. But a 16 week waiting list and the usual "what's MSRP?" put the kibosh to that.

And so, in the end, we wound up with a Honda Odyssey mini-van. No 4 or All Wheel Drive.
I was disappointed, but the Honda handled very well for such a large vehicle and was very peppy to boot. Then too, we averaged 19mpg instead of the 14 the Armada would have returned on a good day. So I just dealt with it and decided that if I ever started earning as much money as a man is supposed to, I'd get the Armada or something similar.

As I alluded to at the beginning, I now feel this will never be. Gas will go down, probably to $3.50/gallon, but that's still more than I could handle with a 14mpg vehicle. I still don't make much, though much better than back then, and probably never will.
It looks like we'll run the Odyssey to the end of our kids time with us (being a Honda, it will likely last that long), and then we won't need a big vehicle any longer. Perhaps we'll get a small 4wd pickup, that would be fun, especially if I can find some decent performance parts for it.

You envirofreak tree huggers will never understand, and you're sneering and laughing at me and those like me right now. You are correct in that the SUV era was too much and had to end, but you are wrong to exult in it. You are wrong to think that tiny cars are what will make people truly happy, and that the popularity of the SUV was all from marketing and not from a real desire or need. You may be happy shoehorning your kids into an all but nonexistent back seat and then loading 20 lbs of gear on the roof, but I think you are just convincing yourselves of that in order to achieve Ecologic Spiritual Perfection.

The more you make fun of us and our beloved SUV's, the more we hate you and want to go back to the old ways. Turn on the spigots, let the gas flow.
May I humbly suggest that you be more tolerant of those different from you, more considerate of those with differing opinions. Accept that the SUV's worked for us, but gently remind us that it cannot be any longer. Don't exult in our loss, just remind us that it had to happen sooner or later, and that we should be thankful that we had any time at all to revel in the glorious excess that is the SUV.