25 July 2005

ACT Hybrid Leaders - Yipee?

| johnboy
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The Chief Minister is congratulating himself for having spent a lot of money on “26 fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles now included in the Government fleet”. This exceeds a meaningless and arbitrary target he set for himself.

It also ignores the minor problem that electricity in this country is mostly made from flooding valleys or burrning coal and then a huge amount off that power is lost in electricity transmission before being stored in a massively toxic lead-acid battery which has to be disposed of every few years.

But yes, it does move the problem out of our streets, and, ummm, petrol is BAD M’KAY?. Perhaps a better solution for a somewhat larger city? Maybe some action on woodfires would do more for our air quality?

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Yet you would have no problems with idiots not pulling out of the fast lane… I’m sure you could play ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ in an M113, although I’m tipping you’d seem much more unbalanced with ‘Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy’ at about 160dB.

Now that’s rock n roll.

Ain’t nothing you can do on a horse I can’t do on a trail bike… except trot.

Horses are big, smelly, unpredictable and dumb. Don’t give me that black beauty crap, they are just not my cup of tea.

While the thought of returning to a more pastoral lifestyle does appeal to me, I would much rather have one with jetpacks.

I am aware of the irony.

Jetpacks = sexy with a capital fullstop

I bet you though we’d all get stuck in the fast lane following some wanker who only wants to go 250.

(aka problem changed but still the same because nobody ever fixes the cause)

I’m seriously wondering about the effect on world economy if we all went back to horses, there would be some f.cked off companies out there..

(u still the only vowel avaliable)

Dare I say it; jet packs for all. Don’t give a damn if they are fuel efficent, as long as they are faster and more relaiable than public transport, sheila’s cars, monorails and manta rays.

brings the mass transit debate onto the dias nicely though..

I’ve actually considered buying a horse to ride to work, the logistics are overwhelming however (stabling and dunnage) – especially given the exorbitant parking rates the ACT Govt would charge…

Easier to park for sheilas.

Vic Bitterman10:55 am 27 Jul 05

Anyone who buys a car without assessing it’s safety and crash-worthiness needs to have their head read.

Big cars are safter than small cars, simple as that.

http://www.aaa.asn.au/ancap.htm

People who think there’s such a thing as “sheila’s cars” may be disappointed to know that driving a tank that burns 11L/100km will not enlarge the size of their appendage. Some cars are just more economical to run and easier to park than others.

I’d rather not crash into anything. If you’re buying a car on the basis of how it’ll go when you crash it into something, maybe you shouldn’t be buying a car?

Vic Bitterman6:16 pm 26 Jul 05

Weight equals might.

I’d rather be in my Canyonerro when it smashes into a Prius, than the other way around.

That’s your call em, but once again I would reiterate that they are shit.

Actually, I think the Prius looks worthwhile. It may not have the power of a Corolla, but for an about-town car it shouldn’t need much power. I trust Toyota’s engineering and I’d certainly consider a Prius if I were buying a new car.

GuruJ: Last one I worked on was a brand newy in October last year. They were still shit.

johnboy: a standard Prius doesn’t ever use an electricity outlet to recharge. The greater efficiencies are gained by storing energy that would otherwise by wasted when braking and then switching to an electric motor when travelling at low speeds.

There are prople who have modified the Prius to recharge from an outlet but this isn’t endorsed by Toyota.

bulldog: Which Prius are you referring to? The later Prius models are a far cry from the original release in 2000.

Having driven and worked on the Toyota Prius I wholly concur that they are shit and as Ralpg so succinctly points out; are sheila’s cars.

That being said I wouldn’t give them to my partner for fear she ever hot inot an accident; they have all the structural integrity of soggy paper.

I also reckon you are far more likely to have an accident at higher speds (80-100 km/h) due to the poor design and terrible handling attributes.

If the Comrade thinks these things are soo bloody flash why is he still carting around in a Statesman?

What a waste of money. Those poxy hybrid cars are for tree huggers and sheilas. He should’ve got himself a man’s car (light truck).

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