General thoughts on ICE depreciation?

[rickinAZ]

How far are they from solar-powered road vehicles with battery backup? Now that would have appeal.

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[rickinAZ]

I'll start taking things more seriously when they get rid of all the race cars/boats/cycles and other superfluous polluting stuff.

Google "1974 Daytona 450" if you want a laugh.

 

[Sublime]

Sounds like whataboutism. Usually followed by the ostrich strategy to dealing with global warming. Leave a note to your great grandchildren explaining it to them. Make sure that the note is in a waterproof container because you live in a costal state.

If it pertains to the discussion it is not a whataboutism.

If you're driving a Jeep I hope you're already apologizing for contributing to the rise that will engulf all the mansions being built along the coasts by AGW accolytes.

 

[Bulletbill]

How far are they from solar-powered road vehicles with battery backup? Now that would have appeal.

Saw a report on the news about electrified roads that charge the car while you drive. That would also be a game changer.

Can’t find the video but this article talks about it:

https://www.engineering.com/story/electric-road-systems

..edit.. Obviously this wouldn’t help the moment you left the pavement if you were planning a multi day adventure. I’m also fairly sure the off road community would flip out if they started laying tracks on everyone’s favorite trails. So maybe not the best solution for Jeeps.

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

Saw a report on the news about electrified roads that charge the car while you drive. That would also be a game changer.

Can’t find the video but this article talks about it:

https://www.engineering.com/story/electric-road-systems

..edit.. Obviously this wouldn’t help the moment you left the pavement if you were planning a multi day adventure. I’m also fairly sure the off road community would flip out if they started laying tracks on everyone’s favorite trails. So maybe not the best solution for Jeeps.

On a similar note.
https://interestingengineering.com/solar-roadways-engineering-failure

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Ummm is this the same as how cash is going away and we’re all going to digital currency …

</snipped for brevity>

Any currency or pseudo currency (Bitcoin is classified as an asset, not a currency, at least by the US govt) in the end only has as much staying power in proportion to the number and quality of soldiers and materiel willing to die or be consumed for the sake of preserving the organization (generally a sovereign nation) that backs it.

If you want a trading medium for speculation then buy crypto-currency or stablecoins. If you are interested in a digital currency that may actually have long term staying power keep an eye on the digital Yuan from the China Central Bank. Its path to prominence outside of China may have gotten a boost because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The US might choose to issue a digital dollar which would help extend the supremacy of the dollar for a bit of extra time beyond what our current fiat currency can sustain given America’s decades of deficit spending and imbalance of accounts at the Bank of International Settlements. At some point what we produce as a nation must exceed what we consume in order to sustain the quality of life, infrastructure and political stability that has been the globally enviable hallmarks of post-WWII America.

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Saw a report on the news about electrified roads that charge the car while you drive. That would also be a game changer.

Can’t find the video but this article talks about it:

https://www.engineering.com/story/electric-road-systems

..edit.. Obviously this wouldn’t help the moment you left the pavement if you were planning a multi day adventure. I’m also fairly sure the off road community would flip out if they started laying tracks on everyone’s favorite trails. So maybe not the best solution for Jeeps.

Think, I might have, just might have heard or read about how the elected legislators of the United States of America cannot agree to fund basic infrastructure befitting a first world country, let alone investments in next-gen infrastructure for the industrial revolutions of the 21st century. Maybe I’m mistaken. Could just be a rumor on the Internet that the US Congress is perfectly happy to fall behind the rest of the world. They say that this country will soon look more like Mustafar than Coruscant. Nah. That can’t be true. I am sure it was just a meme that someone tagged on Facebook.

 

[Bulletbill]

On a similar note.
https://interestingengineering.com/solar-roadways-engineering-failure

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Maybe the future will play off of all these strategies.

 

[roaniecowpony]

...

I'll start taking things more seriously when they get rid of all the race cars/boats/cycles and other superfluous polluting stuff.

It's coming.

 

[skiptheroad]

What I see is that, GM and Ford dropped low margin vehicles and concentrated on high. The Japanese and Koreans somehow can sell those vehicles here in the US. Plus the Japanese and Koreans seem to sell US exclusive Trucks and massive SUV's here too. When it comes to choice, here in the US, we have lots. It's as long as you want something big. It's not because of CAFE standards that here in the US you see tons of pickups and SUV's while you go elsewhere, and it's not that way. We like big things and thus the reason why we complain about gas prices being so high. No matter how we sugarcoat it, feeding those beasts takes a lot. I'm part of the problem too. I only tow my Jeep behind my RV and get 8mpg.

That is what GM and Ford has marketed to U.S. consumers. They determine what vehicles they offer to the north American consumers and it has nothing to do with what U.S. consumers want and much more to do with what they want U.S. consumers to buy. We U.S. consumers are easily influenced to buy whatever they choose to market to us. Most consumers don't realize CAFE regulations are much easier for US manufacturers to meet when building light trucks (which includes suv's) versus passenger cars and small wheelbase pickups since the mileage requirement is based on the square footage of the wheel base for the light truck class. The larger the wheelbase for the light truck class, the less their corporate average fuel economy has to be. They have less foreign competition as well building larger pickups and suv's. Other countries don't have our convoluted CAFE laws that give larger pickups and suv's a break from having to be fuel efficient and that is why vehicles in most other countries are smaller than in North America. Once one understands how our CAFE law gives US auto manufacturer's an incentive to build larger high profit and inefficient pickup trucks and suv's, it is crystal clear why we no longer can buy a sporty but fuel efficient Ford Focus, a comfy and luxurious smooth riding sedan, or a small 2 door pickup that fits in most people garages. Our choices of types of U.S. manufactured vehicles is less than we had in the past and it is most certainly due to CAFE regulations.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Everyone views the world from their knothole, I suppose. But I still think the market determines what sells. Auto makers wouldn't focus on the current configurations if the market wasn't buying them. It's not like the auto makers all get together and agree on what style vehicles to sell.

 

[rickinAZ]

I'll start taking things more seriously when they get rid of all the race cars/boats/cycles and other superfluous polluting stuff.

I'm a lifelong Formula One fan (since Andretti won the championship), but I can't get even slightly interested in Formula E. I've tried many times...but nothing.

 

[skiptheroad]

Nuclear power has parallels with air travel. Both have proven to be remarkably safe and efficient, but a single mistake can cause disproportionate harm. While history compels us to pay attention to the latter, policy makers mustn't allow themselves to be blinded by it.

The problem with so-called renewables is that winds die and the sun sets. Both require significant use of land, and are always at the mercy of changing seasonal conditions. Their long-term efficiencies are capped before the first shovel of dirt is moved.

I remain an advocate for nuclear power. It's place at the table shouldn't be disregarded, nor is it mutually exclusive with other methods of power generation. This is doubly true when attempting to reconcile lawmaker's pipe dreams of electric vehicle implementation with the very real limitations of our aging (and functionally insufficient for purpose) national electric infrastructure.

Many US citizens do not even realize that our entire fleet of submarines are nuclear powered.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I'm a lifelong Formula One fan (since Andretti won the championship), but I can't get even slightly interested in Formula E. I've tried many times, but nothing.

They sound like the slot cars I raced as a kid in the 60s.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Many US citizens do not even realize that our entire fleet of submarines are nuclear powered.

...and many don't know what nuclear power is.

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