I wouldn't opt for a physically larger car just because it was cheap to run it. I would opt for a heavier small car, though, for safety reasons. Jeff
On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Andre Blum <andre_vor...@blums.nl> wrote: > On 08/24/2012 12:54 PM, Terry Blanton wrote: > >> On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 12:28 PM, ChemE Stewart <cheme...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I guess even though it might me simpler just having three wheels, a >>> tricycle >>> will not attract babes like at the end of the video... >>> >> There's a big difference between riding a three vs a two wheeler. >> It's in the dynamics. >> >> T >> >> now that I see this two-weeler, and its four wheeler stability, it sets > me to thinking: *why*? Terry's answer may be true. It may be for the nice > dynamics of a two wheeler (though most have become artificial in this > specific example). The other case behind this vehicle must be: the trend in > cars is towards smaller. > > So I was wondering, and have been a while, what the future trend will be > in car sizes. I honestly don't know the answer myself. > > As said, nowadays, the trend is towards much smaller cars. A large part of > this has to do with pollution and economy. > > It is almost certain that In the decade(s) to come we will have > autonomous, self-driving cars, like Google is testing now. There is also > not unthinkable that variable costs will become ultra low, for example when > LENR becomes practical for use in cars. > > Initially, the self-driving will be human assisted, meaning you will > actively participate in traffic. Soon, however, we will all want to turn > our chairs and sit at a desk and do some work, or have some entertainment, > as the car brings us where we want to be. For this you will need some > amount of space. > > Parking space for these larger cars may not be much of an issue, when you > can instruct the car to park itself outside of town, if only to save some > money, and ask it to be back in time to pick you up later. > > In traffic itself, it may not take long before we introduce some kind of > scheduling or reservation algorithm (much like you can have QoS - Quality > of Service - on a computer network). We can then 'reserve' a slot for our > car in non congested traffic. This allows for less congestion, more optimal > use of asphalt and more space on the road for bigger cars. > > Thinking even further, and taking into account 'free' energy like LENR, I > envision that if, for example, you live somewhere in Europe and want to > spend the weekend in southern France, you just make arrangements for this > around bedtime, get in your much bigger car and make it go it that way, > then go to sleep. This would call for a more camper / Van like > configuration, with room for some pre-sleep entertainment and a bed. And > maybe even one that will provide you the comfort you need for your stay > there. Costs would only be some tire wear and maybe toll for the roads. > > Even when forgetting all this really sci-fi autonomous stuff (that I think > in fact has a larger reality factor than free energy) , would it be true > that if by using LENR we get rid of the "guilty" feeling most of us now > have with big pickup trucks and SUVs etc, everyone will want to have one, > again? > > What do you guys think... will cars become bigger again? > > Andre > >
