Long before Ford set up his assembly line, European pioneers had demonstrated that gasoline engine cars delivered better, more reliable performance than electric or steam. Daimler's cars were selling quite well long before Ford made his first automobile, as were those of Benz and a number of other makers. The genesis of the automobile wasn't driven by greed. It was a matter of what worked best. Environmental concerns weren't even a pimple on the ass of mother nature in those days. Paul On Dec 27, 2006, at 8:15 PM, Tom C wrote:
> So you're saying the fairer sex is the reason we drive automobiles > with > gasoline-powered internal combustion engines? I'm sure it was not > this one > item alone. > > It would venture it was more likely that Ford started mass- > producing with an > assembly line, creating low-cost vehicles, and those fossil-fuel > powered > vehicles quickly gained such a market share and support > infrastructure that > the competition had the the electric car beat . There was no way to > compete > and lack of funding to continue R&D on other technologies dried up. > > It is a market economy and the primary driver of it comes down to one > thing... greed. That may seem like a strong term but it especially > apples > when profit and wealth is more important than pollution and health. > > Man, with all his knowledge and science, and for all the good it has > produced is also pretty myopic. > > > Tom C. > > >> From: "P. J. Alling" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Reply-To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <[email protected]> >> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <[email protected]> >> Subject: Re: Doomsday is coming upon us? >> Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 19:58:01 -0500 >> >> Electric automobiles of the early 20th century were "ladies" >> vehicles, >> they didn't need a crank starter and a woman could turn one on and >> drive >> around town. They suffered from the battery technology of the day, >> energy density was relatively low, range was limited, and they were >> relatively heavy due to the lead-acid energy storage. The same >> battery >> that made these vehicles viable at all, also made the starter motor >> possible. Which meant that a lady, with less upper body strength >> than a >> man, could simply flip a switch and start the gasoline engine. That >> pretty much sealed the fate of the electric car. >> >> Tom C wrote: >>>> There is a limit on how much we can do when we cant even agree >>>> on the >>>> necessity of the actions. We will have to deal with the rest >>>> when we >>>> know more. I think we should do a lot more right now, but a >>>> little >>>> is better than nothing. >>>> >>>> I have chosen to live in a place where I usually do not need any >>>> other transport than my feet. It would be great if everybody could >>>> do that but it would require re-planning most of our cities... >>>> >>>> DagT >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> With thinking like that we'd all still be huddled over in >>> Mesopotamia. >> :-) >>> >>> Developing sustainable low or non-polluting energy sources enabling >> travel >>> is preferable to not going anywhere, or making everyone live within >>> people-power distance from their employment. >>> >>> Early in the 20th century electric automobiles were being developed. >> Their >>> production, and R&D into the technology mostly ground to a halt, no >> doubt >>> for greater economic gain by using polluting fuels. Even now the >> majority >>> of efforts to produce non-polluting energy is either half-hearted or >>> hampered by non-funding. >>> >>> If we can go to the moon and plan to go to Mars we surely have the >> smarts to >>> find a way around our own planet without destroying it in the >>> process. >>> Whether mankind at large has the collective common sense to do so is >> another >>> matter. >>> >>> Tom C. >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Things should be made as simple as possible -- but no simpler. >> --Albert Einstein >> >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
