On Dec 29, 2006, at 10:42 AM, Tom C wrote: >> I don't see how what I was willing to accept/afford for the 1981 >> Toyota Tercel has any bearing on an objective ranking in these >> matters. Compared to that car, the Prius is a far more comfortable, >> quieter, roomier car with much more performance. >> >>> On the 1/10 emissions, I agree that's important. >> >> At least we can agree on something here... ;-) > > I understand what you're saying and don't disagree actually. I'm just > saying that in the end, I'm not *sure* the overall fuel economy, > measured in > mpg, has increased that much over 15/20/30 years ago.
The assumptions about the priority of reducing emissions while still providing better fuel economy AND currently acceptable performance and comfort levels means that the MPG achieved is not directly comparable in and of its own right against those older vehicles. > It just seems to me like more could be done. I don't want to get into > politics, I have seen the movie about the EV1 yet, and I realize > it's in a > different class of car than the Prius, but I'll use it as an > example to > support the point I'm feebly attempting to make. :-) > > From what I can understand there was no good compelling reason to > not go > into widescale production of an EV1-type vehicle that was a very green > city/short trip automobile, *IF* the focus was on producing a > practical > commuter vehicle that drastically reduced oil consumption and was > affordable. > > That type of vehicle would satisfy (guesstimate) at least 50% of > the driving > done on a daily basis in the USA. The fact that it can be done, but > is not > being done, is purely a matter of profit and mindset. 100% agreement there. We're batting well this morning. ;-) G -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
