This is a pretty cool carbon fiber product for vehicles, stronger than steel. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/imfHBcqzLfI&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/imfHBcqzLfI&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
I like the idea, but; any new fleet needs to be phased in, it cost energy to produce parts, and assemble em,There's something like( 7 gallons of oil in every tire),Disposal of the old"fleet", Sales literature to print...Buying new "schtuff" is part of the problem... ( We think we can buy our way outta anything.) IMHO .I.E if everybody ordered a new hybrid "watusi gt" tomorrow we'd run out of fuels fairly quickly...
Agreed but we have to start somewhere, putting it off because it cost money to R&D and introduce into the marketplace doesn't do us any good. Unless one likes the idea of just pumping the oil wells dry and then deciding what to do next. I'm not as optimistic as others that we'll rid ourselves completely of dependency of oil, it would be nice if we could. Nuclear power needs to come back to help our dependency on electricity, rather than using fossil fuels power plants. That's another thread in itself. The automakers already have proven that they can make vehicles more fuel efficient w/o significantly decreasing their weight. My 1989 GMC 2500 with a TBI SBC350 gets 16MPG, while the same vehicle (which is about 500lbs. lighter) made in 1974 with a carburetor gets 8-10MPG. Now here it is 2008 almost 20 yrs. after this technology came to market and the fuel efficiency or vehicle weight hasn't changed much. So why not make them lighter if the technology won't allow for greater fuel efficiency. However, we humans are pretty resourceful and somehow I betcha we could squeeze more miles out of a gallon of gas in the combustion process alone let alone with a lighter vehicle.
I've been selling Fords at the same dealership since 1994, two years after retiring from the USMC. Weight has been a significant factor, in increasing fuel economy. You see extensive use of SMC (Sheet Molded Compound), Aluminum and Carbon Fibre. The "Safety Cage Construction" design has increased safety, as the weight has been reduced.Ford had a short-lived division called Think!. These were all electric cars. The City was claimed to travel about 80 miles at highway speeds on a 6 hour charge. They actually travelled about 30 miles at only up to 50 miles per hour on an 8 to 12 hour charge. To get the proper current, they needed a 220 volt source for the charger. There were/are not many charging stations http://www.cleancarmaps.com . The Neighbor would drive about 20 miles at 15-25 miles per hour on a 8 to 12 hour charge on a 110 volt circuit. Think! also marketed some neat electric assisted bicycles. With these driving restrictions, the Think! Division of Ford dwindled away.Hybrids sell at a premium and even at $4 bucks a gallon, it takes a long time to make up the difference in price of a regular gasoline powered model.Eco-Boost is the technology Ford currently is betting their money on. From what I've been told, this tyechnology is about a year down the road. Eco-Boost http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/15/autoline-on-autoblog-with-john-mcelroy . I think we're going to see a lot more innovations in bicycle technology. More comfortable seating, reduced wind resistance, increased cargo, reduced weight and lower cost. Bicycles are currently the best option I know of to reduce oil dependency. Ric
Ric they had plans for mass Bicycle transit back in the late 70's when the oil companies started this garbage but of course we had a president who stood up to them instead of being in their pockets or even in collaboration with them and he froze prices and stopped this crap dead in it's tracks . In the local news papers they had articles on designs for Bicycles that had canopy's on them for inclement weather as well as wind resistance , they had multi person jobs etc. with small compartments like a trunk and they had published speeds of up to 60 MPH . They had even begun to make plans to build special highway lanes for these vehicles for the safety of the users so they wouldn't get run down by the big trucks . Then the oil companies pulled back from their screw job and kept prices at reasonable levels . It seems they were simply biding their time . When we come up with a solution to the present problem we must stick to it and not allow the oil conglomerates to lower prices until that solution perhaps become less viable . What I mean is this . If we had went ahead with the bicycle plans the nation would have used millions of gallons less per day wrecking their supply and demand argument which of course now thats not the problem now it's all the traders fault and the poor poor oil companies are accidentally making tens of billions of dollars more if you buy that BS . We as a nation would all have lost a bit of weight as we peddled our way to work and could have even made strides in improving the technology perhaps to the point were even in winter we might not have needed cars that much . When I said above the oil companies were biding their time think of this 30 years when they tried to pull this the baby boomer's were all in their 30's or younger and would have jumped on bicycle technology . Now in their 50's and 60's they have become overweight and out of shape or have physical conditions that prevent them from embracing that type of an alternative to gasoline for daily transportation and the damn oil companies know it . Look at Tangos argument "O but developing new and better technology so you don't have to continue using oil uses our precious oil up and makes us raise prices even more" so we are all just suppose to sit back and do nothing and become willing victims of their screw job . All the present problem is is a money grab and the President is allowing them to get away with it and they have managed to come up with an enough excuses that enough of the public is buying into at least one of them . The whole situation is just like the antigun movement if you don't buy into it for one reason hang on just a second and they'll come up with another lie until they find one you will swallow . If an immediate solution was suddenly discovered and we were able to tell them where to go they would drop prices back to perhaps $2.00 a gallon "Which would seem cheap after $4.00 and they would again sit back and bide their time waiting for another opportunity to jack them sky high knowing we would once again abandon the solution and use their now reasonable priced oil products .
I'm all for research, electrics and very pro bicycles for that matter.My point was if every one went down to the toyota dealer and bought a prius, tomorrow there'd be a net energy loss. because of the costs to produce the materials to replace the entire national fleet. Thats all; (my corporate masters require me to put forth).I agree wholeheartedly we need to do something(like changing our "moto-burban" lifestyles), buying new crap has an energy cost people don't think about.
There is a common plant availabe that can start us on a path of energy independece, but the "lost" Drug War along with major corporations will never allow this plant to be fully utilized. Hemp is one of the few plants we actually see a + return in energy iself.http://belize1.com/BzLibrary/trust512.html
