slowdown

China Looks to Electrify Our Cars

and no...I haven't been laid off yet and I like chicken better than beef. What the hell does any of this have to do with my post?

On Apr 21 12:35 AM hondaicivic wrote:

> Let me guess.....you're a United Auto Worker and you've just been
> laid off? You drink Budweiser and watch Nascar and eat hamburger/stead
> on a daily basis don't you. Now I know why you're angry. I think
> you got the "white angry male syndrome"

China Looks to Electrify Our Cars

Acutally - I'm a salaried white collar worker - mother of 2 in college and in case you haven't figured it out....a woman.


On Apr 21 12:35 AM hondaicivic wrote:

> Let me guess.....you're a United Auto Worker and you've just been
> laid off? You drink Budweiser and watch Nascar and eat hamburger/stead
> on a daily basis don't you. Now I know why you're angry. I think
> you got the "white angry male syndrome"

China Looks to Electrify Our Cars

With respect to the Californian elected officials and other critics that seem to be hell bent on telling the rest of the country what we are doing wrong – look in the mirror.
I for one am sick and tired of being slapped down because I work in the automotive industry and my way of life differs from what you think it should be. For example – I don’t’ want an electric car…and neither apparently does anyone in or outside of California or Toyota would have jumped on the bandwagon and there wouldn’t be any discussion about who killed the EV1- so stop talking about it. Your market was the test and you failed…failed to promote it…failed to provide the infrastructure needed to support it…just plain failed because to few of your people were interested in them at the cost that would make them profitable to manufacture. On one hand you berate us because of the financial condition of the industry and on the other, you berate us for making the decision to cancel a program that clearly was not a going concern at the time.
I’m sick of hearing about the Prius….I don’t want one of those either. They are small expensive unappealing cars that will not meet my needs. I don’t just drive to work everyday with nothing more than a bag of golf clubs like the TV ads profess Californians are doing. In fact, I dare you to go stand in the middle of any one of your states boat launches and count the number of Prius’s towing and launching boats. Go to campgrounds in your state and count the number of Prius’s hauling travel trailers or snowmobile trailers in the snow covered mountains, or lumber and landscaping materials of any size and weight from the local Home Depot. Those are the things that the rest of us do in our spare time…so quit trying to shove the Prius down our throats. What I do want is an SUV, cross- over or truck that will meet all of my needs and at the same time be fuel efficient or flex fuel to reduce emissions and dependence on foreign oil. We have those…they are readily available in our own domestic fleet. They are Chevy’s, GMC’s, Fords, and Dodge and have been on the market for 10 years. The transplant car companies….aren’t there yet. They are still focusing on cars that burn gasoline. A car that gets 60 mpg still burns 17 gallons of gas every 1,000 miles versus a car that gets 20 mpg using E85 (my Chevy Impala) that burns 7.5 gallons of gas every 1000 miles. In my mind – the Prius is not the benchmark, my Impala is because it significantly reduces emissions and oil dependency. That’s where we should be investing our money. The infrastructure/R&D needed to produce Ethanol efficiently and economically whether it’s from our own rubbish, wood chips, switch grass or corn (coskata.com). Instead – we wait to see what some other country develops and ships over here thinking that they have our best interests at heart. How stupid and lazy of our leaders to think “ let someone else figure it out” is the answer.

I’m sick of being told we are idiots because we still build cars and trucks that pollute the earth that no one wants. The reality is that those ships in your harbors…yeah…those are the real polluters – (University of Colorado at Boulder (2009, February 27). Commercial Ships Spew Half As Much Particulate Pollution As World's Cars). Yet you say nothing about the fact that the 51,000 ships that traverse the earth daily bringing in imported goods including oil to our country emit the same amount of pollution as fifty percent of the total number of cars and trucks on this planet! And by the way – those Prius’s that you want us to buy…are manufactured overseas and you guessed it…shipped here and are sitting in your ports.
So the way I see it…the ships in your ports not only pollute the earth…they bring in goods from foreign countries that practice economic protectionism instead of reciprocation and ultimately cost us jobs. Did you know that Toyota will not allow your NUMMI assembly plant (Toyota/GM joint venture) to export the Toyota Carolla/Tacoma to Japan? Does that bother you? It should. The practice has a direct impact on California’s economy. As for building cars no one wants – the March sales numbers are out and the Detroit 3 outsold the Transplant 5 with Toyota behind General Motors and only slightly ahead of Ford by 8,000 vehicles. Did you really expect the domestic auto industry to maintain marketshare when we opened our market to free trade without first getting commitments from those other countries to open theirs?

At the end of the day – what California elected officials are doing is grandstanding and puffery at the expense of the rest of us and I’m not sure why. The ailing domestic auto industry has nothing to do with the economic state of California. On the other hand – the buying habits of Californians have everything to do with the economic state of the rest of the country…as we go…so do you. If I’m not working…I’m not buying…investing…or contributing and eventually via the trickle…. neither are you.

China Looks to Electrify Our Cars

It's not that Detroit doesn't want to sell electric - it's that we don't want them. I don't know when the last time you "owned a car" was...but I haven't had to replace a muffler or tailpipe ever. Not on my cars and not on my kids cars prior to selling them with 150,000 miles on them. In fact...all of the items you mention have never been replaced on any of my cars with the exception of tires, brake pads, oil and filters. But then again...I'm only 52 and apparently haven't been driving as long as you.


On Apr 19 10:11 AM a. palmer jr. wrote:

> Thanks for the well thought out story. I agree with the author on
> what he's written. American car companies are reluctantly bringing
> hybrids to market and are VERY reluctant to bring an all-electric
> car to market. The reason is because a well built electric car won't
> break down very often and Detroit won't be able to suck you into
> their dealerships for repairs and parts.
> The Chevy Volt I'm sure, has all the parts of a normal gas car plus
> the electric parts, and maybe some more thrown in, so they'd have
> no problem selling you that $40,000 boondoggle.
> With an all-electric car think of all the parts you won't need...Exhaust
> system,I remember the car I used to have that needed a muffler and
> tailpipe every year, Starter, alternator, radiator and hoses, water
> pump, emissions system, computer and related sensors and wiring,
> thermostat, oil and filters, and all the engine problems we used
> to have, we won't have because...no engine!
> It's no wonder Detroit doesn't want to sell electrics, they can't
> fleece you as bad!