Sitting in traffic

[billvon 2,426]

I've been getting spoiled lately in terms of traffic. Since I usually bike to work I don't end up in very much traffic. By the time I'm back home, and ready to drive somewhere, the traffic has died down. But on Friday I was going to meet an old friend of mine for dinner, so I took the car to work and sat through the usual traffic on the way there.

At 5, I left and headed out to meet her. I've modified my car (a Prius) so the gas engine doesn't start until it absolutely needs to; it will drive around at up to about 35mph for 3-4 miles until the battery is almost dead, then the gas engine starts and takes over. Since I'm at the top of a hill where I work, I can drive a few miles on battery power alone when I want to.

I got to the bottom of the hill and got on the main road in preparation for getting on the freeway. There I discovered that the usually very heavy traffic wasn't even moving; there had been an accident somewhere, and the usual 4 lanes that heads to the freeway had been reduced to 1. I ended up sitting there for about 15 minutes. I amused myself by calling people, surfing the radio dial, rummaging around for a CD, all the usual things you do when you're stuck in traffic that isn't moving. The car/radio/air conditioner were running off the battery, and the battery was getting recharged as we crept down the hill by the brakes.

And as I looked around at all the other cars there, I started to think that it was nuts that most cars _don't_ do this. I mean, almost every other car out there was burning about a gallon of gas an hour to roll downhill at about half a mile per hour. When I rolled down the window I could hear all those engines idling and smell the exhaust. I wondered for a moment what it would sound like if every car out there could just shut down when it didn't need a lot of power. You'd hear - people's radios, and maybe the fans for their air conditioners, and the wind. That would be cool. Imagine a traffic jam where the result is quiet and clean air.

All this led me to believe that we're really a lot closer to a solution to some of our problems (pollution and oil dependence, maybe even road rage) than we think. We finally have the tools to solve these problems; all we have to do is decide they should be solved. I hope we decide to do that.

[itllclear 1]

Bill-

It's simple-

My truck's paid for.

When the monthly cost of gas I use becomes close to the monthly car payment and additional insurance premium on a new car, I'll get a car that burns less gas.

Most people are the same way.

The "market place" will take care of this.

If the people really want to move this along, they'll vote for legislators who propose tax breaks on the fuel efficient cars and raise the tax on gasoline. If the program is calculated to be revenue neutral, it's not a tax increase.

Of course "big oil" wouldn't go for this, and considering where the family that's in the White HOuse got most of its money, I'm not going to hold my breath and wait for the proposal.

Brown Skies!

Harry

"Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there."

"Your statement answered your question."

[billvon 2,426]

>The "market place" will take care of this.

I think the problem there is that the marketplace only takes into account the direct cost. Car owners have to pay for the car, the gas, the insurance etc. They don't pay for congestion, even though it costs drivers in a large city around $1100 a year. They don't pay for pollution, even though that exacts a penalty in health, shortened lifespans and loss of property values. So we either need to crank those costs into the picture somehow, or do it for some other reason. Today people buy SUV's they don't need because they want them, so the extra money is there.

[wingnut 0]

Quote

Prius)

question about your car, you think it would have enough power to pull a light trailer say may 1000 pounds? my hundai (99' elantra with a 2l engine)i have now pulls the trailer i have fine, but i'd actually realy think about getting a more efficent car if it could ocasionaly pull a small trailer with it. i already get about 35-40 mpg with my hyundia...

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

[Lindsey 0]

I amused myself by calling people, surfing the radio dial, rummaging around for a CD, all the usual things you do when you're stuck in traffic that isn't moving.

As I read this, I thought, "WOW! Billvon does 'normal people' things when he's sitting in traffic." Struck me as kind of odd.

Then I read...

And as I looked around at all the other cars there, I started to think...

Whew....the world is as it should be.

A good friend was looking into a Ford Escape hybrid a week or so ago. The wait for one is over a year? That's a good sign. Sales of the big SUV's are WAAAY down I understand. Seems like I heard that Chevy's not going to make the Tahoe anymore? Is that right. People, unfortunately, love their automobiles more than they feel a need to conserve. Now that it's hitting folks in the pocketbook maybe effeciency will be more in vogue. Most people don't sit in traffic thinking about how our habits affect our world. Most of us sit listening to the radio, looking for a CD, talking on the phone....worrying about our bank accounts and which bills need to be paid this week.

I'm hopeful that we're pretty close to a solution too. I think we'll decide our problems need to be solved because the price (monetary, to each of us individually) will drive us to solutions. At least I hope so.

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[DTOXX 0]

As an employee of a large oil company who’s financial future is tied to the company stock I would like to take this time to say, "We like large SUV's that get ridiculously low gas mileage.

Thank you!

-------
D.T. Holder
SIMstudy

[wmw999 2,146]

Quote

it will drive around at up to about 35mph for 3-4 miles until the battery is almost dead

One question about this -- do you have enough battery power to start the car if you happen to park it at the end of a long battery-only session, or is it not the same battery?
Would the answer be the same in cold weather? Just wondering -- knowing you, I'm sure the answer is just a keyboard away
Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Slappie 9]

Quote

As an employee of a large oil company who’s financial future is tied to the company stock I would like to take this time to say, "We like large SUV's that get ridiculously low gas mileage.

Thank you!

I work for a large company tied to the oil companies who are tied to those large SUVs that consume so much energy and fuel. The high fuel prices are a double edge sword the way I see it. Yes your company is making money and you and I are still employeed and not hurting for a job.

The American car makers on the other hand or going to start to hurt. Which will put people in unemployment lines. Prices of vehicles will rise. Inflation will creep back into the economy more and more as these prices stay where they are or god forbid go much higher.

This is a good thing for the import car makers because they've not tied their markets to the SUV and the large vehicles.

I'm a very american person and I like to buy american when I can. It's getting to the point it's harder and harder to do since NAFTA, oil prices etc.. The american company has priced itself out of my market for most everyday things. Now I'm leaning and actually looking to purchase an inexspensive import with a small gas mileage vehicle. I won't go as far as Bill and look into a Hybrid ONLY because the cost of the purchase is prohibitive to my wallet. I would if I could look at a hybrid. But I can get a gas guzzling 35mpg Toyota or Mazda for about $5k less then a hybrid. To me it's all the monthly payments stack up. I live paycheck to paychech and sometimes don't make it that far.

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."

[radiodave 0]

Bill -

You're an engineer. You'll like this. $8500 is the retail.
The vid clip is cool too...

www.theaircar.com

[freeflir29 0]

That's cool that you can ponder the fate of the world while sitting in traffic. If I sit in traffic here in Iraq.........it's likely to get me killed. Someone proved this theory just 2 days ago. They had only been sitting there for about 20 minutes. Too long. So..........in America that's all great stuff but MOST of the rest of the world has a LONG way to go before they ponder these things.

[billvon 2,426]

>question about your car, you think it would have enough power to
>pull a light trailer say may 1000 pounds?

I don't know. I'm getting a 2" hitch receiver put on; I'll try it out and let you know (if I can borrow a trailer from someone.) From what I've seen so far it should be fine as long as you don't load up both the car and the trailer heavily.

(Wendy asked:)

>One question about this -- do you have enough battery power to start
>the car if you happen to park it at the end of a long battery-only session,
>or is it not the same battery?

It won't let the battery get below 30% without starting the engine. The only way you can use that last 30% is if you run out of gas; the electric motor will then run until the battery is dead, which might be enough to get you to a gas station.

[psw097 0]

Power regeneration from electric motor decel has been used in industrial applications for over a decade. Its a great way to save power during deceleration of servo motors and much more efficient than using resistors (or brake pads in cars) to dissipate energy. Much of the automation equipment used in modern automotive factories use power line regeneration to build your car - and using a lot more KW than all the Prius on the market. Now when they make a car that can handle a dozen 4x8 sheets of drywall between the wheel wells for a reasonable price I might bite. As it is my 4 mile rural commute to work doesn't justify another/different vehicle. Its just easier not to live where there is traffic.

[kingbunky 3]

hybrid sales soar (from yahoo via fark)

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[billvon 2,426]

> That's cool that you can ponder the fate of the world while sitting in
>traffic. If I sit in traffic here in Iraq.........it's likely to get me killed.

So you tend to ponder the fate of you instead?

>So..........in America that's all great stuff but MOST of the rest of the
>world has a LONG way to go before they ponder these things.

We'll get there. We switched to all fuel injection a few decades ago because it was easier to get catalytic converters to work with fuel injection, and we needed them to meet US emissions. Nowadays most cars around the world are fuel injected. The technology does eventually trickle down, especially when it works well.