I snapped this photo while driving southbound on California’s Interstate 5 recently. We all know that Prius owners tend to be a bit smug, but this vanity plate takes the cake.
Click for a larger image
Now before anyone gets all bent out of shape, I’ll point out that I own and drive an electric car myself. But I don’t go rubbing other peoples noses in my wattage.
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Who needs a car? I took my morning bike ride at -13F, and it was lovely because when the snow gets that cold, it is not slippery.
Denver broke their old record low by 13 degrees this morning.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/validProds.php?prod=RER&node=KBOU
ON DECEMBER 15TH…THE TEMPERATURE BOTTOMED OUT AT -19 DEGREES
AT 231 AM. THIS IS A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR DECEMBER 15TH
BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF -6 SET IN 1951.
Let’s not jump to conclusions. He might be a Tootsie Pops salesman.
I don’t think the trade off for Hybrid even comes close unless gas goes back up. It could go back up, Russia is trying to join Opec even today and them and Iran want oil at $100 a barrell.
Oil is going to be a the ruling substance until we have food shortages, which could start occuring in 2009.
My thoughts are that AGW will the last thing mentioned later on in the year. The economy is going to get worse before it gets better.
Anthony,
One of my concerns (and you know I have many) is the rapid deployment of new or modified technologies to “correct” a problem that doesn’t exist. True, the electric vehicle has been with us for more than a century and windmills for a millenium or better, but the technologies to bring them up to date have not.
The lifetime cost of an electric (or hybrid) car is as high or higher than an internal combustion car for the simple reason disposal must deal with some pretty nasty stuff. The Prius is a good example. While the little guy gets pretty good mileage it still relies on an engine driving a battery charger to keep the battery up and the wheels at the same time. That battery is lead and acid.
As a cost of energy it still takes so many horses to get so many pounds down the road. More steps from raw energy source to wheels means more power lost in conversion. That battery adds weight to the vehicle taking power that could be applied to the wheels.
With your electric car, you have the (let’s be really bad here) Coal fired energy plant to the transmission line to the substation to the house to the plug to your charger and finally to the battery. With the hybrid you have the gasoline to the engine to the charger to the battery.
My point is each of these results in the environmental emissions decried by the AGW believers. To use one of these (and I’m lumping windmills in here too) and talk about using less energy or that the energy used is somehow “cleaner” is wrong headed. It speaks to those who believe the electricity coming from the convience outlet is “clean” energy but the source is “dirty”. They don’t seem to realize the two are connected.
Electric or hybrids do help clean the local area up a bit, and for that they are fine. The benefit of what’s going on today is the research into more efficient ways of getting from point A to B both with traditional energy and modified technologies.
Enough ranting – I’m speaking to the choir anyway…the folks here have a pretty good handle on the complexity of this world and its systems.
Thanks,
Mike
Anecdotal weather story of the day – Denver had a record low of -19 this morning, the old record was -6. Set a record yesterday too, of -15, old record -14.
I’ve lived in Wisconsin my whole life, and like to think I’m pretty good at toughing out the cold. But then I read about a guy taking a bike ride at -13F and I feel like a wuss.
I don’t think it got that cold here this morning, though it was -5F when I came to work this morning. But we had pretty strong winds shoving the wind chill to -30F, so it was quite biting.
I admit it–I drive a Prius for two reasons: 1) HOV lane access gives me more time with my family; and 2) At the time (2004) it was my ‘toy’ technology that also had pragmatic room/internal layout.
I would happily vote down the whole HOV lane concept, as it simply makes air pollution and congestion worse. It’s a typical feel-good concept that simply does not work.
The Prius’ technology is becoming dated. Where’s my plug-in, clean diesel Lith/ion hybrid?
It’s also interesting how the public and pundits only look at the technology of a hybrid propulsion system through a purely economic lens. Why not look at leather seats, a nice audio system, and cup holders this way? I viewed the technology as a neat feature that would give my inner techno-geek some joy; why should I have to justify the expense? Do I demand that everyone else justify their added expense on every other little feature? How much do those chrome wheels save you?
And while we bemoan the stateside fates of the big 3, why aren’t we seeing the slick 45+ mpg clean diesels of Ford/GM Europe on our roads today?
Lastly, it’s interesting how people immediately assume you’re an environmental whacko in a Prius, when many of us are meat-eating, gun owning, libertarian conservationist hunters.
The sucker is the person who doesn’t understand where or how electricity is generated and just exactly what it would take to generate more of it./Pamela Gray
I don’t know everything about it, but I’ve wondered about the same thing, which I don’t think the “sucker-people” are doing. And where do the sucker-people think their previous vehicle ended up? “Helping the poor”?
Once I asked one of their Cult where they thought electricity came from and was pointedly ignored, you know, as if I hadn’t said anything at all.
RE: JP (05:59:04) :
$150 / BBL was a pure speculative bubble, driven 100% by US monetary policy. Believe me, you are not going to see a repeat of that particular monetary policy any time soon. Unless truly deluded, the Fed will be moving into the arena of a strong dollar. The most recent oil bubble was similar to the previous one, where a slight reduction in imported supply opened the door to emotion driven speculation. And like the subsequent early 80s crash in price, this crash will result in low prices for decades.
So, to all buyers of overpriced hybrids, I say “suckers!”
ROI will not be.
Pamela Gray (06:06:50) :
Pamela,
Electricity is a means of conveying energy, not generating it. Hydrogen falls into the same category.
Electricity is not even a very good way of conveying energy. A windmill farm in the Dakotas generating 100MW of power and sending the electricity generated to California will lose all but 7MW in transmission inefficiencies, basically heating up the atmosphere in between the states.
The most efficient means of generating electricity? Nuclear.
Not only is this been proven in the laboratory, it has run in the real world, safely and reliably. Where? France, where 75% of their electricity has been generated for the last 25 years. They have no waste disposal issues as they recycle their fuel rods. The remaining, recyclable waste is stored in a single room the size of a large basketball court.
The United States, under Jimmy Carter, banned the recycling of nuclear fuel rods. This was based on the unfounded fears of the plutonium in the fuel rods being used in nuclear weapons.
There are four isotopes of plutonium in the fuel rods. Only one, PU239 is useful for weapons. The mere presence of these other isotopes poisons the fission process in a nuclear bomb, making the use of this plutonium in weapons IMPOSSIBLE.
This is why France could call on CO2 reductions for the rest of the world. They also sell electricity to the Germans and others, who wish to keep quiet their addiction to nuclear energy.
Get the book Terrestrial Energy, by William Tucker, a must read for anyone with the slightest interest in energy production in a modern world. William Tucker does assume AGW, so the book should be safe reading for environmentalist. If you disagree with his position on AGW, just ignore it, because his other arguments against the alternative energy sources demonstrate they are unworkable.
See http://www.terrestrialenergy.org/.
Patrick Henry (07:25:00):
Sent to the Boulder/Denver NWS office yesterday:
“Your bulletin SXUS75 KBOU 150120, reported a new record low temperature for “Denver” of -15F breaking the previous low of -14F set in 1901. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the International Airport located about 25 miles from the temperature recorded in 1901. Is this the new scientific standard used by NOAA and the NWS? To be scientifically correct shouldn’t you describe this “record” as applying to Denver International Airport only and to the approximate 15 year record that exists for that location? What was the temperature in midtown Denver at the time (minus UHI)? Does anyone know? Does it matter? I don’t believe a record low was set. I do believe you’re engaged in some sort of exaggerated hype for reasons I can’t begin to understand. An explanation would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Signed”
In the summer of 2007 they were almost bragging about tying the all-time record high, again for the new airport. These “records are false.” there is no practicable way to compare Denver records of 100 years ago with today’s yet they go into that great climatic data base and become part of the daily tally of “new” records.
stan (04:29:01) :
I believe you may be correct, that the license plate is an expression of “buyer’s remorse.”
I was on the Interstate the other day next to a Smart Car that was doing 75mph. I was impressed! However, it looked like a telephone booth scooting down the road. If some other car had made any bad move around it, the driver would have ended up a in a bloody pile of fiberglass.
In my humble opinion, the hybrid isn’t the answer. Pushing the dead weight of one engine and fuel source around with another just doesn’t make sense.
My stepmother has had a Prius since 2004, and just bought a second one (not a replacement, she now has two. Don’t ask me).
She drives about 30 miles to work, some city, mostly highway, and says her mileage is around 50mpg. With the Prius, it’s how you drive. Any time you stomp on the gas the gas motor takes over. When you’re cruising at highway speeds, the electric is mostly in play. So if someone has a Prius and it’s not getting good mileage, they need to change their driving habits.
Last June I was trying to save some money and the environment by riding my motorcycle to work. I was hit by a woman who suddenly turned left in front of me. She took off and nobody got her license plate number. By the time I got through paying all the deductibles for the motorcycle and hospital it was $6k. I have been driving my toxic spewing Hemi powered Ram pickup ever since.
An aside to Bill Marsh:
This is an interesting forum site re: fusion stuff (primarily Polywell), in case you aren’t aware of it.
Oops, left out the link:
http://www.talk-polywell.org/bb/index.php
Heh. I visited my grandfather during Xmas of 1983. I was stationed at Ft Riley, KS, and drove to Manitowoc, WI for the visit. It was pretty cold along the way. I was in a Dodge Power Wagon, 4×4 pickup. While passing through Chicago my carburetor froze up with slush and ice. By the time I got to Manitowoc they had 3ft of snow on the ground and the wind chills were hitting -80f. Even AAA couldn’t get my truck started the day before I was to drive back. I had to buy a crankcase heater (dipstick-shaped heating element), and stick the front-end of the truck into the garage (it was an old garage, the truck was too big to fit all the way) and covered the engine with old blankets.
I finally got back to Ft Riley where it was a balmy -10f.
Yeah, let’s fight GW and go back to the “good old days”.
“Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Ukraine and Russia plan to stockpile credits to release greenhouse gases jointly valued at $89 billion, saving them for use by their factories, power plants and home heaters under a new global-warming treaty taking effect in 2013.
Both nations are building up surpluses of credits, or rights to release heat-trapping gases regulated by the Kyoto Protocol accord to stem climate change. Banking them for compliance with a new treaty after Kyoto limits expire in 2012 will ease future burdens on the most polluting industries, helping economic growth. ”
Ho ho ho and merry christmas. This whole carbon credits thing is junior school charades and pathetic. Hey! where is my cut?
I would buy an electric if our power grid were powered with more clean nuclear power. As it stands an electric is for the most part a coal-fueled car. You aren’t decreasing emissions, you are simply moving the emission point from a vehicle tailpipe to a power plant smokestack.
Actually, with a properly tuned vehicle with a properly operating catalytic converter, a conventional gasoline vehicle produces less emissions than an electric.
Also, our power grid can not handle the transfer of a significant portion of our transportation energy consumption from the fuel distribution system to the electricity distribution system.
It seems the US set back diesel cars with particulate emission requirements. Everytime I rent a car in Europe I end up with a very nice diesel something which delivers Pious err…I mean Prius type fuel efficiency in a cheaper more reliable package. Now that CO2 is the emission of fashion, the diesel cars would be great to have, but they are not en vogue. The consumer needs to understand that gas hybrids are not the only solution.
So, you just happened to pass this car, and just happened to have a digital camera handy as you were driving, and managed to pick up the camera, turn it on, and get a photo sharp enough to reveal the license plate, all just as you were overtaking?
The Prius in Top Gear 😀
Prius road test
Prius vs 400bhp BMW M3 in an eco challenge
The people driving Prius type hybrids thinking they’re benefitting the environment are the ones that failed thermodynamics.
The amusing part for me is that my Dodge Ram 1500 Mega Cab (built on the heavier 2500 frame) with the gas hogging 5.7l Hemi (13.5 mpg with very careful driving) is still, overall, less polluting than a Prius. And now that gas has returned to sane prices it costs me less than $60 to fill up from empty.
Has anyone real figures regarding the current required from the 120V battery. Say you need 50bhp thats 37,400 Watts ie 311 Amps. Assuming that it is switch mode driven that mean the driver is sitting next a rather large switching magnetic field. And the greens worry about radiation from cellphones and MRI machines.