Quote:
Originally Posted by gts6
electric cars could and should have been available decades ago, but the oil companys pay people like auto manufacturers assloads of money not to produce them.
they can do things these days like laser surgerys, send people to the moon in state of the art rockets, and even clone animals and maybe even people these days, so they are gonna have us believe they cant make something far less simple like an electric car? total bullshit
|
OK, as a gearhead de Luxe, I'm going to take you to task on this one.
(1) There is NO gas shortage.
(2) Oil companies do NOT set gas prices; the market, through futures, current events, etc; does.
(3) Oil companies on average make about TEN CENTS per gallon of gas; less than ONE FOURTH of the amount of tax which is currently imposed on fuel sales.
(4) The main cost of a gallon of gas is the amount charged by the supplier of crude.
(5) Oil companies make big money because they sell well over a HUNDRED BILLION gallons of gasoline per year.
(6) No one has 'Paid" people to not produce electric cars. The problem with electric cars since the early 1900s has been and still is the batteries. Cars which will only travel 40 miles or less on a single charge are not really viable, especially as commuter vehicles. Battery technology is on the upswing, so that issue will be resolved fairly soon. GM destroyed its first series Volts because those cars were EXPERIMENTAL; NOT because GM didn't want people to have electric cars! Manufacturers have always destroyed experimental cars after the testing was finished, so those who decry GM for scrapping the Volts don't know what they are talking about.
Let me give you an example of conspiracy theory connected with gasoline. You've all heard of the ubiquitous "200 mile per gallon" carburetor. Ain't no such thing and never has been! There have been carburetors which gave phenomenal gas mileage at a fixed low speed but those carbs weren't worth a damn at any other speed! Setting up virtually any old carb to get high mileage at a fixed speed is no problem and never has been. Getting that same carb to work properly at other speeds was always the issue, so carburetors were always set up to work over a broad range of speeds and were indeed highly inefficient at some of those speeds. Such a carb might work well at 25 mph but not be worth a damn at 15 or 40 mph.
Fuel injection has resolved most of the speed issues connected with fuel delivery.
Almost anyone can improve their fuel economy through simple modification of driving techniques but people are too lazy to do it; always looking for a Magic Pill instead.
I frequently drive a 45 year old auto which has a 413 CID engine producing over 375 HP and I get around 20 mpg on the highway and the car weighs 2 1/2 tons.
That is if I do not open up the four-barrels.
Yes, I wrote "four-BARRELS". Two of them. I CAN make the car get only around 8 mpg by opening things up and tearing up the highway.
People are lazy and would rather bitch than properly maintain their cars.
When is the last time that you properly checked the air pressure in your tires?
Did you know that tires only five pounds underinflated can cost you up to ten percent of your fuel economy?
Still got that strip of tape over your "Check Engine" light?
Your car is most likely running rich, costing you up to 30% of your fuel.
Change your oil frequently?
Cruddy oil in your engine costs you money.
Had a fluid and filter change done on your automatic transmission?
What?
They will tell you that you don't have to change the fluid in your auto tranny and that is crap! You should change fluid and filter at a minimum of every 50K miles, regardless of what kind of car you drive. Transmission fluid does not wear out but is does break down and become contaminated with crud, so change it!
Oh and don't buy into that thing about buying gas in the morning "when the gas is cool" and therefore "denser". It ain't so. The gas is stored in underground tanks and the temperature is fairly stable and consistent, so don't waste your time as any changes in fuel density are so light that you'll never notice, even if you watch closely.
Spend more time taking care of your car and less time bitching about the oil companies and you will spend less money!
"There is NO Gas Shortage"........
