Fined for running WMO (not me)

[greenjeepster]

Crazy is all the money people are spending on hybrids to get the same kind of gas mileage they could get for cheap in 1981.

-Chuck

We got ours for the same price as the regular gas powered civic... we were in the market anyway and it didn't cost us any extra. So far it has saved us almost 12 grand in gas over the car we traded in.

 

[stumps]

Well, if they built a car as light as they did back in the 70s-mid 80s, you could get 50MPG from a compact car too. Probably more- the 1978 B210 MPG model was running a 2-bbl carb and primitive electronic ignition. And no catalytic converter...

But Americans want power, so a 65-HP 1.4L car with 0-60 times in the high teens/low 20s just doesn't cut it today.

I've been stuck behind a Prius that was trying to get up to highway speed more times than I care to think. They are much less peppy than the old '81 210, with its 1.5L engine... And no way it took 20 seconds to get an '81 210 up to 60MPH. They were little dragsters compared to the B210 MPG model. The '81 210 had full shock absorber bumpers front and back, and A/C. It got better mileage with the A/C on than it did with the windows open. I finally scrapped my wife's 210 when it got to 300,000 miles. It was about rusted in half.

If the Prius wasn't carrying a full capacity load of batteries, it would be a tiny light weight car that got phenomenal gas mileage. But as it is, it is a tiny car, that requires its passengers to sit shoulder to shoulder, and has virtually no load carrying capacity. All of that and it gets mediocre mileage.

-Chuck

 

[tamangel]

I've been stuck behind a Prius that was trying to get up to highway speed more times than I care to think.

Chuck, funny, mine gets up to speed quickly whenever I push the pedal down.. That wasn't you that 'gestured to me' the other day as I cruised @ 55 in the slow lane as he flew by @ 70 was it? I choose to drive slower now for better mileage, a more restful drive and no need to look for CHP all the time.. Slow down and smell the roses, mate.. being impatient isn't good for your heart.. or your MPG's/wallet/Driver's license point count....

by the way, the regular battery pack weighs about 100 lbs..no big deal..and load capacity?..put down the rear seat and you have a ton of space..unfortunately, not enough to sleep stretched out it though... It is a tight squeeze with more than 4 people, I agree..all in all, its a great car...I don't need a big car anymore..unless my dream M36 materializes some day I do agree with all the other folks and the old Datsun MPG stories.. those were great days with gas at 30 cents a gallon too..!

Mike

 

[stumps]

BMW is now selling an electric only car, and Honda, Ford, and Toyota are selling, or will soon be selling, plug-in hybrids that can take on a charge from your house power.

Various nanny states are in the legislative planning stages of requiring all cars to carry GPS powered road tax meters that are combined with smart pass transponders. The idea is your tax meter will keep tabs of your mileage, and will spill its guts whenever you pass tax meter readers that will be placed on the roads in strategic locations...Presumably, your credit card will be automatically billed as your road tax is determined.

George Orwell was a couple years too optimistic in his predictions made in the novel 1984.

-Chuck

 

[tamangel]

chuck, got any stateside links to that info?

sort of pay as you go I guess..Hope they use the funds for more public transit and high speed rail projects..

Not that I support it, but how can we pay for infrastructure maintenance and improvement some other way..?

Mike

eventually when I get too old to drive, maybe I'll get one of these:
mBLAST - Award Response Portal -

pic per the comment by Ironwolf below:

 

[ironwolf85]

I Agree. I drive my wife's old civic and I get mid 40s all day long with no batteries and electric motors holding it down. I'm sorry but we can do alot better then Gas hybrids. Gm was on the right track In the early 90s with the ev1 but look what happened to that.

 

[stumps]

Chuck, funny, mine gets up to speed quickly whenever I push the pedal down.. That wasn't you that 'gestured to me' the other day as I cruised @ 55 in the slow lane as he flew by @ 70 was it? I choose to drive slower now for better mileage, a more restful drive and no need to look for CHP all the time.. Slow down and smell the roses, mate.. being impatient isn't good for your heart.. or your MPG's/wallet/Driver's license point count....

Try not to be presumptuous. I am a very polite person, especially when I am behind the wheel. I am not an aggressive driver by a long stretch.

And I would sooner die than live in California. It used to be such a pretty state back in the '60s, but now... well at least the Los Angeles basin has cleared up its smog....sigh!

According to Toyota Prius Battery - Information on the history, specifications, modifications and future development of the hybrid's battery pack., the battery only weighs 26Kg, which is about 60 lbs. Rather surprising, given that the Prius is much smaller than the Datsun 210, and sports a curb weigh that is 700 lbs heavier!

-Chuck

 

[stumps]

chuck, got any stateside links to that info?

I read about it in the Washington Post, but a simple google search finds quite a lot of links.

Here's one:
Gas Tax slowly replaced by GPS-Enabled Road Tax

WMO and WVO are going to get taxed. I knew it the first time I saw an article on a veggie mobile. It is just a matter of when the states hit the tipping point and make us carry GPS tax meters.

-Chuck

 

[tamangel]

Chuck, I wasn't being presumptuous, just making a few points as your statements and Prius knowledge seemed off base to me....the gesturing comment was a joke as represented by the emoticon ..No problem if you want to live (or die) somewhere else..I may not be here too much longer myself but not due to politics, family stuff trumps..Its still a pretty state, just run by an actor who doesn't do state business well.. But, I guess we get what we vote for.. and then wonder why...doooh

thanks for the 'simple google search' link..I also did a quick search but mostly pulled up Euro info, must have missed that one from 2006....
interesting info from your Battery link too..

Mike

 

[stumps]

Hi Mike,

When I spent an extended time in LA/Malibu in the 60's, the state was clean and neat. The air was brown in the valley, but nothing is perfect. I thought it was an idyllic place... Beaches within walking distance, convertibles, surfing, pretty girls... I returned in the '90s, and the road sides were littered, any place the road went above a ravine, the ravine was full of dumped appliances, furniture, beach sand mixed with trash, etc.. The parking lots and driveways were gated and protected by pikes that would tear your tires off if you backed up... lots of fences with razor coil on top...basically the state was showing the signs of being massively over populated, and looked pretty dowdy. Hence the sigh...

I get a tremendous kick out of folks that advertise their greenness by having their cars and trucks sport signs proclaiming that they use biodiesel, or WVO. I would bet that most of those cars are now running targets for the fuel tax police.

The much heralded tales, in the newspapers, of the eco-activists that were pumping out waste oil bins at restaurants and burning it in their diesels, never stopped to mention that the oil was being stolen from the recycling companies, and the road taxes were not being paid.... I recently read of a WVO eco-activist being arrested and charged with felony theft after he was caught during his routine circuit of emptying waste vegetable oil bins... They valued the waste oil in each bin at something like $2000.

While WVO was an anomaly, the state revenue offices turned a blind eye, but as soon as the idea took on a modicum of legitimacy, and WVO became nearly as valuable as diesel, they had to get their piece of the action.

Now, I am starting to see much heralded tales in the newspapers of early adopters of EV's, and the heroic means they exercise to avoid running out of power, and being stranded... Things like pulling up to soda machines, dragging them away from the wall, and plugging in for a while to charge their batteries. Never is there any mention that these eco-pioneers are tampering with the soda machines, and stealing the electricity from the businesses that are hosting the soda machines.

I am starting to imagine a world where friends and relatives come over to visit, and casually announce that they are going to plug their car into your outlet, so they will have enough power to get home... hope you don't mind!

We are not amused!

-Chuck

 

[hovenga67]

I think the states and goverment screw us enough. I just transferred a car recently and learned they raised the state minimum for plate to 50 dollars. So my car I was going to transfer was 50 instead of 25, so they are getting double the money that is outrageous. They just keep raising everything cause they don't know how to spend money. What is wrong with the goverment people are only going to take so much.

 

[Tanner]

you get taxed when you buy the motor oil, if you get taxed again thats double taxed on the same product. thats like buying seeds for the garden, paying taxes on the purchase then taxed when you eat your crop.

It isn't a double tax on motor oil; you are taxed when it was purchased, but it wasn't sold to you for use as a motor vehicle fuel.

Incorrect analogy...

'Tanner'

 

[Tanner]

chuck, got any stateside links to that info?

sort of pay as you go I guess..Hope they use the funds for more public transit and high speed rail projects..

Not that I support it, but how can we pay for infrastructure maintenance and improvement some other way..?

Mike

Forget the concept of high-speed rail... it's not affordable & cities/towns aren't laid out near the tracks.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xyUg4J7Sf8[/media]

'Tanner'

 

[jas67]

Fine the electric car drivers

So, I guess when all electric, or plug in hybrids become more common (like the Chevy Volt), they'll need to dye the electricity that comes into your house, so that you don't run untaxed electricity in your car

 

[Billy Bobbed]

Just tell them you just started using it,they cant tell when you used it.

 

[Tanner]

So, I guess when all electric, or plug in hybrids become more common (like the Chevy Volt), they'll need to dye the electricity that comes into your house, so that you don't run untaxed electricity in your car

Nah - just convince them that you're doing your part to keep things 'green' by running recycled electrons...

'Tanner'

 

[stumps]

So, I guess when all electric, or plug in hybrids become more common (like the Chevy Volt), they'll need to dye the electricity that comes into your house, so that you don't run untaxed electricity in your car

As plug-in electric and hybrid cars become more common, the state and federal governments will require a GPS based mileage meter that automatically bills you for a road tax based on the number and location of miles you travel. Oregon has already done a successful trial on this.

-Chuck

 

[rigger6048]

my mpg

my wife drives a 1998 mazda protege 5-speed that gets between 42 and 44 mpg all day long. we paid right around $4,000 for it a few years ago. the car is 12 years old and gets better fuel economy than the latest model! the big guys won't let us get the most efficient technologies here. in europe the volkswagen blue motion diesel gets 70-something mpg... and i am willing to bet SOMEONE paid GM to destroy those ev-1's. but who would gain from us being dependent on a fuel that gets taxed out the @ss? the ev-1 was so much more efficient than the newest electric prototypes and it was detroyed.

 

[stumps]

As I recall, GM's EV1 was purely a move to satisfy an impending requirement that all car manufacturers that sell in California must manufacture some true zero emissions cars. When the deadline arrived, California capitulated, and changed their law to only require near zero emissions cars... opening the doors to hybrids, and highly pollution controlled gasoline engines. GM ditched the costly EV1 and went the near zero emissions route.

I read somewhere that each EV1 cost GM something like a quarter million bucks to make and maintain. That is why they were only offered on lease.

-Chuck

 

[subhunter]

A guy in fl was written up in Home Power magazine for making his own bio diesel.
Not long after the mag hit the news stand, the tax man came to his house.