Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Public Transportation

From: Mike Lorrey <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 18:23:09 -0800 (PST)

--- Samantha Atkins <[email-masked]> wrote:
> 
> On Mar 23, 2005, at 5:02 PM, J. Andrew Rogers wrote:
> 
> > Brian Lee wrote:
> >> I'm guessing it's because it is cheaper to make an entry
> >> level car with a crappy engine that gets 30mpg than an
> >> entry level car with a less crappy engine that gets 50mpg.
> >
> >
> > The 50mpg engines were actually less efficient than the 30mpg
> engines,
> > they were just much smaller.  Better gas milage has nothing to do
> with
> > whether or not the engine is "crappy".
> >
> > To put it in simple economic terms, the fuel economy differences
> today
> > between a two-ton mid-size sedan with a 0-60 in the mid sixes and
> one 
> > of
> > the funky subcompact hybrids is about 100 gallons per year.  Or
> > $20/month, and less than a lightbulb's worth of CO2 generation. 
> This
> > makes the choice obvious to most people, and the point of the
> sacrifice
> > dubious.
> 
> What do you mean?  I used to commute 500 miles a week.  At 50mpg that
> is 10 gallons.  At 25 mpg it is 20.  That is 500 gallons a year 
> difference wthout even considering non-commute miles.  So exactly
> what are you claiming?  That most Americans average around 50 miles a
> week?  I very much doubt it.

The average daily commute as I recall is somewhere around 20-25 miles.

However the point is that the Geo was a lighter vehicle with lower
safety standards and lower passenger capacity than todays economy cars.
Today's 35 mpg engine is hauling more car and more people at that
milage than the Geo at 50 mpg, so when you calculate in the end the
miles per gallon per person, you wind up with a more efficient vehicle
that has even lower emissions and is safer to drive.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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---

From: "Brian Lee" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:05:52 -0500

The point of a 45mpg geo is that it gets over twice your milage. So even 
with it not carrying all that useful stuff you have in your jeep, it comes 
out cheaper to pay $50/year for AAA. Then they will come out and tow, fix 
flat, etc etc.

There's nothing wrong with people having jeeps. I think it is lamentable 
that cheap shitbox cars today get worse mpg than 15 years ago.

Plus most of the stuff you carry in your jeep could also be carried in the 
trunk of the geo (not counting the spare tire).

BAL
>From: Mike Lorrey <[email-masked]>
>To: ExI chat list <[email-masked]>
>Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Public Transportation
>Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:26:40 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>--- Mike Lorrey <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > The Geo can carry four very caloric restrictive adults, and little
> > else.
>
>What I mean by this is based on experience I have on the road. I drive
>a 1987 Jeep Cherokee. I get about 20 mpg on the highway, which is
>pretty darn good for a boxy suv with a straight 6 4.0L engine of that
>decade. I carry in it, besides myself, a full spare tire (not one of
>those sissy donuts), a 5,000 lb scissor jack (not those wimpy fake
>jacks the factory issues), an electric air compressor, an electric
>impact wrench, a tow rope, a set of chains, a complete tool set, a milk
>crate full of all sorts of vehicular fluids and minor spare parts, a
>shovel, road flares, a few 1-2 gallon gas cans, a full set of camping
>equipment, fly fishing gear, a firearm or two, ammo, plus assorted
>other pieces of equipment, books, etc. depending on the season.
>
>As a result of being prepared, I frequently stop to help people driving
>Geos and other Geo-eque-type vehicles broken down on the roadside
>without a postage stamp to write home about it. Generally it is a
>duct-taping of a radiator hose and some anti-freeze, or a patching of
>their tire (because their spare is not in the car in order to make more
>room). Once a very sharply dressed woman was shocked that I requested
>she remove her silk stockings until she realized it was the only way to
>temporarily replace her broken fan belt.
>
>Who is externalizing on who, now? Particularly those who are offended
>at the idea that it would be polite if I were to be paid for my
>assistance.
>
>
>
>
>
>Mike Lorrey
>Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
>http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/