Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Cartoon of the Day

Nate Beeler, from today's Washington Examiner (click to enlarge).

32 Comments:

At 3/06/2012 12:50 PM, Blogger juandos said...

How about the Chey Volt pick up?

How about the Chevy Volt convertible?

The Covette/Volt mongrel?

Will any of these wet dreams overcome the basic law of economics?

 
At 3/06/2012 12:59 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

worse yet, also unable to grasp this basic tenet, the white house as chief cheerleader for government motors is mooting an INCREASE in the tax credit for electric vehicles as well as making it easier to get.

they want to up the rebate from $7500 to $10,000 and make sure you get it in a couple weeks instead of having to wait for your taxes.

seems like more bigger hammer theory.

 
At 3/06/2012 1:38 PM, Blogger juandos said...

From the site, Truth About Cars: Blind Spot: The Twilight Of The Volt
(h/t Instapundit)

 
At 3/06/2012 1:46 PM, Blogger Bobby Caygeon said...

Funny. The Volt is a Washington DC favorite. Uneconomical to build and uneconomical to buy. Must be a no brainer.

We will all be driving Unicorns in 10 years anyway.

 
At 3/06/2012 2:46 PM, Blogger Mike said...

"The Volt is a Washington DC favorite. Uneconomical to build and uneconomical to buy."

If you'd have added, "and doesn't work as advertised", you'd have said it all...but then people might wonder if you were describing Washington or the Volt.

 
At 3/06/2012 2:51 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

but never fear, DC will bail government motors out again.

they are looking to up the tax credit from $7500 to $10k and let you get it in a week instead of having to wait for your taxes.

if it moves, tax it. if it keeps moving, regulate it. if it stops moving, subsidize it.

 
At 3/06/2012 2:59 PM, Blogger Paul said...

Morganovich,

but never fear, DC will bail government motors out again.


“I placed my bet on American workers. And I’ll make that same bet again any day of the week,”
~Obama, Feb 28 defending the UAW bailout

What courage! Oh, the bets I would make too if only I had access to your wallet.

 
At 3/06/2012 5:07 PM, Blogger Hans said...

GM has recognized it's mistake and is coming out with the new model called The 100 AMP...

 
At 3/06/2012 5:33 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

juandos: "How about the Chey Volt pick up?"

LOL

How far can I tow my camping trailer with it on a single charge?

 
At 3/06/2012 5:46 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

juandos: "The Corvette/Volt mongrel?"

Wow. From your link:

While the C8 is going to be marketed as a sporty extended-range electric car, the electric motors will power the front wheels and the C8 won't be tuned for handling". With the 3.0 liter SIDI V6 acting as its generator, this marks the end of the use of Chevrolet's famous Small Block V8 in the Corvette.

That marks the end of the Corvette, period.

 
At 3/06/2012 6:14 PM, Blogger Mike said...

"if it moves, tax it. if it keeps moving, regulate it. if it stops moving, subsidize it."

This is where things get confusing. They've taxed, regulated AND subsidized this product before it even got to the 'moving' stage.

 
At 3/06/2012 6:33 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

How do I short auto sales?

 
At 3/06/2012 7:12 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

actually juandos, hybrid is going to be the name of the game in supercars.

they are just flat out faster.

that all electric vette looks like tesla 2: the crap continues, but have you seen the 918?

built on the legendary carerra gt chassis, it's going to have a 500hp 8 in it as well as over 200 hp of electrics.

http://www.porsche.com/usa/aboutporsche/pressreleases/pag/?id=2010-03-02&pool=international-de

this is going to be a truly world beating car.

but at that price, it better be.

 
At 3/06/2012 8:04 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

M: "...but have you seen the 918?"

Wow! That looks like quite a car. I assume you have yours ordered. :)

AND! If you place your order in the NEXT 10 MINUTES, we'll throw in a 911 turbo s for the unheard of price of only $172k.

I'm a little confused about calling 16 miles on electric only a "long range". I guess this just isn't really intended to be a green car as we know them, but an insanely fast car with an additional nitro like boost you can invoke by pushing the "Go Faster!" button when 500hp just isn't quite good enough.

I suppose the addition weight won't be a problem as it is in the Tesla. $845k should buy a lot of engineering.

 
At 3/06/2012 9:39 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"How far can I tow my camping trailer with it on a single charge?"...

Well ron h if your driveway (and not long) is flat I'm guessing you'll make to the curb easy...:-)

 
At 3/06/2012 9:42 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"this is going to be a truly world beating car"...

Call me cynical morganovich but that battery weight I think is going to make this one of the slowest 918s ever...

 
At 3/06/2012 10:33 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

"Well ron h if your driveway (and not long) is flat I'm guessing you'll make to the curb easy...:-)"

On second look at the picture, it seems that the thing being towed by the pickup is most likely the battery pack. I guess towing isn't an option.

 
At 3/07/2012 9:49 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

juandos-
"Call me cynical morganovich but that battery weight I think is going to make this one of the slowest 918s ever..."

you are wrong about that.

first off, there has never been a 918 before.

second, it's going to be blazingly fast.

it has a curb weight of 3300 pounds (less than the gas powered ferraris it's going to crush) and over 700hp with a pile of rev 1 torque from the electric motors.

you do the math.

0-60 in 3 flat and tops out at 198 mph.

will out handle pretty much anything but an f-1.

this is the carerra gt chassis. it has venturi tunnels. (which explain the "slow" 0-60 time as they provide wicked downforce for handling)

trust me, this car is going to be THE next step in supercar evolution just like the 959 was.

like the 959, it will set the standards for decades to come.

i grew up racing and this is the kind of car you beg, borrow or steal just to get behind the wheel of.

 
At 3/07/2012 1:32 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"first off, there has never been a 918 before"...

I meant to put '911' in there, specifically thinking of the 2011 Turbo S ...

Anyway for the price of a 918 which shows to be $845,000 one can by 15 Chevy Lingenfelter 'Vettes and probably never be as quick...:-)

 
At 3/07/2012 1:36 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Speaking of the Chevy Volt Obama wants a $10,000 credit for that electric box...

 
At 3/07/2012 2:34 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

juandos-

oh, make no mistake, the 918 is going to be one of the most expensive cars in the world.

so was the 959 at the time, and they sold it for half of what it cost to make it (msrp of $300k and $600k build cost if memory serves)

the carerra gt was $600k retail and sold out instantly.

it's the best road car i have ever driven. 600hp, 3000 lbs, and INSANE handling from the venturi downforce with no nannyish traction control. it's a BEAST and an unmitigated joy.

the 918 looks cut from the same cloth and you are getting the same power/weight with more low end torque.

i doubt they will be able to resist putting in some traction control to make it more manageable for the dilettante as ferrari, lamborghini, and especially mclaren have done, (which will be sad) but perhaps they will include an off switch for it...

no sure how they

 
At 3/07/2012 2:41 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

juandos: "Anyway for the price of a 918 which shows to be $845,000 one can by 15 Chevy Lingenfelter 'Vettes and probably never be as quick...:-)"

0-60 in 1.97sec?
0-100 in 4.33 sec?

I can see the driver would believe that, but the reality may be different. :)

 
At 3/07/2012 3:21 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

you guys do realize that the electric vette you are looking at was an april fool's joke, right?

also:

that lingernfelter vette is a load of BS. they used racing slicks to get that time, and i'm still not sure i believe it.

put street tires on it and you are looking at 3.5 seconds to 60. it's 2wd and even big vette road tires spin. 800 hp cannot help you there. lingenfelter is a known name in racing and a big liar on stats. used to see a guy with one of those on track days at laguna seca. he was a back of the pack finisher. that car is NOT what is claimed.

when porsche tells you 3 seconds, they mean 2.7. when johnny l tells you 2 seconds, he means 4.

and, of course, then you might wanna turn, at which point, what a total pile of junk it is will become readily apparent.

it's a muscle car, all grunt, no performance. around a track, it would not be able to keep sight of a 918.

further, you seem to be very optimistic on pricing.

a corvette zr1 (basis for johnny's builds as the high end of the c6 line) is $120k. you're gonna pay johnny another 50-80k.

for that you will get an overpowered car with bad handling, worse styling, and an interior that screams "hertz".

i'd much rather have 1 918 than 4 of those turkeys.

i've seen too many of them blown off the track.

if you want a $200k killer, get a 911 turbo s. that will crush anything corvette can make including 0-60.

 
At 3/07/2012 7:35 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"you guys do realize that the electric vette you are looking at was an april fool's joke, right?"...

Absolutely morganovich but then again those three links I put up are all jokes even though some folks working with the Volt (i.e. the convertible).are serious...

 
At 3/07/2012 8:33 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 3/07/2012 8:50 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

M: "you guys do realize that the electric vette you are looking at was an april fool's joke, right?"

Ooopsy! I was sucked right in by that. I guess I'm prepared to believe anything about GM these days.

I DID wonder why the article included a picture of a RWD car.

 
At 3/07/2012 9:48 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

ron-

a corvette is rwd.

always has been.

 
At 3/07/2012 10:56 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 3/07/2012 10:58 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

morganovich: "ron-

a corvette is rwd.

always has been.
"

Yes, I know. the April Fool article described the new electric C8 as FWD but showed a picture with rear wheels smoking.

 
At 3/08/2012 12:00 AM, Blogger Ron H. said...

morganovich: " ron-

a corvette is rwd.

always has been.
"

Yeah, I know. the April Fools article described the C8 as a FWD, but showed a picture of rear wheels smoking.

 
At 3/08/2012 12:54 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

morganovich: "ron-

a corvette is rwd.

always has been.
"

Yeah, I know. The April Fool article described the C8 as a FWD, but the picture is of a RWD car.

 
At 3/11/2012 1:16 PM, Blogger Jon said...

Here's another term that ought to be part of Econ 101 but probably isn't. "Externalities."

Externalities are costs that are involved in a transaction that are not paid directly by the buyer or seller. So for instance fossil fuel emissions impose a cost on the environment. That cost is being paid in the form of global warming and it's consequences. Also traffic congestion, noise pollution. These are externalities.

Laissez-faire capitalist is incapable of coping with these externalities, so proponents pretend there is no problem. Even in the teeth of an overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming. That's the real reason right wingers deny science. If the science is right there's nothing they can do to cope, and they are unwilling to face that.

 

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