Modified Hybrid Cars that get up to 250 miles per gallon!!!
 

http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...508140379/1003

We have the tools, we have the technology... Why isn't the industry trying to make hybrid that are this fuel efficient?

SWK

Because "the industry" is making enough money without it right now, thank you very much.

YEAH. So THERE.

I wish that Steve weren't right, but he is.

Can't I be an optimist, just this once? Can't I just pretend the Industry occasionally can do the right thing, just this once?

No?

Fine! Car companies eat our babies!

Happy?

SWK
- Well we can at least hope that mod kits might arise, and make these cars available to the common man.

I had a baby once, but the killer cars got it. Thank god for atomic mutation.

Nah, you just need atomic super-babies, like my boy. No car is a match for him!

Still, back to the real thing... on very, very few occaisions has anything which resulted in greatly improved END USER efficiency been adopted without incredible coercion. Anything that improves INDUSTRIAL efficiency (paying kids three cents an hour, outsourcing phone service to non-English speaking nations, and of course the assembly line) is snapped up instantaneously, since it allows for increased profits without helping anyone else. It's cynical, but very, very true. :( *weep*

yep, thats the American Way, go damnit! and damned if we aren't just going to preserve out captialist ideals, but we're gonna force, i mean convince the rest of the world to be more like us.

Two words: oil tycoons.

The problem is, any flaws in the Hybrid or progressive technology itself are not being addressed properly. Since the big, rich, and powerful (ahh, the bg 3, eh?) oil/car companies rely on the oil "format" for their revenue, and because they don't want to make the transfer over a little less painless (the "i am immortal" syndrome), they favor oil technologies and often denounce Hybrid ones.

So I think any design flaws could easily be fixed, as with any product; they could be refined and solved, but the higher ups have decided that there 'isn't a market' for this sort of thing (translation: less money. it has never been about the environment, and while Hybrids are a good idea, they are like a novelty project to companies whose sole concern is not to transport you from point a to point b safely, but to get lotsa clams), which is a shame. I really think we'll only see 'environmentally-safe' cars in 'indie' projects. Like with anything, the indie projects are usually the ones who are trying to be the most bold but don't have the resources to do so.

Now, the issue of whether or not we should be environmentally conscious is another one, with two valid sides, I think.

like steve said, the industry is doing just fine without hybrid cars. one thing i find in human nature is that most people will take the easier, temporary solution rather than the harder, more long term solution.

though, i could definetely see hybrid cars in the future once the oil supply runs out..

Trust me, I've observed this ;) A lot of my recent thinking and philosophy relates to whether or not humans should allow themselves to slip into the often more hurtful 'easy' solutions, and even though a more egalitarean, intelligent one is more difficult, should we not apply ourselves in order to achieve that goal, even if it requires more effort? Hm.

Um, think what ya want, but what Steve said earlier is right. Hybrids will always have a hard time becoming mainstream because of the oil and car companies. I have to say that a move from oil-based cars to hybrid/more efficient cars will be extremely painful. But think beyond just money.

How many people do car companies employ? All those factories, car dealerships, gas stations, trucking companies all provide jobs for people who pay taxes. If cars become more efficient, there will be less jobs needed for building cars, fueling, repairing, etc. I'm not saying I support the current way of business, its just that this transformation cannot happen instantly. It takes time, unfortunately.

Gas prices right now are FRIGGIN RIDICULOUS. :(

I'm all for better fuel efficiency and such, but trust me, all Hybrids aren't as good as everyone thinhks.

My friend Mike drives a Toyota Prius Hybrid, and although it gets enough gas milage to choke a walrus, his car is very gutless: with five guys (about 1000lbs.) inside the car, he had to floor it to get anything close to what someone would call "acceleration." Do you think the semi trucks of today would be able to run like that? Sure, you can make huge engines, but it seems a little hokey to me...

On an unrelated note, why are they called "semis" when they're bigger than normal trucks when going off of the word's definition (half)?

Doesn't the word semi refer to the trailers (as in semitrailer) which would then be called semi because they only have wheels at the rear end, the front being supported only by the towing vehicle?

""They're like the hot rodders of yesterday who did everything to soup up their cars. It was all about horsepower and bling-bling, lots of chrome and accessories," said Cindy Knight, a Toyota spokeswoman"

a corporate spokesperson just used "bling-bling" in a sentance, am i the only one disturbed by that?