Text 33790, 116 rader
Skriven 2009-06-26 13:44:03 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 33767 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: green fuel
==================
26 Jun 09 07:17, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB> Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Thursday June 25 2009 at 12:08:

 RB>>>>> Doubtless the stupidest thing I've ever read. Iceland and "giving
 RB>>>>> up fossil fuels" - in a country where geothermal energy is cheap
 RB>>>>> and abundent. What absolute rot.

 RW>>>> How would you use geothermal energy to drive a vehicle, again?

 RB>>> Electric power. Assuming I was worried about the few hundred cars
 RB>>> on the huge island causing more pollution than the cows farting on
 RB>>> the meadows and did anything at all.

 RW>> Why would you want to change the infrastructure that is already in
 RW>> place?

 RB> What do you call using hydrogen for cars other than a change in the
 RB> infrastructure?

A change in the infrastructure would mean a change in the way vehicles are
fueled from how it's done with petroleium fuels. It isn't. Changing to
electric power eliminates that.

 RB>>> Making the "Smart" (which I refer to as the "Dumb"), a four-wheeled
 RB>>> rollerskate even smaller than the car my wife bought, was one of
 RB>>> them.

 RW>> Oh? I thought that was the best they ever did. :o)

 RB> You've never driven one, I see...

And I wouldn't care to. Have you ever seen what happens to tin-cans when
they're opened with a can opener. That's what your typical 'roller skate'
will look like when it's hit by something larger.

 RB>>> As one might have guessed, the thing was designed by the same guy
 RB>>> who brought out the "Swatch" - cheaply made, not really that fuel
 RB>>> efficient and high priced for what you get.

 RW>> Typical European technology.

 RB> Typical theory contra practice.

In otherwords, over priced junk.

 RB> The theory is nice: small, compact, inexpensive car, low running cost
 RB> for city use. Trouble is that it's only small, not inexpensive, the
 RB> running cost is as much or nearly so than that of a "real" car, and
 RB> we don't have that many large cities here - particularly not the
 RB> sprawling kind that exist in the States - to make such a thing
 RB> practical.

And yet we get our share of 'Smart' cars here. Smart<>Tin can.

 RW>>>> Those damned Germans come up with some of the most 'immagical'
 RW>>>> contrivences.

 RB>>> Germans love complicated things full of theory. That makes them
 RB>>> thorough, but also leads to impractical things and interminable
 RB>>> delays.

 RW>> And most of all, overly expensive to make and maintain. While
 RW>> everyone else uses 'off the shelf' products to maintain their
 RW>> vehicles (oil, etc.) a German made car has to have 'special' off the
 RW>> shelf 'brand name' oil which is no different than any other oil, but
 RW>> if you don't use it your warranty is void. Audi transmissions won't
 RW>> work if they don't have that 'name brand special' ordinary
 RW>> transmission fluid.

 RB> Your last paragraph above assumes the car is in warranty and thus
 RB> subject to the manufacturer's rules on service and maintenance.

Duh! Keep in mind that many people don't take their cars to the dealer for
preventative maintenence. They use independent shops who perform the work
within the guide lines of the factory warranty. Which keeps the warranty
intact.

 RB> Naturally the manufacturer is going to force you to service the car
 RB> at an authorized dealer (at high cost) and naturally only
 RB> extra-premium materials (high price) will be specified.

Which is a typical German tactic. It's not necessary to maintain the
warranty.

 RB> Once you are free of such constraints, you can use what you like and
 RB> have the car serviced by an independent, who is merely qualified but
 RB> doesn't get paid by the manufacturer - and is therefore inexpensive.

But you don't need to take it to a dealer to have it serviced under
warranty. The factory recognizes the independents too.

 RB> But the constraints you have in warranty have nothing to do with
 RB> American or German, they have to do with manufacturers everywhere.

News to me. Many people avoid the dealers like the plague and have no
problem getting warranty work done by independents.

 RB> I would be most surprised if American manufacturers didn't have
 RB> similar rules during warranty

They don't.

 RB> - although in view of the insolvencies of American carmakers that
 RB> might not have been the case ;-)

On the contrary, their dealerships operate just like before the O'bama
took over their parent companies.

                R\%/itt

Joy lives in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in
the victory itself.

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