Car Buyers Flee SUVs, Prius Sales Triple

wrote:
> SoCalMike wrote:
>
>
>>im sure the unions would have agreed to concessions, IF the
>>top brass were willing to as well. the top brass never does.
>
>
> GM is so stupid that it once announced record bonuses for its
> executives just days before demanding concessions from the union
> employees. It hasn't gotten any smarter since then.
>
exactly! they heap blame on the $25/hr autoworkers, when its THEM
approving ****ty designs, cutting corners, then patting themselves on
the back with bonuses as they lose market share.


any ****wit with half a clue could see the SUV/pickup craze not lasting
forever. station wagons had their time, and are kinda making a comeback,
at least in 4door w/hatch form, the minivan had their time in the sun
and is still a semi-popular option, and this too shall pass.

"barbie gee" > wrote in message
. ..
>
>
> On Fri, 6 May 2005, Sam wrote:
>
>>>> There are over 40 2005 SUV models that get over 25 mpg according to the
>>>> Dept
>> of Energy. The extra money you pay for a hybrid takes 20 years to recover
>> because of the price of gas. People are not too smart.
>>
>> My Hyundai Accent 2003 just got 40mpg on a 280 mile trip at 70-75 mph for
>> much of the trip. It has a gas engine only. Accent has a 10yr, 100,000
>> mile warranty.
>>
>> The Prius has about 24 battery cells which are covered by an 8 yr warranty
>> and cost about $200USD per cell. IIRC, the Prius claims about 60 mpg for
>> the highway.
>>
>> At about $12k for the Accent vs about $27k for the Prius, some Prius buyers
>> are not too smart.
>
> why does everyone think it's ONLY about money saved?
> what about gasoline saved?

There isnt any gas saved in that particular examples, stupid.

In spades with the resources used to produce that battery.

> we can make more money, we can't make more oil...

Thats wrong too.

On Fri, 06 May 2005 09:17:53 -0700, Brigid Nelson
> wrote:

>One word - biodiesel.
>
>You will pay more at the pump, that is until gas prices exceed the
>current 3.10 per gallon cost of biodiesel. Out here on the west coast,
>that could well be this summer.

So what are the limits on biodiesel production? Assuming cost were no
object, how many barrels (or their equivalents) could be produced in
the US today? What are the limits on biodiesel production? For
example, does it depend on used fry grease from McDonald's, or similar
sources that are difficult to scale?

On 6 May 2005 10:33:13 -0700, wrote:

>sgtsam wrote:
>> Car Buyers Flee SUVs, Prius Sales Triple
>> May 4, 2005
>>
>> U.S. consumer interest in SUVs dropped sharply in April as people
>> turned to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
>
>Good news! I figured that gas prices would *eventually* wear
>down the love affair between those behemoths and the hogs who
>drive them.

I have bee anticipating this, also. I figure I'll be able to pick up a
4WD Urban Escape Vehicle(*) pretty cheap this summer, once gas prices
in SoCal top $3/gallon.

(*) I live in Earthquake Country, so when The Big One [tm] hits, I
want to have an off-road-capable escape vehicle available. Recall the
images from last season's hurricanes in Florida - all those people
trying to flee the coastal areas at once completely choked every road
with traffic. There are over 15 million people in the LA basin; when
TBO hits, our roads will be orders of magnitude worse. Millions will
drown when the tsunamis hit the coast. My plan is to pick up an SUV
for next to nothing, file a PNO (Planned Non-Operation) on it so I
don't have to pay registration or insurance, and then just park it
until disaster strikes. Then I'll pile the family into the SUV and
take off over the truck trails to cross the Santa Ana mountains and
get to safety.

Nobody better steal my idea, either.

Scott en Aztl=E1n wrote:
>
> I have bee anticipating this, also. I figure I'll be able to pick up
a
> 4WD Urban Escape Vehicle(*) pretty cheap this summer, once gas prices
> in SoCal top $3/gallon.
>
> (*) I live in Earthquake Country, so when The Big One [tm] hits, I
> want to have an off-road-capable escape vehicle available. Recall the
> images from last season's hurricanes in Florida - all those people
> trying to flee the coastal areas at once completely choked every road
> with traffic. There are over 15 million people in the LA basin; when
> TBO hits, our roads will be orders of magnitude worse. Millions will
> drown when the tsunamis hit the coast. My plan is to pick up an SUV
> for next to nothing, file a PNO (Planned Non-Operation) on it so I
> don't have to pay registration or insurance, and then just park it
> until disaster strikes. Then I'll pile the family into the SUV and
> take off over the truck trails to cross the Santa Ana mountains and
> get to safety.
>
> Nobody better steal my idea, either.

Yeah, but what if TBO doesn't hit in your lifetime?

--
Cliff

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> On Fri, 06 May 2005 09:17:53 -0700, Brigid Nelson
> > wrote:
>
>
>>One word - biodiesel.
>>
>>You will pay more at the pump, that is until gas prices exceed the
>>current 3.10 per gallon cost of biodiesel. Out here on the west coast,
>>that could well be this summer.
>
>
> So what are the limits on biodiesel production? Assuming cost were no
> object, how many barrels (or their equivalents) could be produced in
> the US today? What are the limits on biodiesel production? For
> example, does it depend on used fry grease from McDonald's, or similar
> sources that are difficult to scale?
>

You can make it from yellow grease (the stuff from fryers) as well as
grain crops. You can even cook your own in your garage.
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

There's a lot of info online about it and community groups are beginning
to sprout up in the usual places. Those who oppose it claim that the
resources we would need to exploit in order to grow that much grain
makes it as potentially ecologically damaging as petrol products. I
personally don't buy that argument, and as someone who doesn't eat grain
I think it's better used as fuel - and feeding livestock. Here are
some links to get you started:

http://www.biodiesel.org/
http://www.biodiesel-intl.com/tech_e/tech.htm
http://www.gobiodiesel.org/tiki-index.php

enjoy,
brigid

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> On Fri, 06 May 2005 09:17:53 -0700, Brigid Nelson
> > wrote:
>
>
>>One word - biodiesel.
>>
>>You will pay more at the pump, that is until gas prices exceed the
>>current 3.10 per gallon cost of biodiesel. Out here on the west coast,
>>that could well be this summer.
>
>
> So what are the limits on biodiesel production? Assuming cost were no
> object, how many barrels (or their equivalents) could be produced in
> the US today? What are the limits on biodiesel production? For
> example, does it depend on used fry grease from McDonald's, or similar
> sources that are difficult to scale?
>


Here it is in a nutshell, if you took every square inch of arable land
and put it into production of oil producing crops ( soybeans,corn
etc...) it wouldn't even cover 5% of today's consumption of oil.
This also means we would have no land to grow food or feed stock for the
animals we eat ;~)

On 6 May 2005 12:35:31 -0700, wrote:

>Yeah, but what if TBO doesn't hit in your lifetime?

Then at least I didn't waste $40,000 on an SUV I'll never use.

sgtsam wrote:
> Car Buyers Flee SUVs, Prius Sales Triple
> May 4, 2005
>
> U.S. consumer interest in SUVs dropped sharply in April as people
> turned to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Actually, only "some" peeps turned to fuel-efficient cars.
Sales of 11,000 hardly represents a Mass Exodus.

Headline shudda been:
"Millions of SUV owners stand pat"

Mike Wilcox wrote:
>
>
> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 06 May 2005 09:17:53 -0700, Brigid Nelson
>> > wrote:
>>
>>
>>> One word - biodiesel.
>>>
>>> You will pay more at the pump, that is until gas prices exceed the
>>> current 3.10 per gallon cost of biodiesel. Out here on the west
>>> coast, that could well be this summer.
>>
>>
>>
>> So what are the limits on biodiesel production? Assuming cost were no
>> object, how many barrels (or their equivalents) could be produced in
>> the US today? What are the limits on biodiesel production? For
>> example, does it depend on used fry grease from McDonald's, or similar
>> sources that are difficult to scale?
>>
>
>
> Here it is in a nutshell, if you took every square inch of arable land
> and put it into production of oil producing crops ( soybeans,corn
> etc...) it wouldn't even cover 5% of today's consumption of oil.
> This also means we would have no land to grow food or feed stock for the
> animals we eat ;~)

Even if you don't take it that far, it's a dead end. Any increase in the
amount of land put under agricultural use means an increase in the
already unsustainable rate of soil erosion and freshwater aquifer
depletion, bringing closer the day when we run out of the most
fundamental natural resources, soil and water.

As for used fast food oil, most of that is already recycled into soap,
lubricants and animal feed. The little available is sufficient for the
bio-fuel hobbyists and enthusiasts but in no way adequate for widespread
use.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"They're making people every day, but they ain't makin' any more dirt."
Will Rogers