ext_48536 ([identity profile] peristaltor.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] talkpolitics 2013-12-24 07:21 pm (UTC)

No, the current problem with our society is that we neglected our walkable communities to the point where too many feel they need a car, even for short trips. The very idea of a "road trip" has become embedded in too many brains as a right of citizenship rather than an expensive indulgence. (I admit I suffer that entitlement delusion as well.)

That's what GM fucked up with the Volt; they tried to appeal both to the new paradigm of electric drive within short ranges (99% of trips) without compromising the American Dream allure of unlimited "freedom" on our extensive series of road ribbons. I have a friend at work now very, very disappointed in his for this reason. He wanted to use gas as little as possible, but the Volt needs to run fuel through the injectors simply to prevent them from gooing into varnish. This forces him to use gas when he doesn't want to (he's on the first tank after over a year).

I told him to consider a Leaf, which would have done everything he's done with the Volt, but without the additional worry and maintenance. He didn't listen, and now he admits I might have been right.

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