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Mlive.com: Rush Limbaugh blasts Motor Trend for Chevrolet Volt award, editor fires back.


polywog999

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1, the Volt is way over priced

just like every other cutting edge technology ever, early adopters will have to pay a disproportionate share of the R&D. this is how capitalism works on planet earth. welcome! enjoy your stay!

2. Electric cars are a joke, because you are still powering them from Oil based energy.

this argument is a joke (and inaccurate). the plurality of our electrical energy comes from coal-burning plants at the moment. these are dirty plants, but with the economies of scale, they end up being cleaner than an equivalent million tiny internal combustion engines that these electric motors could replace. additionally, centralizing the power source is the FIRST and NECESSARY step towards improving the overall efficiency and reducing the amount of pollution caused by cars. any improvements in the efficiency or pollution levels of our power infrastructure (building, say, nuclear or solar or wind or hydro plants) ends up effectively reducing the environmental impact and energy cost of every electric car on the road. it's in our best interest on both economic and environmental fronts. not to mention it reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

---------- Post added March-23rd-2011 at 04:55 PM ----------

The problem i have is that it was named car of the year and isnt even on the road yet? wtf?

every car they have ever given the award to has been one that isn't on the road yet (the award is given to cars that are new or have been redesigned. it is not a sales-based award).

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ok .... if all motortrend awards go to cars that arent on the market yet... then i dont see what Rush's issue really is. its still seems to me that the most recognized automotive award goes to cars based on everything but real world application and reliability.

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ok .... if all motortrend awards go to cars that arent on the market yet... then i dont see what Rush's issue really is. its still seems to me that the most recognized automotive award goes to cars based on everything but real world application and reliability.

Rush's issue is that he hates GM and anything that sounds remotely "Green."

If someone developed a fusion reactor, he would ***** about it.

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I don't really have a comment about the topic, but bringing up Limbaugh reminded me that we haven't seen Burgundy Burner around for a while.

Anyone know where's he's been keping himself?

~Bang

BGO.

He's doing well. And Rusty (his bengal cat) is getting big. Oh...and he still has the same poor taste in NASCAR. ;)

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1, the Volt is way over priced

2. Electric cars are a joke, because you are still powering them from Oil based energy.

3. The Ford Focus uses less energy, took no bail out, even though it was offered.

4. Rush is a joke

and I could say much more on this

didn't read all 6 pages, so maybe someone pointed it out, but even electricity from a coal plant is cleaner than a gasoline engine in car... just because of the efficiency gained from large scale production as opposed to a tiny car engine.

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BGO.

He's doing well. And Rusty (his bengal cat) is getting big. Oh...and he still has the same poor taste in NASCAR. ;)

Cool, thanks. Noticed he's been scarce. and knew he isn't well, was hoping all is good. Glad to hear it is.

~Bang

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Translation: Yeah it sucks but look at the Good Intentions, instead of the results. Show your support by wasting your money on the BetaMax of Automobiles :)

I think it's good for many people who drive primarily to get to work and back home. The inconvenience you cited about the long time to charge wouldn't really be noticed. I expect the technology to improve very quickly though.

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I think it's good for many people who drive primarily to get to work and back home. The inconvenience you cited about the long time to charge wouldn't really be noticed. I expect the technology to improve very quickly though.

I'm still trying to figure out why Betamax is some kind of horrible knock on an electric car. If the Volt is the Betamax, that means in five years, we will have a cheap, readily available electric car in every garage and within 20 years, we will be onto the next generation of technology and electric cars will be available for, like, $750 new.

Why is this a bad thing?

The really interesting thing is that every person who bought a Betamax in 1980 wears that fact like a badge of honor right now.

"I was right!! The picture was better!!! It's not my fault that JVC had a better distribution model!!!"

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I'm still trying to figure out why Betamax is some kind of horrible knock on an electric car. If the Volt is the Betamax' date=' that means in five years, we will have a cheap, readily available electric car in every garage and within 20 years, we will be onto the next generation of technology and electric cars will be available for, like, $750 new.

Why is this a bad thing?

The really interesting thing is that every person who bought a Betamax in 1980 wears that fact like a badge of honor right now.

"I was right!! The picture was better!!! It's not my fault that JVC had a better distribution model!!!"[/quote']

I think ND is saying what someone else did in the thread, in that the Volt is the first generation.. and quickly the technology will go well beyond it and soon enough it will be obsolete.

If you bought a Betamax when home videotape machines were new, you'd kick yourself in a few years when no one made betamax tapes anymore.

Rush was on Jay Leno's horrible 10PM show once, and they had a contest to drive a Volt thru a course, which of course had all sorts of goofy obstacles. Rush did it, while giving a running commentary of how bad it was, and when he got the the Al Gore cutout obstacle, he ran it over, then backed over it and ran it over again.

It was actually pretty damn funny. I do believe it's the ONLY bit I remember from that entire show.

~Bang

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I think ND is saying what someone else did in the thread, in that the Volt is the first generation.. and quickly the technology will go well beyond it and soon enough it will be obsolete.

No, ND hates it because it is "green" and therefore for "*******."

All reasonable people see this as a first generation concept. But they don't scream from the mountains about how Al Gore is ruining America.

If you bought a Betamax when home videotape machines were new, you'd kick yourself in a few years when no one made betamax tapes anymore.

Maybe. But you would kick yourself if you bought an 8-track player too. Or had reel to reel. Both of which were superior to the cassette.

Same if you bought HD-DVD.

There is always a risk for buying the first generation of technology. Most people who buy the first generation of technology know this going in. But there is a cachet to it.

Hell, Apple has built a gazillion dollar empire thanks to these people who are willing to pay 25 percent more to be the first with a new technology.

Rush was on Jay Leno's horrible 10PM show once, and they had a contest to drive a Volt thru a course, which of course had all sorts of goofy obstacles. Rush did it, while giving a running commentary of how bad it was

That I don't quite get. Because I drove a Leaf, and it was a pretty fantastic driving experience. Like I said, it felt like a real car except that it accelerated a little too quickly for my tastes. But there was no difference between it and a standard car except the vibrations and sound of the engine - which was a little weird.

I want to drive a Volt, but I can't imagine it's an awful machine to drive. It's certainly not a Smart Car.

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One technology they've had to invent with electric cars is an artificial sound the car makes to let people know they're coming. Otherwise, they're so quiet that pedestrians would be getting clipped left and right because you don't hear them coming.

I wonder what the artificial sound is for the cars, and whether they vary from the Leaf to the Volt to the Tesla...

Edit: should have know there would be a YouTube video about it:

_-v-pMxmHLE

and the Nissan Leaf:

3yO5msMEGZI

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The Leaf actually had tiny speakers that simulate the sound.

Two things that were hard to get used to:

1. You hit the accelerator and were almost immediately at 60.

2. There was no engine reving during that and no vibration.

Aside from killing pedestrians, I have to guess that the biggest problem with them is drivers having no clue what speed they are at. If you are doing 90 in a normal car, you tend to feel it in your hands. I was having a hell of a time maintaining my speed because it didn't take much pressure to accelerate and you don't really feel it at all.

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Which one of these beast trucks is better looking?

They look pretty much the same to me. :whoknows:

Obviously, if you are hauling two tons of cinderblocks every day, you would be foolish to buy a Volt. But that isn't a reason to knock it.

You are just as foolish if you buy a big azz SUV or pickup and try to park it every day in San Francisco.

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The Leaf actually had tiny speakers that simulate the sound.

Two things that were hard to get used to:

1. You hit the accelerator and were almost immediately at 60.

2. There was no engine reving during that and no vibration.

Aside from killing pedestrians' date=' I have to guess that the biggest problem with them is drivers having no clue what speed they are at. If you are doing 90 in a normal car, you tend to feel it in your hands. I was having a hell of a time maintaining my speed because it didn't take much pressure to accelerate and you don't really feel it at all.[/quote']

Interesting.

When I am out with my daughter helping her ride her bike down the street I always try to be aware of oncoming cars. Even so, I have at least once turned around to see a Prius slowing down or stopping waiting for us to get out of the way. I can see how making very little noise would be problematic. Is there any kind of electric whine? What about when you are reaching the top end speed of the vehicle? Which is what, by the way?

As for the speed thing, I think there are a number of people on the road that even now would benefit by using their cruise control more. Obviously in heavy traffic it isn't possible, but at that point your going to be adjusting your speed anyway based on the traffic around you.

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They look pretty much the same to me. :whoknows:

Obviously, if you are hauling two tons of cinderblocks every day, you would be foolish to buy a Volt. But that isn't a reason to knock it.

You are just as foolish if you buy a big azz SUV or pickup and try to park it every day in San Francisco.

I wasn't trying to make a point. I've just had arguments with people about which is cooler looking and I can't decide. They're both concept cars except the Raptor no longer technically is because it's available.

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I'd like to see it get the charge time down to 40minutes or less and the range to 80 miles. That IMO would be an ideal car. I can charge it during a lunch hour and get to work and run errands with no gas but still drive out of town when I want to.

Spot on. We're not there yet, but a car along the lines you describe here would be the ideal hold-over until we completely replace gas. A ton of gas in this country is used on short day trips in urban and suburban settings. If we could entirely get rid of that segment of gasoline usage, that would be the market push needed to get companies to really invest in research and development of new technology. The price of gas of course would increase due to a decrease in consumption, so the overall "price" in terms of what a consumer would pay on gas in total in say a month or a year would be relatively the same to what it is now.
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They look pretty much the same to me. :whoknows:

You are just as foolish if you buy a big azz SUV or pickup and try to park it every day in San Francisco.

There is also a pork sandwich served in prison in Florida known as the "Big Azz." Only the good prisoners get to eat it.

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I'd just like to say that my previous statements in this thread were a little thoughtless and slightly inarticulate. I think I posted that at 4 am or so and with one hand covering one eye, while the other hand used one finger to poke out the response. Whoops.

Anyway, Rush is a joke and I stand by that.

Also, I do fully support electric cars and would buy one, if they weren't $40k. I posted an article yesterday about the Willis Tower putting solar windows on their building. I could imagine the same building having a parking garage with free, sustainable self created energy. It's a good thing. My running of the mouth, after drinking, bad thing.

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I'd just like to say that my previous statements in this thread were a little thoughtless and slightly inarticulate. I think I posted that at 4 am or so and with one hand covering one eye, while the other hand used one finger to poke out the response. Whoops.

You're a good dude, Koolblue. I've thought that for a long time.

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