MTFCA Forum

I presume this meme is intended to plug electric cars. I wonder if they realize just how ridiculous it is ?

The steam motorist was an hour late and battery-brain didn't have the range to make the trip!

… and the people who only wanted faster horses rolled their eyes at all three.

And just how many automobiles were there in 1900? And how many are there today? Big difference. Jim

Rational people in a free society soon discovered the many advantages of gasoline fueled motor cars as opposed to steam or electric. The advent of the electric self-starter around 1912 sealed the deal, although the electrochemical batteries that the electric starter depended on were a frequent source of problems. Electrochemical batteries remain a weak link in today's automobiles, whether IC or EV.

I would love to see a modern steam car.

Bryant

The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there (L.P. Hartley, "The Go-Between"). When the automobile was introduced, it was a very expensive toy. Only the most wealthy could afford one. Those electric vehicles were used primarily to traverse the bank executive from home to bank office and back, on what were likely the only traversable roads in the country, i. e. in cities. The electrics were clean and silent, could be recharged at home given the use to which they were put, values in vogue at the time. By comparison, gasoline vehicles were loud, dirty, smelly, and prone to breakdown, with no agency repair facilities until invented by Mr. Ford. Of course electrics were popular, they fit the times and the opportunities. Mr. Ford changed everything, a cheap, reliable, motor that could get one from farm to town and back, giving rise to not only the automobile as we envision them today, but also the whole notion of decent roads. Today, the push to go back to electrics fails to understand the cultural imperatives that were created by Mr. Ford, and with which we continue to live today. A successful return to electric vehicles would require re-urbanization, everybody going back to inner cities where travel distances are small, with long distance travel undertaken by rail, i.e. making us look a lot like Europe, not at all our collective self-image. Given the current technology, electric vehicles are unappealing precisely because they do not fit our self image, cannot fit that image because they don't address the realities of American life in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, Elon Musk is not Henry Ford. Mr. Musk has science fiction visions but fails, utterly, to comprehend the cultural values of his adopted country. Having grown up on the farm, Mr. Ford understood the needs and imperatives of the farmer and his family, made a device that was highly useful to the majority population of the country, a device that was widely and fairly quickly adopted by Every Man. The current electric vehicle push, powered by fears of the future fate of the planet, is trying to force a concept down the throats of a mostly unwilling consumer population, not trying to address real needs of the modern populace. Adam Smith's invisible hand of the market will determine the fate of electric vehicles.

We COULD re-establish law and order in our cities, if we should choose to do do, and we COULD reform the tax and regulatory framework to accommodate a wide range of business activity and general investment, including industrial activity and housing development and rehabilitation. I believe that many people would still choose a (civil) urban lifestyle and higher density living, IF the advantages of such a lifestyle were to be restored. Advantages such as security, convenience, diverse employment opportunities, a wide range of cultural venues, dining, night life, etc are attractive to millions of people. For public transport to work, high population density is necessary. A population capable of providing adequate tax base must have productive and stable employment and practical educational opportunities. Crime must not be allowed to flourish. EVS as available today could have broad appeal in an urban/suburban setting. Government needs to be re-focused on serving the public rather than ruling the public, and doing so as economically as possible.

Does anyone actually enjoy a long daily commute?

I enjoy living a long commute away from the urban area of my business!

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 17, 2024 2:40 pm

Does anyone actually enjoy a long daily commute?

I used to commute 140 miles per day. I can't say I preferred it, but the only real downside was when traffic was terrible. My commute is now 36 miles per day. I enjoy the drive time to & from work. It's a nice pause between entering the office and returning home again.

I've never lived in an urban area, but I've seen 5 to 6 PM rush hour in Dallas, and that's no place to be, even in nice weather.