Are gas cars the cigarettes of the near future?

[nfpgasmask]

So, after reading a few of the new posts about nano cars and air cars and whatnot, I got to thinking about it. Suppose we as humans actually realize that we need to do something about the environment RIGHT NOW, and car companies start going full speed ahead with enviro-friendly cars, what is going to happen to the BILLIONS of gas cars out there already?

It’s my thinking that right now, gas cars are just like cigarettes were 50 years ago. When scientists first started linking smoking to cancer and a multitude of other diseases, people were skeptical, and cigarette companies were in denial. And it took 40+ years for society to start to REALLY recognize the truth, and do something about it. And in reality, it took around 50 years or so from the moment we realized that smoking was bad, for politics to catch up, finally issuing legislation that outright bans smoking in many places. And that is just here in the US.

Now, I don't want this thread to become some "freedom to kill yourself" or another "seatbelts" thread. What I am basically talking about, is the fact that it took about 50 years for society to change on a large enough scale to actually make things happen. This is worrisome if you ask me. Smoking is something that you can just stop doing, flush your last pack of smokes down the toilet, feel better and save money. But we can't do that with our gas powered cars. Even IF we make a massive countrywide change, what will happen to all the old cars? I suppose there can be programs to recycle them, programs to retrofit them with whatever “new enviro-engines” we have in place, and so on. But we are talking about a very ideal situation, and we all know that society operates far from the ideal.

So now, armed with the knowledge that greenhouse gasses are causing worldwide climate problems that cannot be denied, how long will it take to make the real changes we need to help the situation? I think we are a long way off from a time when people who drive gas cars are viewed by society as people who have a “dirty habit” like smoking. Say it takes 50 years to make nationwide changes. I think it will be way, way too late. Anyway, I was just sitting here thinking about how doomed we are. Of course, cars and greenhouse gasses are only one aspect of the global problems caused by mankind's footprint...

Anyway, any other thoughts?

[ZEUS]

What's a seatbelt?

[nfpgasmask]

What's a seatbelt?

How'd I know you would be the first to respond, and have a comment like that?

Bart

[Scott Harness]

It is probably past the point of no return already. China and India are just now getting into capitalism and materialism,so their not going to stop their economic growth.I'll be dead before it gets too bad. I'll probably come back as a polar bear in Miami.

[Scott Harness]

I forgot,Miami will be under water.

[nfpgasmask]

It is probably past the point of no return already. China and India are just now getting into capitalism and materialism,so their not going to stop their economic growth.I'll be dead before it gets too bad. I'll probably come back as a polar bear in Miami.

Yeah, you are probably right, Scott. I agree that we are already screwed....obviously. I just watched one of the most depressing documentaries I have ever seen, called "Deep Trouble". Its one of the special features on the Blue Planet DVD set. Its basically a short film about how our oceans have been destroyed and overfished, probably to the point of no return. Its sickening to think about how we have all but completely destroyed our planet in less than 100 years.

Bart

[ZEUS]

Yeah, you are probably right, Scott. I agree that we are already screwed....obviously. I just watched one of the most depressing documentaries I have ever seen, called "Deep Trouble". Its one of the special features on the Blue Planet DVD set. Its basically a short film about how our oceans have been destroyed and overfished, probably to the point of no return. Its sickening to think about how we have all but completely destroyed our planet in less than 100 years.

Bart

Look on the bright side, the planet will most likely destroy us and then begin to heal.

[JHarris1385]

I look at this whole greenhouse and ocean stuff as the earth's natural cleaning utility. Like a snake that takes along time to shed its skin. You dig?

[creeg]

I am in the process of figuring out the costs of converting a gas car to electric. Its not cheap.

The best kit that I have found so far is for a Porsche 914. You spend $2-4K on the car, take out the engine, exhaust, gas tank, etc. Then you put in an electric motor (mated to the transmission), batteries, controllers, etc. The kit is $13K and doesnt include the $1000.00 for batteries. Im still gonna do it probably, but its going to hurt my pocketbook for a while.

It will have a range of about 50 miles- which is plenty for most commuters. I will keep the VX for hauling and the weekends and long trips.

Granted, this is a very specialized industry right now. As this becomes more popular to convert to electric (and Im sure it will), and the battery technology gets cheaper and lighter, it will go down in price. But it will take a while and its wont go down that much.

So I think all the gas cars will stick around for a long time until:

1) Gas is too expensive NOT to convert or trade in for an electric vehicle
2) the government bans gas vehicles (yeah, right!)
3) the conversion to electirc or hybrid comes down in price enough that most people can afford it, and it supplants the cost for gas.

The reason I say all this is that its really not an option for most people to convert, as it is pretty expensive and it will require them to provide the maintenance on the vehicle in most cases (until there are garages that work on electric vehicles). With smoking, that required inaction to make it happen, and no money down. Converting to an electric or hybrid car requires action: either buying a new car or converting a gas one. Both of which require time and money.

But I do agree that gas cars will become "unfashionable". Especially the guzzlers like large SUVs and hummers and such. Its going to take a bit longer for that to happen though. Even here in LA where it seems like every other car is a hybrid. I think that right now is when the 50-year clock will start, not the 1970s. So around 2060, most gas vehicles will be phased out.

But like I said, I live in Los Angeles, where everyone talks about that stuff a lot more (or so I am told).

Just my 2 cents, not worth much more. :-)

[nfpgasmask]

Look on the bright side, the planet will most likely destroy us and then begin to heal.

You know what they say, "the meek shall inherit the world".

Bart

[nfpgasmask]

I think that right now is when the 50-year clock will start, not the 1970s. So around 2060, most gas vehicles will be phased out.

Right, that's EXACTLY my point. 2060 WILL BE TO LATE! I've been thinking about it a lot lately....that I might, and my niece and nephew most likely WILL, see something along the lines of a global societal collapse, and quite possibly some sort of "apocalypse" scenerio.

Bart

[ZEUS]

Right, that's EXACTLY my point. 2060 WILL BE TO LATE! I've been thinking about it a lot lately....that I might, and my niece and nephew most likely WILL, see something along the lines of a global societal collapse, and quite possibly some sort of "apocalypse" scenerio.

Bart

That is your wishful thinking coming to in to play though! I could definitely see you taking your favorite pair of masks, guns, some ammo, maybe even reloading equipment and stashing it out in the desert some time... or have you done it already? And aren't you trying to import Mad Max's car?

In 2030, there will be Mad Bart and the solar powered Nisuzu VXterra hybrid, hunting rabbits in the Nevada promiseland which people die trying to get to. And I will be wearing a fake whip cream bikini, riding a stolen horse in the 100,000 densely populated Wyoming wasteland, still looking for some hot chick I've never met... and if I was to find her, you and I would both be completely happy!

[nfpgasmask]

That is your wishful thinking coming to in to play though! I could definitely see you taking your favorite pair of masks, guns, some ammo, maybe even reloading equipment and stashing it out in the desert some time... or have you done it already? And aren't you trying to import Mad Max's car?

In 2030, there will be Mad Bart and the solar powered Nisuzu VXterra hybrid, hunting rabbits in the Nevada promiseland which people die trying to get to. And I will be wearing a fake whip cream bikini, riding a stolen horse in the 100,000 densely populated Wyoming wasteland, still looking for some hot chick I've never met... and if I was to find her, you and I would both be completely happy!

Oh trust me dude, I know my "fantasy" of what I want the apocalypse to be is vastly different than what it will be. Yesterday, I posted a review of Idiocracy on my LJ, basically saying the same thing:

http://nfpgasmask.livejournal.com

Bart

PS - And yes, my Falcon is getting done, and it looks like I will have it within the next 3-4 months. Too bad gas will be appropriately expensive when it gets here. I will probably be sopping juice up off the road with a rag really soon.

[Chopper]

You're buying the Global Warming thing, lock, stock and barrel? Your (as a species) CO2 output, all activities included, is around 3 or 4 percent of the total....marginally insignificant by itself. A big part of that 4 percent is coal...your car just really doesn't figure into the scheme in a huge way. What has been done, that really impacts stuff, is strip away the forests. They (and the ocean) are our carbon sinks. Yeah, it's gettin' warmer, but it's not your car that is doing it....it's strip malls, and farms in Brazil.....it's the Teak table in your dining room, and your Rosewood bed. I am a radical greenie....and I love all things automotive. Do we need something else to burn? Yes, and for a lot of good reasons, but warming ain't one of them. Wanna save the earth and it's marvelous, wondrous diversity of life???? Plant a tree a day, and shoot three of the next five people you meet, right between the eyes. Actually, getting the humans out of the tropics altogether would be much more productive, and just as likely to happen.
It's all short term anyway....it seems that when the salinity of the Arctic Ocean and North Sea drops low enough, the Gulf Stream stops streaming, all of Europe enters an ice age overnight (literally) and the warming problem is solved Earth... 1.....clever hairless ape...0 Thank You for the rant, Bart

[creeg]

And I will be wearing a fake whip cream bikini, riding a stolen horse in the 100,000 densely populated Wyoming wasteland, still looking for some hot chick I've never met... and if I was to find her, you and I would both be completely happy!

Im assuming this is a movie reference, but I dont know what movie.