But if they sell corresponding models state-side, selling a federated version shouldn’t be too much work. Take the Focus RS for example. Both Euro and US spec are built on the same line. Why can’t they do that with the Fusion? I want a Fusion 2.7L twin-turbo AWD SportWagon dammit!

Body colored cladding is optional.

This was the best part of buying my Cooper S in 2006. Went online, configured the vehicle exactly as I wanted, brought to dealership, car oordered. I’ll have a hard time buying another new vehicle if I can’t do the same.

But you still end up with a BMW....

I know I’d rather they just sell it here, but at the very least I wish every manufacturer did something like this to cater to the enthusiast. It would be great if you had the option to do this with a manual 3 series wagon, or a BMW 5 series/Audi A4/Mazda 6/Ford Fusion wagon period. This way manufacturers wouldn’t have…

It’s a blast. BMW even gives you a discount on the car. It looks like Volvo just sells the car at MSRP and gives you a heavily discounted vacation package.

Most manufacturers allow you to order cars. You don’t get to order options totally a la carte, but you don’t have to try to find it from existing inventory. You don’t get to haggle much though.

The idea of being able to customize and order the wagon online is great. My experience in dealerships shopping for a new car last year (Jeep, 3x Toyota, Subaru) was that brands have the car you want SOMEWHERE in the network, but not necessarily in a place that makes sense or that they’re willing to sell you.

I’d rather have the lifted version anyways! Get me that 400 hp PHEV powertrain, brush guards, and some lights and I’m ready to go fuck shit up.

I think solar-covered parking lot canopies are a huge missed opportunity right now (imagine something the size of a Wal-Mart parking lot). Not only would it provide a ton of solar power, but you could also park your car in shade. Why is this not happening everywhere?

It doesn’t seem to incorporate the best features of a solar roadway, like self-sufficient heat for minimal corrosion snow and ice removal, inductive vehicle charging, piezoelectric energy capture, or an overcaffinated frat boy reading cue cards...

And once the roofs are all done, the next low-hanging fruit would be to build canopies of solar panels over sidewalks. They would provide shade in the sun, cover from rain, they can be angled for optimum solar collection, don’t need to be up-armored, and won’t be covered by traffic most of the time.

Everything’s a waste of money - until it’s not.

This exactly. The focus should be on covering all roofs with solar panels. You know, the areas we don’t see, use, or cover anyway.

The Germans solved the road wear-and-tear problem by making cars that are too expensive to buy and never leave the shop.

Q. Watt for watt will they ever be cheaper than roof top solar?
A. No
Q. Are all roofs covered in solar panels?
A. No
Q. Should we be looking into this until most roofs are covered?
A. Again, No

Surface has to be redone pretty regularly if you don’t do it right in the first place. I can’t talk for American methods of paving, but here in Germany I don’t recall the perfectly-intact and patch free main roads I use regularly being worked on in the last 15 years, so I don’t doubt the process used isn’t durable if…

This is neat, glad someone’s trying it out.