Do you honestly believe that the only people who ride Amtrak are “political hacks,” and not, like, normal ass business people traveling?

You’re right that the sense of speed and danger is far more fun and enjoyable than simply experience X amount of acceleration. Go ride a motorcycle; driving “fast” in a car will always seem lame and boring and not worth pursuing afterwards. 

I think those big diesel engines are more thermally efficient than a turbine cogeneration plant. Cogen I think would also be prohibitively large and fragile to work on a ship. 

More sulphur dioxide, yes, but not GHG emissions or others. Bunker fuel is the gross left-over from refining gas and other fuels from crude oil, and is basically full of all the sulphur they purify out of the other fuel.

Container ships produce a ton of CO2 (and other pollutants, mostly from the low-grade bunker fuel they burn), but on a per-ton-moved-per-mile basis, shipping is EXTREMELY efficient. Moving the same amount of goods by truck and rail would result in WAY higher emissions.

The story and writing were absolutely godawful cringe. I felt embarrassed for the writer.

Maquette was really fun, and the puzzles were satisfying to solve. It was also very beautiful, and having spent 4 years in SF, it was also very nostalgic to take in the scenery.

Thanks for the completely unserious and helpful suggestion. 

This. Want to move to a place and organize a street cleanup or a community garden. Cool! Want to stop what makes the neighborhood cool in the first place? Not cool.

“ gentrification is no joke. If urban sprawl wants to come for The Cars, I’m not having it.”

This car is an absolutely perfect urban runabout or a second car for the suburbs. Which is exactly what a car like the Bolt is. Problem is, the Bolt has about twice as much battery as you really need in a second car, so it wind up being too expensive for a second car, but without enough range/fast charging for an only…

Comparable in price, size, form factor, demographics, level of luxury, and, uhhh, the 3 series is the second most common prior car for Model 3 buyers. So they are extremely comparable! https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-tesla-model-3-survey/market-evolution.html

Yeah charging lingo is confusing. A fast-charger (aka “Level 3") is what you’d use as a gas-station replacement, like on a road trip. Those pump sweet, sweet DC straight into the battery, and are basically huge, stationary AC/DC converters. Those take a lot of amps/volts to run at normal fast speeds, but you can…

The Model 3 is a directly competitor with a BMW 3-series, and is nearly identical in price. The lower end is harder; I agree that something like a Chevy Bolt, even taking into account the running costs savings, is more expensive than an equivalent ICE small hatchback/CUV thingy.

Do you . . . do you think you have to run new electrical lines to make a charging station? Level 2 stations literally just plug into a 240v line, like a washing machine. It isn’t like running cable internet; hell, GM will PAY to install a charger at your home if you buy a new Bolt, it is so cheap!

I’d have better luck debating a fucking wall. Also, in a formal debate, you aren’t trying to convince the OTHER PERSON; you are trying to convince a judge or an audience. Although given you’re absolutely boomerific takes, there is probably something to be said to just letting you convince other’s of how untenable your…

“Even though I enjoy smoking, I also know that too, is bullshit.”

Gonna be a lot cheaper to install a few chargers hooked into the existing grid than fight to the death for a decades old Twinkie after the global-warming induced MegaDrought destroys the entire Kansas agricultural sector, plunging it into a Mad Max-style dystopia.

“How about something UNBIASED?” Translation: “How about something that SUPPORTS what I ALREADY BELIEVE?”