I’m not entirely sure where people are getting the sense that the Gen 1 Insight had good handling. It was crazy lightweight, sure, but it had minivan-style torsion beam suspension and by all reports it was understeer city. Basically, it had the same problems as the CR-Z.

I’m not entirely sure where people are getting the sense that the Gen 1 Insight had good handling. It was crazy lightweight, sure, but it had minivan-style torsion beam suspension and by all reports it was understeer city. Basically, it had the same problems as the CR-Z.

Re: charging

How about wood chippers for a wood gasifier under there?

I see your iris exhaust ports and raise you ducted microturbines. Park it with the front scoop pointing into the wind, and the impeller-style turbines recharge the batteries. Add on a solar panel, and you’ve got a vehicle which can go anywhere there’s “light and wind.”

no one seems to have answered that in any reasonable manner except for Tesla.

Yeah, I totally missed that detail. I was thinking of a Cayenne, which is about hip-high in front.

Ah, okay. My bad. I was getting the Macan confused with the Cayenne, which is tall enough to strike at the hip. I see what you mean about the Macan.

According to IIHS and NHTSA studies, SUV collisions are 2-3 times more likely to kill a pedestrian compared to other vehicle shapes, and SUVs are credited with a 28-year high in US pedestrian fatalities. This is because while cars and station wagons strike the pedestrian at the knees (causing them to roll onto the…

An A6 Avant is just as deadly.

I dunno. Even with the pedestrian alert on my Clarity, I’ve scared the bejeezus out of some drive-thru attendants.

I have my fingers crossed for a RWD 2+2 liftback coupe, a la Datsun.

Exactly. And on a more practical level, loud aftermarket exhausts are illegal in 35 states. Removing the catalytic converter is illegal in all 50. Aftermarket horns and headlights are legal in all states.

Highly recommend tracking down wider, more common tires if you plan to hoon it. Those Bridgestone Ecopias are notorious for wearing out quickly under normal use, and they cost an arm and a leg.

And this is all “right to work” actually is, that unions can’t force you to participate in their activities.

They’ve been good so far about updating the tech. In 2016, they doubled the battery size, increased max power from 270 to 335 hp, and improved max speed from 140 to 175 mph. The Indy 500's top speed is 210 mph, so they still have a few years to go.

I remember it so vividly. I was in my teens by then. That’s when the biofuel craze exploded, the Midwest got hooked on corn ethanol, Bush told everyone hydrogen fuel cells would save the day, and preachers said it was the end times (for real this time).

Unless we have a sustained period of cheap gas, “resetting” the market, I think we’d need to see something like gas prices hitting $6.30 in 2022 (up 172% from 2012 peaks), but in 2015 dollars. On a nominal basis, that’s probably going to be something like $7.15 in 2022 dollars. So it might not be quite $8-10/gallon,…

Battery swapping is a cool idea, but it’s been done before and didn’t show as much promise in practice as you might think. To swap an EV battery, you need to:

Or you could just use a battery, which is good for about an hour’s worth of use.