Posted on 01/28/2016 8:53:32 AM PST by BenLurkin
Nye recently penned an op-ed for digital culture magazine Aeon, in which he argues that NASCAR should make the switch to electric-powered vehicles. In his mind, NASCAR is a celebration of "old tech," one that reinforces the automotive status quo and hinders progress from a social standpoint. And while the environmental benefits of an industry-wide change are obvious, the former mechanical engineer sees another benefit of the EV switch.
"Just think what an electric race would be like," Nye wrote. "It would be faster, and quiet. You could talk to the person next to you. The drivers could probably hear the roar of the crowd rather than having to imagine it as they do now. And most significant from my point of view, everyone in the crowd, every race fan, would want an electric car! The market for electric cars would go crazy."
"I wish NASCAR were more like NASA"†he continued. "I wish NASCAR were more about the future instead of the past. I am trying to envision the smart, efficient transportation technology of tomorrow, and there is NASCAR doing the opposite – celebrating a very old transportation technology of yesterday."
(Excerpt) Read more at digitaltrends.com ...
40% of US electric production comes from coal. Another 30% of US electric production comes from natural gas. No US electric production comes from rainbows, fairy dust or unicorn kisses.
Electric cars should be referred to as coal and gas powered cars.
Two four-hour pit stops will be fun to watch.
riiiiight, that solar car race really is going well...
So, instead of the Daytona 500 (miles) race, we’d have the Daytona 40??
And it would certainly chane NASCAR as they would be bankrupt.
Maybe NASCAR should go back to racing actual stock cars.
How much would the car weigh and how fast could it go with enough battery power to go 500 miles at over 200 mph?
At least he isn’t promoting the “Bill Nye Workout CD”.
Show me an electric car that:
1) Has 400 mile range per charge regardless of weather or road conditions
2) Recharges completely in less than 5 minutes
3) Will accelerate up steep hills
4) Max speed > 100MPH
5) Carries 4 adults comfortably
6) Costs less than US$20,000 with no tax breaks
And I might be interested.
Memo to the Science Guy: NASCAR fans like the noise, the crashes, and the fires. And if the driver(s) survive, they’re OK with that.
So, according to Bill Nye, NASCAR shouldn’t be about the best driver/vehicle combination but...
the ability to drive around an oval track to prove how environmentally friendly everyone appears to be.
Yeah...lots of drivers will go for that.
That is what they should do.
Idiot! There is a electric car race called Formula E - and it has yet to replace Formula 1:
Yes and if the telephone and electricity were put back in the bottle that would too
Yeah, and Luciano Pavarotti should have switched to rap music.
This guy’s an idiot. I bet he’s never been to a race in his life.
"Big P is in the house!"
NASCAR going electric would be like Pavarotti singing soprano.
;^)
Talk of hybrid-electrics, etc. being the wave of the future is crap. All it is, is nothing more than a current wave of experimentation
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