New York Times: G.M.'s Electric Lemon

The New York Times ^ | July 29, 2010 | Edward Niedermeyer

[longtermmemmory]

I just really like the idea of denying the government tax money by using an alternative source of electricity.

[Elsie]

I drive 40 miles one way to work..

I hope you have at LEAST an 8 hour job and a 220v outlet handy...

[Elsie]

Motorized Rollerblades are becoming increasingly popular across the globe. They started out entirely for sport, but with the alternative-energy movement, many people are using them to make their daily commutes.

Typical powered inline skates can move up to 20 mph and have a range of 15 to 20 miles. If you run out of power, you still have a usable pair of skates.

Commercial motorized Rollerblades cost hundreds of dollars, but with some basic equipment and a few hours to spare, you can make your own lightweight version. For simplicity's sake, only one wheel on the skates will be battery powered.

Read more: How to Build Motorized Rollerblades | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4618882_build-motorized-rollerblades.html#ixzz0vJfq4cCJ

[Eaker]

[longtermmemmory]

what makes you think an employeer will allow them to recharge?

what makes you think any city will not impose a plug inspection tax on all outlets?

How about converters that take two 110 and make them a 220?

Stealing electricity is going to be an interesting crime to punish.

[count-your-change]

I saw one version where the user had a gasoline motor back pack with a flex cable to one boot.

I have no use for gadgets that make my feet go faster than the rest of my body. My elbows and hips hurt just looking at the picture!

[Bernard]

The vega was brand new. It was the first model year.

[gogogodzilla]

True enough, that.

[Elsie]

I have a pile of parts in my barn.

Perhaps I could make one of these...

[Elsie]

OUCH!

[KevinDavis]

I have an 8 hour job, however, the building that where I work at has a parking garage and I doubt the building management is going to allow car charging outlets for free...

[gonzo]

It was called the Trabant.

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name. Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at an ear-splitting 18 hp, the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness (actually, the body was made of a fiberglass-like Duroplast, reinforced with recycled fibers like cotton and wood). A virtual antique when it was designed in the 1950s, the Trabant was East Germany's answer to the VW Beetle — a "people's car," as if the people didn't have enough to worry about. Trabants smoked like an Iraqi oil fire, when they ran at all, and often lacked even the most basic of amenities, like brake lights or turn signals. But history has been kind to the Trabi. Thousands of East Germans drove their Trabants over the border when the Wall fell, which made it a kind of automotive liberator. Once across the border, the none-too-sentimental Ostdeutschlanders immediately abandoned their cars. Ich bin Junk! .......................... FRegards