Kinda reminds me of the ads for GM cars in the late '70s that had 'sparking' performance.
In the mean time, my politically incorrect '69 Roadrunner comes home from the paint shop next week.
Electric jellybean-mobiles beware! Bwahahahahahaha!!!
Posted on 01/04/2003 2:48:29 AM PST by kattracks
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- More than 70 hybrid cars were parked outside the Los Angeles Convention Center to send a message to Detroit automakers: There is a demand for fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles.
The gathering Friday of hybrid car owners from Sacramento to San Diego, as well as Hollywood celebrities, contrasted with the muscle cars and gas-guzzling SUVs inside at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show.
Hybrid cars combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor. Some cars, like the Toyota Prius, use the electric motor exclusively at low speeds, while others, such as Honda's Civic, use power from both at all speeds.
"We're here to show that people are interested in something to promote clean air with less fuel," said Jessie Williams, who drove his Prius from El Cajon.
Actress Nancy Allen traded her Volvo in for a Prius last July.
"It's so peppy," she said. "Every day I drive it, I feel I'm giving something back to the environment and giving something back to myself."
The protest came as the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report concluding that American-made cars and trucks could reach an average of 60 miles per gallon by the end of the next decade by adopting the best hybrid technology.
Hybrids cost more than conventional cars. But buyers can qualify for a federal tax deduction and local tax incentives in some areas.
Chrysler Group President Dieter Zetsche downplayed hybrids in a speech Thursday, saying fuel cell technology is the ultimate answer and that improving existing diesel technology is a better short-term alternative.
Ford is producing a hybrid SUV and introduced a reduced-emissions Focus at the show Thursday.
Actress Donna Mills stopped driving her Lexus when she bought one of the first Prius hybrids 2½ years ago.
"Enough already with being dependent on foreign countries for oil or drilling in the Arctic for oil," she said. "People want these cars. People love them. Make them."
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On the Net:
Greater Los Angeles Auto Show: http://www.laautoshow.com/
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
How many adverts have you seen for hybrids? Don't tell me the auto companies, even Toyota and Honda, are pushing them. They aren't. Heck, Dieter is bad-mouthing them. Also, they can create a demand, otherwise they wouldn't spend all that money on advertising.
The auto companies hope that highly efficient vehicles go away, and we all drive SUVs, because their profit margins are higher with the SUV. That's fine, except every SUV brings us that much closer to domination by the Oil Shiekhs. Remember the Carter presidency? Gas lines, "moral equivalency of war", 65 °F thermostats, etc... Thank God we don't have Gore, otherwise we'd be going through Carter II right now...
Kinda reminds me of the ads for GM cars in the late '70s that had 'sparking' performance.
In the mean time, my politically incorrect '69 Roadrunner comes home from the paint shop next week.
Electric jellybean-mobiles beware! Bwahahahahahaha!!!
Odd that you mention two technologies that worked BETTER than those they replaced.
For what one spends on a top-flight Ford Excursion, one could buy two Prii. Even an Escape is equivalent pricewise to the Prius. The fully loaded Focus is also priced close, but only gets a pathetic 34 MPG on the highway.
The conspiracy of ignorance masquerades as common sense.
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