Sputtering Ahead - the car of the future

[xcel]

25% of all the oil ever consumed has been consumed in the last decade.

Brian Braiker - Newsweek - April 17, 2008

The current "Get a Prius" coming from the hacks is saying something as it is practically the only thing we’ve got … -- Ed.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi like to joke that they have faces for radio. Now you'll get to judge for yourself. The hosts of NPR's wildly successful "Car Talk"—better known to many of their 4 million weekly listeners as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers—will be making their small-screen debut in "Car of the Future," an Earth Day episode of "Nova" on PBS. Then, in July, PBS will begin airing "As the Wrench Turns," an animated series loosely based on the lives of the brothers and the off-the-cuff banter that has been the hallmark of their show for more than three decades.

In "Car of the Future" Ray decides it's time for Tom to junk his sputtering 1952 MG Roadster. Armed with alarming statistics—that a quarter of the oil ever consumed was pumped in the last decade; that placed bumper to bumper, the earth's 800 million cars would circle the planet 100 times—they go in search of a suitable replacement. The brothers crack wise at the Detroit Auto Show and the corollary underground AltWheels festival in Boston. They ride, and help refuel, a hydrogen-powered bus in Iceland. They visit automotive engineers at universities and think tanks, all in the interest of finding something—anything—that might help Americans break free from Big Oil's tight grip. If the underlying message is grim, Click and Clack provide a dose of humor, curiosity and good nature. It's essential if inconvenient viewing (apologies to Al Gore).

NEWSWEEK: When you were growing up, what was your vision of the car of the future? … [Read More]

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Interview

What types of technology did you recommend in the documentary?
Ray: We cited start-stop technology (Autostop), which makes your engine stop when you're at a traffic light, regenerative braking, cylinder deactivation, turbos, diesels, direct-injection gasoline vehicles, hybrid diesels, lightweight materials. Our vehicles weigh 6,000 pounds. It's preposterous! All of these technologies are out there right now. Is it that simple to put any one or combination in current cars? No. But they've got 12 years to do it. And the truth is they could probably do it in two or three years. They've milked the SUV craze as much as possible, and now the public is going to demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, especially with gasoline prices getting up to near four bucks a gallon. I secretly hope they go higher, because it'll push the process along.

[Dan]

Well they almost got it right. Apparently they still think that you'll have to spend $10,000 on a new batteries every 50,000 miles. Of course the correct numbers are $1000 (or less) for batteries every 400,000 (or more) miles, but who can be concerned with actual fact if your in the Auto Press Industry?

11011011

[Chuck]

Click and Clack also voice concerns that the complexity of the Prius is going to make a maintainance nightmare when it's old (over ten years and or 200,000 miles?). While I'm not dismissive of that remark since complexity increases the odds of a breakdown, the record on the Prius is excellent.

[pdk]

Originally Posted by Delta Flyer

Click and Clack also voice concerns that the complexity of the Prius is going to make a maintainance nightmare when it's old (over ten years and or 200,000 miles?). While I'm not dismissive of that remark since complexity increases the odds of a breakdown, the record on the Prius is excellent.

Something tells me that, given the popularity of the Prius, replacement parts are going to be around for a long time.

[lightfoot]

Originally Posted by Delta Flyer

Click and Clack also voice concerns that the complexity of the Prius is going to make a maintainance nightmare when it's old (over ten years and or 200,000 miles?). While I'm not dismissive of that remark since complexity increases the odds of a breakdown, the record on the Prius is excellent.

Click and Clack do a great humor show with a lot of exaggeration for effect but unfortunately people rely on them for fact. I used to listen to the show for laughs but not so much lately.

You'd think that two science-trained guys from MIT would realize that the first "technology" that is needed is instrumentation to enable drivers to see what mpg they are getting:
- average mpg, resettable as needed
- instantaneous mpg
- digital speedo
all located smack in front of the driver. As we know, someone driving badly can get lousy mpg out of any car, even a Prius, no matter what tech it has. So as long drivers are involved, the tools they need to drive efficiently should be provided as the very first step.

We're all buying Scangauges like crazy largely because most current cars don't incorporate all three of these simple gauges.

[hobbit]

Hmmph, since when is Altwheels an "underground" thing?! You
don't exactly occupy the entirety of city hall plaza for two
days and then label it "subversive".
.
_H*

[desdemona]

You think we should set up a fund so that they can test out the SG?


--des

[desdemona]

Originally Posted by lightfoot

Click and Clack do a great humor show with a lot of exaggeration for effect but unfortunately people rely on them for fact. I used to listen to the show for laughs but not so much lately.
.

I'm wondering if they were more than a little exaggerating for effect. We know the Prius isn't the car of the future, it's the car of now. Being mechanics (or playing them on radio anyway), they probably hear about all the incompetent jokers that have to fix a car that is admittedly more complex. They probably hear more stories of Prius with bad batteries than are truly representative (and just about every other car on the road as well).

Watching the show it was pretty obvious that Prius kind of ruled. Even the cartoon demo of how a hybrid worked was overlaid on a Prius.

I love listening to them. Though I enjoy the sort of non-car calls more than the real car ones. (What should I tell me husband who...; what kind of car should I get my teenage son, etc.)

BTW, I wouldn't exactly equate them with the "Auto Press Industry". In their Nova show they totally ridiculed large horsepower engines.

--des