[quote=temeculaguy]Costa, I wasn’t blaming anyone, I was venting frustration. It’s not the time to point fingers in blame, rather, point in a new direction. One that makes sense on a number of levels, solves many problems at the same time and is now at a point when something dramatic can and should happen. Who remembers Schoolhouse Rock and it’s “necessity is the mother of invention” episode.[/quote]
And “laziness is the father of invention”…
“Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things” – Robert A. Heinlein
I rode in a prototype hybrid 29 years ago (1980) build by Stephen Reed from a VW Bug pan & tranny, 25 hp diesel engine, 6 lead-acid batteries, and a Corsair (WWII) starter/motor as a drive motor. It used vegetable oil and claimed to get 100 mpg and 0-60 the same as a vet at the time… The body was made aerodynamic out of fiberglass. To get the rolling resistance down, he used the thinest tires available and filled them to 50 psi. His dream was to make a small hybrid production car similar to 1999 Honda Insight to 2000 Toyota Prius.
At that time, my brother and I surmised: To get people to buy hybrids, they need to be able to use the carpool lanes with a single occupant. It only took 20 years for that to happen.
1997: The Toyota Prius was introduced to the Japanese market, two years before its original launch date, and prior to the Kyoto global warming conference held in December. First-year sales were nearly 18,000.
1999: Honda released the two-door Insight, the first hybrid car to hit the mass market in the United States. The Insight won numerous awards and received EPA mileage ratings of 61 mpg city and 70 mpg highway.
2000: Toyota released the Toyota Prius, the first hybrid four-door sedan available in the United States.
Bio-fuel Diesel with Hybrids is the immediate answer to reduction of foreign oil use. We can transition from oil-based diesel to bio-fuel by regulated fuel mixtures and/or separate pumps. If every family used at least one bio-fuel diesel hybrid for their primary daily commute car, vehicle oil usage would drop substantially with very little loss in driveability. If they provided a commercially available Bio-Diesel Hybrid, I would buy it for my commuting vehicle. I am greatly considering the Jetta Sedan or Wagon right now…
