Blog Archives

Remember that Masterpiece of British Engineering? It Broke Again

bus-piccadilly

Back when it debuted in December, the new Routemaster bus, designed completely in the United Kingdom and touted as a “masterpiece of British engineering“, broke down on its maiden voyage because those Brit engineers forgot to put fuel in it. Now, just a couple of months after its debut, the bus is in the news …
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Volt vs Prius – A Tale of Government Handouts

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Today on TorqueNews, I wrote an article debunking the lame comparison people like to make between electric vehicles and personal computers.  Basically, the comparison is useless for one big reason: the PC didn’t get piles of government money to promote its development, it depended almost entirely on market forces and real-world needs. But wait?  Does …
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Think Goes Bust, More Government Money Wasted

think_assemblyline

Indiana bet big on becoming the mecca of electric vehicle production in the U.S.  The state and several counties and cities within it spent millions in incentives to get electric car makers, manufacturers, etc. into the state.  One of those was Think, a Norwegian company with a long, rocky history of financial woes, that hoped …
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Masterpiece of British Engineering Breaks Down On Its Debut

LondonHybridTowed

So.. what do you get when you have a British politician flatulating about how the newest, greatest (most expensive) hybrid bus they just bought is a “masterpiece of British engineering?” Why, you end up with a breakdown on the side of the road and a tow truck on the bus’ debut, of course.  It’s pure …
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I Was Arrested for a Law that Doesn’t Exist

Note: So… lemme get this straight.. there’s no law against his using his electric car for a FREE shuttle/taxi and no permit required, but they arrest and fine him for not having one anyway? How does that work? by Kris Bailey, CopBlock Here is the story about my arrest August 26th, and the reasons for …
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Why CAFE Standards Don’t Mean Anything

Back at the end of July, a lot of hubub in the automotive press said that President Obama was pushing for new, stricter, more environmentally-friendly fuel standards for the Environmental Pontification Agency’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE).  These will be an extension of the standards set earlier this year that are effective through to 2016. …
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