RE: [DML] 50 Worst Cars-What Moron Wrote This?

["timnagin" <timnagin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.time.
<http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1658545,00.html>
com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1658545,00.html



>1981 DeLorean. This guy must have never driven one. He is an idiot.



I wouldn't worry too much about this article.  This seems like one author's
interpretation.  Actually, if you look at the public perception of most all
of the vehicles listed he is pretty accurate.  Let me state that again, this
seems to be based on public perception and has nothing to do with the actual
viability of the car in question.  The only negative thing I see in the
article about the De Lorean is it being underpowered.  I think a lot of
people would agree with that else they wouldn't be trying to increase horse
power.  How does that make this author an idiot?


>1997 GM EV1. These were great fully electric cars. They were fast 
>and didn't need gasoline, tune-ups, starters, water pumps, fuel pumps, 
>alternators, etc. They required so little maintenance that they scared 
>the shit out of GM and their part suppliers. GM destroyed over $4 
>million worth of new electric vehicles, 1 year before, gasoline 
>tripled in price. They did this when they were LOOSING 1 billion 
>dollars. It did not make economic sense- unless Cheney and his oil 
>buddies bribed GM executives Want to guess what these electrics would 
>be worth today?

Thankfully we have the internet these days to find out real facts.  The EV1
was hardly maintenance free.  They had facilities set up all over the place,
through Saturn dealerships, to provide service on these cars.  How would it
make economic sense for them to keep supporting a very expensive project
with little to no return on investment when they were already bleeding cash?
They didn't just scrap the EV1 but several other projects as well that
weren't making any money.  The Camaro and Firebird come to mind.  They also
shut down a few assembly plants.  Do you have any proof Cheney sought to end
the EV1?  In one place you present some limited facts and in another you
pull some improvable conspiracy theory out of, well, thin air.  I guess
Cheney found out about this through illegal wire-tapping that was put in
place when Clinton approved Echelon, but I digress.

The fact is, if they weren't seeing a decent ROI they had to kill the
project.  It wasn't sustainable.  The Big Three do this all the time and
stuff they found out from those projects makes it into other projects down
the road.  Look at the Chevrolet Volt as an example.  It also looks much
better than the EV1 Mork From Ork egg.  GM also probably realized the car
should look more enticing.

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

But I guess Cheney got his way, and keeps his pockets stuffed, since the
Chevrolet Volt uses SOME gasoline.  I wish I owned Exxon Mobile stock.  The
EV1 was also crippled by the California Air Research Board (CARB) changing
the rules on inductive versus conductive charging.  The Honda Insight was
killed as well.  What did Cheney do there?  Look out Toyota Pious; you're
next!  Have a look at the two following links.

http://ev1-club.power.net/archive/020207/p1.jpg

http://ev1-club.power.net/archive/020207/p2.jpg



John DeLorean wanted to build an ethical sports car that would last a long
time.  People wouldn't need to buy new cars every few years.  This is not a
sustainable business model and any company doing this will fail unless they
find some alternative income source.  It's not called "screwing the
customer."  You don't have to buy the product.


>A toyota RAV 4 electric sold for $65,000. A 1998 Dodge Van sold for 
>over $50,000. This was more than twice their new price. Gee, I don't 
>know of any other new car that doubles in value.


You don't?  Gee, how about most any American Muscle Car?  Sure, it took some
time for their value to go up but they are worth several times what they
originally sold for.  I think you have one in your garage.  Want to sell
that Camaro for what it stickered for originally?  I will cut you a check
now.

Greg



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