Top Gear sticks it to EV's... Again!

If only you guys could direct this level if distaste at the Volt...oh wait, nevermind.

With friends like some people on here, who needs Top Gear?

Glass house...meet stone...pot, meet kettle...yadda yadda

 

LOL...
Touche!!!

Let the :rant: continue.....

 

I take great exception to that! Jerry Springer has the biggest losers of society on camera. There is a reason that it was voted the #1 WORST TV show....'

At least Top Gear has really great cars,

 

ooopps, double post, sorry!

 

It was worse, TG made fun of their cult and wasn't completely factual while doing it.

 

Quick chargers do not charge batteries linearly, or even smart long ones for that matter. Most of the charge is 'pumped in' in the beginning with a slower rate at the end.

 

Ok, it is about the content of discussion on the show then, not the people or the cars. The content of both shows are garbage.

Top Gear exploit people's tendency to believe in myths. You state the most ridiculous thing and then lie your way into it by cherry picking data or simply with false data. People will fall for it, as shown by the dust-to-dust report by CNW research marketing.

In my opinion, the people that tap into the power of myth (to mislead) are the bigger loser than those on Jerry Springler show.

 

The car that's reliable and delivers a well-balance configuration rarely draws any attention.

Hype sells. The media capitalizes on that.
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It's not a myth. It's as real as Prius Chat.

Many Prius Chatters might not want to recognize it, but there are a lot of people that don't care about Hybrids, EV's or vehicle efficiency.

There are a lot of people that want and will burn fossil fuels until their simply is none left and/or it becomes economically or realistically impossible...or both.

And believe it or not? I think you can walk in both worlds. I drive an embarrasingly (to my gas guzzling friends) underpowered Honda Fit, purchased primarily because as an ICE vehicle it offered me "good" gas mileage. I really hope, plan to someday own a Hybrid..I follow the development and evolution within this segment of the auto world with great admiration and respect. I love Prius...

But...I can also watch Top Gear. I can enjoy the pompous surety of Jeremy Clarkson, the middle age crisis, frat boy antics of the hosts...

And hate me if you will, but despite a great respect for Prius, EV's I can also enjoy seeing obcenely overpriced vehicles designed to go in great circles very, very fast. Enjoying the cult of speed, respect for horsepower, is not a sin.

People that enjoy this...are not a myth...any more than people within Prius Chat, enjoying hypermiling and efficiency are a myth..

There are numerous reasons I believe and champion efficiency..for myself. Mostly because I think for the majority of people, an automobile represents simple transportation as opposed to a "Thrill Park" ride created out of the ability to translate burning fossil fuel into massive torque and speed.

But that doesn't mean I don't respect the "Thrill Park" ride. Damn if I don't think it would be fun, to sit in many of the cars shown on Top Gear and "feel the power of The Force"...

That doesn't mean I would ever buy a vehicle for my personal use inwhich that was the priority. That doesn't mean I don't understand at least to a degree, the reality that fossil fuels are a finite resource, tied into political and social mechanizations that are harmful both to the ecological enviroment around me...but to the social and political world I live in as well.

But to "hate" those that haven't come to this realization. Or define anyone not yet ready to embrace Hybrids or EV's as "The Jerry Springer" crowd, smacks to me of the very same generalizing and stereotyping that Prius and EV supporters don't like on the flip side.

IMO Top Gear IS an entertainment program. Everyone is free to either appreciate it, or not. Like or dislike. But given a show, that routinely stages "reality" like easily sunk amphibious vehicles...and vehicle emmision control systems such as "entire greenhouses attached to the exhaust"...I think anyone taking it seriously IS missing the point.

If it makes anyone feel better...given that fossil fuels are a finite resource, someday I believe the reality MUST change...by default. But in the meantime? As the process, evolution plays out? Neither the audience of Top Gear, or the audience of Prius Chat are myth....and I believe their can be overlap.

 

When I first saw TG, I thought it was a straight *factual* news show - but after the Tesla incident - I realized TG is a sensational tabloid more akin to "The Star" with Jeremy playing a gearhead zealot in a Limbaugh-like fashion. Jeremy's Anti-EV crusade has a sprinkle of truth and half-truths - I found it rather amusing that Nissan's Carwing (OnStar like device) caught Jeremy with his pants down. This TG incident reminds me of when the Prius' onboard blackbox recorder convinced the DOT that allegations of Prii running amok was actually due to driver error. Probably the unintentional TG lesson - is that one trades safety for privacy with OnStar-like services. Jeremy should be glad Carwing doesn't include webcam or else there would probably be a YouTube video of him jerking off in the back seat, too!

 

True.

As a battery recharges the resistance to the charging current increases geometrically with the state of chage so that the last 30% of a full charge take more than 50% of the full recharge cycle. Smart fast recharging cycles take advantage of this characteristic by avoiding recharging when the resistance gets too high. One can put heavy duty hi current super capacitors in front of a battery to buffer the recharging current - but the physics remains the same.

Ironically the UK/London area is a world leader in adapting and installing BEV charging infrastructure. ISTM Jeremy's anti-EV crusade is having the opposite effect on his countrymen.

 

Fossil fuel has the highest density of all conventional source of energy, it is the safest form of energy, and it is the most portable conventional energy source today. This coupled with it being still relatively cheap with respect to the economic activities that it supports - creates a economic competitive advantage that is hard to resist. Hence - human being naturally competitive in nature are compelled-hooked into using gasoline like there is no tomorrow.

If the world has already reached gloabl peak oil (exploration) like some experts have already claimed, in the next decade the world should reach peak oil production where demand for oil/gas will outstrip the world's ability to produce it. You'll be able to figure this out on your lonesome without anyone telling you exactly that global oil supplies are dropping because oil refineries will shutdown temporarily or close down for lack of oil to refine. When this happens gasoline prices will climb up - forcing the rationing oil and gasoline by price, political fiat, or force. It will be a test of our humanity if we make this economic-energy-model transition peacefully and humanely or whether humanity goes into an all out slug fest using brute force.


The hybrids like the Prius and the Volt are stop-gap technologies because they mainly relies on a non-renewable fossil fuels. However, BEVs like the Nissan Leaf have the advantage of being able to use renewable sustainable alternative energy resources.

Despite the Prius high fuel efficiency, I know that sooner or later the powers that be will eventually raise the price of gasoline to a level where I will not be able to afford it. With alittle luck, a Prius and some hypermiling skill, I am hoping to put that day off alittle bit more into the future.


Walter Lee
2010 Toyota Prius III, Blue Ribbon/Dk Grey, floormats
Yokohama Avid S33 ( 50 psi/48 psi)
ScangaugeII ( AVG, Fwt, SoC, GPH)

odeo = +14500 miles, +59 mpg overall
best tank 70 mpg, worst tank 52 mpg
hypermiling since 2010 May
mileage log is on Cleanmpg.com

 

I'm certain that most PC'rs appreciate gluttonous - extravagant - over-the-top - obscenely wasteful cars. Here's an example of one of the local events down our way:
http://priuschat.com/forums/other-cars/95651-cars-coffee-everything-under-sun.html
It was fun going there, and I'll probably go there again. IMO these toys are like many other forms of waste. Fun to look at ... fun to mess with ... but nevertheless, a waste. I imagine it's kind of like drugs and whores ... somehow I've missed out on both of those forms of waste ... yet I still grasp the appeal. But no ... I doubt PC'rs hate any one just because we enjoy / appreciate junk that goes against our usual M.O.

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That's where the appreciation for Toyota's approach comes from. They expend quite a bit of effort restraining the technology, by keeping price & power targeted squarely at middle-market.

True, the body chosen for Prius still stands out, but that's simply jumping on the hatchback bandwagon long before everyone else. It's an extremely practical shape. Other bodies & configurations are available too.

Look at how much consideration was put into the battery-pack capacity for the upcoming PHV model. We know more is possible due to the aftermarket offerings. But that would stray away from (affordable & profitable) high-volume production & sales.

The point is to deliver a technology capable of realistically replacing everyday vehicles like Corolla & Camry. That's a whole lot more difficult than delivering an expensive trophy-winning niche. The "don't care" audience is quite a challenge to appeal too, yet Toyota continues to strive for their purchase.
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The biggest factor determining the Prius shape was good aerodynamics on a package that was still very useful as a car. With the high rear end that resulted in, a hatchback makes more sense than a conventional trunk lid.

My other low Cd car (Corvette) has a hatchback for the same reason.

Also, outside the US hatchbacks were very popular well before the Prius.

 

They were once popular inside the US too, until the marketeers said that 'nobody' wanted them.

Except for one stationwagon -- another car that 'nobody' wanted -- my household waited out the car market until hatchbacks returned.

 

Oh no! Clarkson would never stage something like that, not performing his own driving stunts or purposely drain EV car batteries before driving them to a place where there is no charging station?

Top Gear: Former Employee Claims Pro Drivers do Clarkson’s Stunts, BBC Rejects Allegations - Carscoop