Featured The coming electric vehicle transformation

Switching from horses to cars for transportation didn’t kill off horse racing.

Changing types of cars won’t kill off old-tech auto racing.

 

It actually did kill off 95% of all horse racing. The only part of horse racing that exists today is that which the ultra rich keep alive dumping Billions of dollars into a cruel and dying sport. To date 128K people have signed a petition to shut down Santa Anita racetrack: Petition · Santa Anita: Stop killing racehorses · Change.org

 

The only thing that will fall short is people projecting antiquated views on a society that's no longer stupid enough to believe them. Just like all the Lawyers & Lobbyists from Detroit who fought mandatory laws for seatbelts in all cars for 10 years because it was already available as an expensive option in some cars and was too restricting and took away from the enjoyment of driving a car.

Then it took another 40 years to make it a law that you actually had to wear the seatbelt or get a ticket. All you curmudgeon's do so much to prevent society from growing up and evolving and yet we still manage to keep moving forward, although at a much slower pace because of so many stick in the mud trying to get in the way.

 

Do you honestly believe NASCAR will be forced to race hybrids? The mistake in your reasoning is the assumption that the ICE will be regulated out of existing - and that's an awful big assumption considering the economics. California might do it... ...but that's California.

As long as there are ICE stock cars NASCAR will continue to race them. Racing EV's and hybrids would be about as entertaining as running around in circles making engine noise with your mouth. Most sports fans would prefer to watch the real thing.

 

My point remains: we still have horse racing and we are likely to keep auto racing.

Just to clarify a point- the last time NASCAR raced a truly stock car that you could actually buy in a dealership was probably in the 1964 season. Since then, they have been purpose-built race cars. They tried making the bodies look recognizably familiar for 25 years or so but even that is long gone.

 

The only reason there's a catalytic converter in your exhaust system is because California did it... The only reason there's toxic cancer causing flame retardant in almost all hosehold consumer products is because California did it. The only reason car makers are ignoring the MAGAt's who are rolling back vehicle emission requirements is because California has more influence than the MAGAt's and negotiatied a deal with the automakers to create mpg standards so high that hybrid technology on all ICE engines will be the easiest way to achieve it.

 

How come nobody talks about electricity? Assume for a moment 100,000,000 plug-in cars, either hybrid or pure BEV. Even if there are enough places to plug them in, where's all the electricity coming from?

Picture Phoenix in August. It's 115F outside. Everyone has their A/C cranking. And now 40,000 people need to plug their cars in. The grid is already pretty stressed from all the air conditioning load. Where do the extra 1.6 MILLION amps come from??

 

I respect you and your history on this site. But this is how you got him the first time, and is why you're likely getting him again.

 

Horse racing is dying... I just signed a petition that's raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it so!

And the goal of car racing is to win the race... In formula one racing the only way you can win these days is with hybrid technology... And there's plenty of NASCAR fans who will always be losers, that is certain, but there's also NASCAR racers who want to win the race and they will be the ones who will lobby for and quickly advance hybrid technology in NASCAR if they can do it in away that will help them dominate in winning races.

 

Your Malthusian argument is entirely out of touch with reality, especially when it comes to the massive mind blowing growth rates of non fossil fuel electricity generation.

 

They will outlaw the ICE when they outlaw horses. In any case by then we will have already run out of oil, so the point is moot.

And I see you have reverted back to invective and personal attacks. As I stated earlier "I take it from this you have no rational retort."

 

16.9% renewable is hardly massive, let alone mind-blowing (and you still resort to invective and personal attacks).

What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source? - FAQ - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

 

It's not personal against you, it's the the folks with that viewpoint in general that's the target of my ire. To suggest otherwise is yet another ineffective way to prevail in the discussion.

 

I didn't say it was personal against me. The habit is self-defeating no matter who it is aimed at.

 

Wrong stat. It’s not the 16.9%, it’s how quickly it got to that figure from 0. Quite a lot of that progress is recent.

 

Granted. But they still have a long way to go, especially considering diminishing returns.

 

It's growth at scale that matters, not current status. Remember when people used to tell Jeff Bezos back in 2000 that Amazon was stupid because it had never made a profit? Him and his early investors knew that success is rate of growth at scale, not current status. And up until this week when Amazon stock took a hit, Bezos was the richest person in the world, but now Bill Gates is back on top... And how long has it been since the people running the oil companies were the richest people in the world?

 

Self-defeating is relative, being passionate and pissed off if properly applied can be very inspiring / effective.

 

Anytime new technology is introduce you can expect a high growth rate, but it would be foolish to assume that growth rate to continue. All a high growth rate means is that you will reach theoretical limits and experience diminishing returns more quickly.

 

...self defeating with regards to convincing other people, not yourself.