Ready to Tango?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Aug 29 2006, 05:10 PM) [snapback]311288[/snapback]</div>

In answer to the question posed by this thread, it looks like Darell is definitely ready to Tango. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Aug 29 2006, 11:10 PM) [snapback]311288[/snapback]</div>

I guess it must be attributed to your enthousiasm for this subject. The problem is that you and I seem to approach it from different angles. You look at technology that is exciting and fancy by itself. I'm looking at it in the context of solving the world's environmental and natural resources problems.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Aug 29 2006, 11:10 PM) [snapback]311288[/snapback]</div>

That brings me to another topic I could argue about for hours: the stupidity of crash tests. Here in Europe, we have the NCAP tests. The five stars are considered the nirvana for car safety specs. In fact, if you look how the tests are executed, they are just bull$hit. And yes, the form factor, size and weight of a car does put some limitations about how it will perform in a crash. After all, a crash is ruled by the laws of physics and you can't change those.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Aug 29 2006, 11:10 PM) [snapback]311288[/snapback]</div>

I salute you for doing this. But remember that I live in Belgium, and it is very unlikely that this car will make it to my country. However, there are several alternatives available right now here that I think make more sense and I am considering already for a while, as a real commuter car. One of them is the Renault Kangoo Elect'road. Interestingly, it also has a small 500cc gasoline engine that acts as a generator to extend its range if necessary, a solution that I advocate very strongly. You can call it a real plug-in hybrid if you want. The only problem is that the performance is too low to my taste: maximum speed of 110km/h only. But Peugeot is also quite active in this field, coming up with nice electric alternatives of their normal production cars. This is where I believe the future of electric cars lies: a usable, smooth conversion of existing models by major manufacturers. And not some blue sky project from a tiny company.