Re: theWatt Podcast 73

Having an applied math back ground, I did my best to try and figure out how to maximize use of my money and minimize my environmental impact and it surprises many people when I tell them that a used luxury vehicle like a BMW has less environment impact than if I bought a band new Prius (because I was buying a vehicle was already made and in located in the area vs buying a brand new that had to be manufactured and shipped half way around the world).

I'm listening to this weeks pod cast as I type this, and your guest seems to agree with my analysis that a used vehicle (in my case which I don't drive that much or often) is indeed the best economic and environmental value. Besides, I did check out the Prius and have to say I don't like a few things about the ergonomics of the design: among them are the drivers visibility, the car seats and the handling. In the Prius, with the aerodynamic shape there is the slopped hood that ya cant quite tell where the front of the car ends, and I disliked the lack of the rear ward visibility.

After I bought the BMW to replace my old benz, about a year later I bought a replacement mercedes 300D for my old 300D which I bought when I was at university, because nothing I've ever driven has better visibility (that is because from the drivers seat, it is possible to see exactly where the hood and trunk falls off) or handling in tight urban areas (the steering wheel in the older benz is over sized, kinda like a ships steering wheel), so parallel parking is tight areas is super easy.

The thing that always sucked about my old benz was the seats, I didn't find them all that comfortable, so when I found a low mileage BMW with optional 10-way adjustable sport seats, I told the guy basically as soon as I sat in the BMW, I'm buying this car. I took the BMW out on a closed track, and it accelerates, brakes and handels very nicely, but because it was built a few decades later than than my old benz, there is a sloped hood and trunk for aerodyanamic considerations (but its not as bad from a visibility stand point as the Prius). I also wish the BMW had as much breaking torque as my diesel benz, which basically does not need brakes cause when ya down shift, the car dramatically slows down, the only time ya need to tap the brakes in the benz is when parking, at a stop or in the occasional emergency situation.

All cars are a comprimise of design, including the Prius. In my own case I have various vehicles for various trasnportation missions. Basically I try and use my "keen's"

http://www.keenfootwear.com/product_detail.aspx?sku=110220

first and formost because they are IMHO the best all round "green" SUV. I too am kinda torn about wanting new transportation technology like the Prius, but I kind of pick and choose my battles, and look at things as an investment vs looking at something like a consumer. In the end I concluded that the Prius was a consumer good, and the money I saved by opting to buy a used BMW could be invested in the stock market (in companies that produce energy without involving direct buring of fossil fuels).

Having said that I look at cars from an investment point of view, I am kinda interested in buying an urban electric vehicle

http://www.zenncars.com/

Zenn motor cars, has announded they will be producing an AC version of their micro car, which should improve range by 20%.

BTW if ya really want to "struggle with a concept" akin to looking at gas powered V8 BMW as a viable environmental alternative to the Prius, ya might consider that the downturn in the US and global economy due to subprime loans, is actually good for the environment. This is an extension of a wacky counter-intuitive hypothesis about war and the environment.

http://www.phaster.com/war_is_good/