Vehicle makers say US fuel economy standards put a million jobs at risk

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

(wink,wink)

Is there something we're not getting? Or just a lazy eye?

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

The new 25mpg truck costs as much as an affordable house.

This is as it should be. Buckminster Fuller stated in 1928, and proved in 1947, that a house should cost no more than a car.

vskid3 — Nice Ute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBnwKu5g5U

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...blame some of that BLOAT on new/improved EPA regulations (wink,wink).

Care to explain just how that happens? 'Cause I can't see it myself.

The curious thing is that though the trucks have gotten larger, as far as I can tell without a tape measure, the beds are still the same size.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Is there something we're not getting? Or just a lazy eye?

All the EPA mandated parts & pieces ADD both weight and co$t to what should be a simple item: engine, transmission, cab, fuel tank, trunk...and wheels.

EPA (and gooberment in general) needs to learn K.I.S.S. rules.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Care to explain just how that happens? 'Cause I can't see it myself.

The curious thing is that though the trucks have gotten larger, as far as I can tell without a tape measure, the beds are still the same size.

Crash tests have done it because we can't or won't engineer lighter and safer solutions.

My cobalt is bloated up to about 2900lbs compared to the older 1800 lb version of the car while gaining minimal interior volume.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

The curious thing is that though the trucks have gotten larger, as far as I can tell without a tape measure, the beds are still the same size.

Instead of engineering some efficient solution to deal with the safety, emissions and fuel-efficiency requirements, it's just easier to beef everything up and hope the rednecks would be fool enough to bite the bait and keep buying those gas hogs for a higher price, even though their payload ends up lower than the one of a typical European compact van. The regulations remain favoring full-size trucks, even though most of their utilitarian purpose is long gone and they've been turning into an exercise of gross excess. It's really quite odd to figure out that a Diesel-powered version of a compact truck is not so easy to make compliant to EPA standards while a full-size which is more energy-intensive to manufacture and operate is favored.

[freebeard]

Oh, Okay.

The regulations remain favoring full-size trucks...

Unintended consequences will never be the same.

[freebeard]

This is as it should be. Buckminster Fuller stated in 1928, and proved in 1947, that a house should cost no more than a car.

Further to this (posted 11hrs ago on Inhabitat):

How high-tech Kasita microhomes could revolutionize homeownership | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building

A $139K 320sq ft house. It was designed by the Professor that spent a year living in a dumpster. He is attempting to implement the 'housing as a service' industry Buckminster Fuller advocated for in the 1920-50s.

Produced in volume the price would drop to $40,000 just like Tesla. ...with a Power Wall and Solar roof.

[sendler]

Interesting how many people will see these dwellings as high tech cool when really high quality Mobile Homes do the same thing (except for stacking) at 1/2 the price, have been around for 40 years, and are just about banned out of existance by local zoning laws and considered "trailer trash".
.
Mobilehome Sales And Setup - Beldenhomesinc
.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

All the EPA mandated parts & pieces ADD both weight and co$t...

Tell that to someone who hasn't been working on engines since the 1960s. An electronic fuel injection system ls lighter and cheaper (to maintain, certainly, if not in initial cost) than a carburetor, nor does a catalytic converter add significantly more weight than the muffler it replaces. Today's engines weigh a good deal less per horsepower than those of the '60s & '70s.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by freebeard

A $139K 320sq ft house. It was designed by the Professor that spent a year living in a dumpster.

But my 1500 sq ft house would cost less than that, and (as I keep telling my insurance agent) could be replaced by a similar-sized modular or mobile for even less. It's the roughly $200K worth of land it's sitting on that raises the price.