Post Tagged with: "Car"

Ditching my car for Uber saves me over 6 days of time and $11,000/ year – Millennial shows a glimpse of the future that auto industry dreads

February 9, 2015 at 6:52 pm

The simple math of owning a car vs. not owning one marks the paradigm shift in attitudes among generations. What was once not feasible – living without a car – has now become easy (at least in many cities across the US), thanks to location-based, on-demand transportation solutions such as Uber and Lyft. In a Business Insider article, Katherine Krug, summarizes her car-free life in San Francisco.

Since giving up my car (in Oct’ 2013) , I now spend an average of $572 per month on transportation, which comes to $11,352 per year in savings. On top of that, I get back my time, the most valuable thing of all. I save an average of 6.5 days per year — almost a full week! — to focus on the things I want to be doing, rather than serving my car.

What caught my attention is the last sentence – Katherine’s elation about not “serving” her car. If this is how the youngsters feel about automobiles there is no way anyone can make an argument for owning a car. Maybe we have turned a new page in America’s love affair with the automobiles (which, at times, seems untrue when you read about booming auto sales)?

In the backdrop of how not owning a car helped manage her mobility needs while also saving her a ton of cash, you would be astonished to see Sarah’s average monthly expenditures (and time associated)  when she owned the car (see table below). Read more here

Image via Business Insider

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Surprise! Car Unexpectedly Drives Out of Sea Foam, Nearly Hits Cops

January 28, 2013 at 7:40 pm

Mick Bell on YouTube via Laughing Squid

Police in Sunshine Coast (Australia) got a surprise during the recent storm & flooding of the coastal area. The churning seas whipped out a heavy dose of foam that completely enveloped the road near the coast . As the cops stood watch, out comes a stealthy surprise – a car, completely covered in the foam! Scary to say the least!

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The carlet letter? NJ tags new drivers age 21 and younger with decal

April 15, 2009 at 11:27 pm

 (Source: Associated Press via Yahoo)

TRENTON, N.J. – Would you drive any differently if you knew there was a teenager behind the wheel of the car in front of you?

You might find out soon. A first-in-the-nation law in New Jersey will require new drivers ages 21 and younger to display identifying decals on their vehicles.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed the law Wednesday; it takes effect next year.

The decals will probably be a small reflective rectangle attached to the front and rear license plates to help police enforce restrictions on probationary drivers, motor vehicle officials said.

Police will use them to determine whether teens are violating the state driving curfew and passenger restrictions, said Pam Fischer, director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety.

Authorities will not use the decals to target young drivers or pull them over for no reason, she said.

The decals are long overdue and will save lives, said Ron Gesualdo, owner of Gene’s Driving School inMatawan.

“The parents are for it,” he said. “The kids don’t say anything, but you know what they’re thinking.”

One of those kids thinks the decals will only mean more trouble for teenagers.

“That’s going to mean police are going to be bothering us even more,” said Tebvon Mcneil, 18, of Paterson. “They see that sticker on the car, they’re just going to be pulling us over for no reason. Are there drugs in the car? That’s the first thing they’re going to think, because we’re teenagers.”

And not everyone thinks the new law will improve driver safety. Jennifer Collins, a 29-year-old Hamilton resident, wondered whether the stickers will distract other drivers who are looking for them in traffic.

“That really doesn’t make any sense to me, honestly,” she said.

Officials are considering using Velcro to attach the decals, so they can be removed by other drivers using the same car.

Click here to read the entire article.

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The future is here – Terrafugia “Flying Car” Makes First Flight

March 19, 2009 at 11:21 am

(Source:  Jalopnik)

This morning it’s official — the future is now. The Terrafugia Transition (R), the first plausible “flying car” (or more precisely, a “roadable aircraft”), took its first official flight earlier this month. 

 Terrafugia press conference at 9:30 AM this morning offered the following details:  The two-seat aircraft is able to fly 450 miles at over 115 MPH and is designed to transform from plane to car in less than 30 seconds.  Click here to read the entire press release.

The Transition, their first “roadable aircraft” (we’re going to go ahead and call it a Jetsons-like “flying car”), took its official first flight on March 5th, 2009 at Plattsburgh International Airport. It’s the first time we’ve seen an actually plausible“roadable aircraft” work in real life.

 Click here to view the full gallery of Terrafugia.  Also, Here is an awesome video from YouTube showing the vehicle in action.

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Toyota Planning to Build a Car out of Seaweed; Tofu Cushions Not Included

February 26, 2009 at 11:56 pm

 

(Source: Wired via Gizmodo.com)
As if the Prius weren’t green enough, Toyota plans to go even greener for the future by creating a car—the 1/X plug-in hybrid—using a bioplastic body made out of seaweed.

Named the 1/X (pronounced 1-x’th) after the fraction of its carbon footprint compared to other vehicles, the hybrid is greener than others not only because of it gas mileage: Compared to standard petroleum-based plastic, bioplastic allegedly produces up to 60 percent less carbon dioxide and uses about 30 percent less energy as well.

Click here to read the entire article. 

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