[extropy-chat] Car of the (near) future

[Adrian Tymes]

--- spike <spike66 at comcast.net> wrote:
> We sweat over peak
> oil while struggling with an incorrect assumption: that
> we must drive cars at least the size of the smallest ones
> on the road today, and that we must have cars that can
> carry four, or at least two apes.  But there is enormous
> potential to waaaay downsize, if we assume that we can
> accept vehicles that can only carry one, and that have
> no heater, no air conditioner, no radio, no gears, that
> top out around 40 mph.

People have tried making and selling cars that violate that hypothesis.
They sell, but not very well.  This is widely taken as proof of said
hypothesis.

(A few theoretical reasons why: no heater + no AC = a drive that
commuters won't accept, and if they won't accept it then you won't get
them driving it period; 40 mph = dangerously slow on highways and some
city streets, to the level of "safety hazard" even if you say it's
theoretically only for streets it is safe on; 40 mph = extra hours
added to commute time, to the point where the gas savings don't make
up for the productive time lost, making this even more of a waste of
money than buying a SUV purely for commuting purposes.)