The Economist chimes in. "The Rich and Indulgent"
04-15-2018, 11:03 PM
#16
Pro
Like I wrote, when these resources get valuable and in demand, we find them.
04-16-2018, 04:44 PM
#17
If natural gas is cleaner than coal and has less toxic groundwater/runoff/byproduct/sourcing issues...why are we skipping that as a power source for our cars?
Threats of explosion? Storage issues? Noise? Is there enough lithium/cobalt/rare earth etc to actually produce 7-10M cars a year that are full electric?
Threats of explosion? Storage issues? Noise? Is there enough lithium/cobalt/rare earth etc to actually produce 7-10M cars a year that are full electric?
- CNG for cars is sold as Gasoline Gallon Equivalent ("GGE") units, roughly a tenth of the usual mmbtu, but 5-10X more expensive. http://www.cngnow.com/average-cng-pr...s/default.aspx. My understanding is Marcellus mmbtus recently priced near $1, at Dominion's Cove Point South wellhead. If large tanks weren't already working against CNG cars, an inability to get the gas to the consumer, cheaply, certainly is.
- Among its first LNG exports, Dominion's Cove Point will launch vessels from the Atlantic, to Asia. Japan can now import ~$5 mmbtus (~60 cent GGE's, liquified/decompressed), but we can't leave it gaseous, and get it across land for <~$18/mmbtu ($2 GGE avg.)???
04-18-2018, 10:53 AM
#18
Oil refineries also use more than one barrel of fresh water to refine each barrel of oil. That water is pumped in and treated using electrical energy and public money. Something to remember in times of drought.
04-19-2018, 07:09 PM
#19
Burning Brakes
Interesting thread and interesting article. I do not think that VW and Porsche are coming out with plugin hybrids and all-electric vehicles simply because of dieselgate or the EU mandate for less car pollutants; that's part of it, sure, but I think that they also see that the future is moving toward electric vehicles. Added to the fact that Porsche's type-of-the-line race car incorporates electric motors for fabulous performance, it makes all the sense to head quickly -- not slowly -- in that direction.
I disagree with the comment above that only the rich/indulgent will be driving cars in the future; if anything, the opposite may be true. I think that people of all economic backgrounds like to drive and will continue to do so. I think that this idea of everybody being driven around in self-driving cars is not something that will happen in the near future; it might make some sense in the congested inner parts of large cities, sure, but not outside of those areas -- even though autonomous cars can indeed reduce accidents, particularly if there are autonomous-vehicles-only zones.
I thought this part of the Economist article was interesting: "VW vies with Toyota and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance as the world’s biggest carmaker. It knocks out some 10m vehicles annually but relies on selling around 2m Audis and Porsches for 65% of its profits." I wish that Porsche would take more like 5% profits like everybody else, and stop milking us Porsche buyers so much. There's a reason why Porsche sells more Macans and Cayennes than anything else, and I'd like to see them come out with a much more affordable 4-door sedan/wagon than the Panamera -- like BMW does.
I disagree with the comment above that only the rich/indulgent will be driving cars in the future; if anything, the opposite may be true. I think that people of all economic backgrounds like to drive and will continue to do so. I think that this idea of everybody being driven around in self-driving cars is not something that will happen in the near future; it might make some sense in the congested inner parts of large cities, sure, but not outside of those areas -- even though autonomous cars can indeed reduce accidents, particularly if there are autonomous-vehicles-only zones.
I thought this part of the Economist article was interesting: "VW vies with Toyota and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance as the world’s biggest carmaker. It knocks out some 10m vehicles annually but relies on selling around 2m Audis and Porsches for 65% of its profits." I wish that Porsche would take more like 5% profits like everybody else, and stop milking us Porsche buyers so much. There's a reason why Porsche sells more Macans and Cayennes than anything else, and I'd like to see them come out with a much more affordable 4-door sedan/wagon than the Panamera -- like BMW does.
04-21-2018, 01:23 PM
#20
I thought this part of the Economist article was interesting: "VW vies with Toyota and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance as the world’s biggest carmaker. It knocks out some 10m vehicles annually but relies on selling around 2m Audis and Porsches for 65% of its profits." I wish that Porsche would take more like 5% profits like everybody else, and stop milking us Porsche buyers so much. There's a reason why Porsche sells more Macans and Cayennes than anything else, and I'd like to see them come out with a much more affordable 4-door sedan/wagon than the Panamera -- like BMW does.
04-23-2018, 09:06 PM
#21
Hmmm...the 911 Carrera, Carrera S, Carrera Cabriolet, Carrera S Cabriolet, Carrera 4, Carrera 4S, Carrera 4 Cabriolet, Carrera 4S Cabriolet, Carrera T, Targa 4, Targa 4S, Turbo, Turbo S, Turbo Cabriolet, Turbo S Cabriolet, Carrera GTS, Carrera GTS Cabriolet, Carrera 4 GTS, Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Targa 4 GTS, GT3, GT3 RS, GT2RS?
Yes, that would be SEVERELY disappointing.
04-23-2018, 09:33 PM
#22
Pro
There is an interesting semantic discussion about model differentiation when it comes to the 911. I’d venture a point of view that all the models you listed really come down to coupe, targa, and convertible. This is far removed from what the other manufacturers do with their model lineup when they offer 4 door, 2 door, convertible and wagon in 2WD and AWD variants with base, performance, and super performance levels. At the most basic level, the only meaningful body style difference within the entire 911 lineup is what I highlighted above. Porsche has executed on an amazing strategy of taking 1 car and differentiating it on performance and scarcity dimensions to hit the widest array of price points any manufacturer can boast of, but those differentiated models are subtle and identifiable by Porsche enthusiasts almost exclusively... to everyone else, there is a coupe and a cabriolet.
04-23-2018, 11:16 PM
#23
There is an interesting semantic discussion about model differentiation when it comes to the 911. I’d venture a point of view that all the models you listed really come down to coupe, targa, and convertible. This is far removed from what the other manufacturers do with their model lineup when they offer 4 door, 2 door, convertible and wagon in 2WD and AWD variants with base, performance, and super performance levels. At the most basic level, the only meaningful body style difference within the entire 911 lineup is what I highlighted above. Porsche has executed on an amazing strategy of taking 1 car and differentiating it on performance and scarcity dimensions to hit the widest array of price points any manufacturer can boast of, but those differentiated models are subtle and identifiable by Porsche enthusiasts almost exclusively... to everyone else, there is a coupe and a cabriolet.
04-30-2018, 04:29 PM
#25
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Well, it's true with many other European cars with hot versions - the cheapest Euro E-class is about 1/3 of the price of E63S, and the special edition M4 is almost 4x the price of the cheapest 3 series in some regions. It's just that Porsche manages to do luxury with the scale of efficiency others do mainstream.