I still love cars. I still am excited by beautiful designs, fun to drive cars, technological marvels or the classics, but now, with the help of age, past loves and mistakes, I am no longer blinded by all that.
Now, when I see:
In short, my passion doesn't keep me from using my reason anymore.
Reason and passion
Lately, a new trend has started to emerge. I could characterize it by the meeting of passion and reason in the automotive industry. You might have read that companies like Acura, Lexus, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are working on hybrid vehicles.
(N.B: The next paragraph is dedicated to all the 'speed demons' out there)
Before you start thinking of throwing yourself off a bridge in despair at the idea that the cars you love could eventually be transformed into golf carts, let it be known that the efficiency of electric engines is much greater than that of the internal combustion ones. They can be as powerful.
In fact, the reason why gas powered cars are today's' norm has a lot more to do with powerful lobbying from the automotive and oil industry than its potential from the beginning. We could have been driving much cleaner vehicles for decades, had the political authorities shown more insight. Instead they have let these lobbies decide what was good for us.
Have you ever heard about the wheel-engine from Hydro-Québec? One of their groups of engineers has invented a small electric engine that could be fitted on each wheel of a normal car. They put it on a Chrysler Intrepid and the result was amazing. The car had better performances than the normal version, while using a lot less gas than the latter. The only gas engine needed was a small one in the trunk of the car that was used when necessary to recharge the battery. You therefore made the car a lot lighter by eliminating the weight of the big engine, the transmission and the differential.
That was 12 years ago.
And why did this solution disappear from the radar screen? Take a wild guess. I intend to write an article on the subject very soon, especially since it has been brought back from oblivion when Peugeot signed a deal with Hydro-Québec a few months ago.
In this idea of passion and reason, there is a car that will soon appear at a dealer near you: It's the Honda Accord hybrid. Honda seems to be willing to try this dual approach of fun and function by making a hybrid car that's actually more powerful than the most powerful of the conventional version of the same car. This may help change the perception that hybrid cars equal boring.
I must admit that the first hybrid cars on the market were not very exciting. Sometimes, I even wondered if it was done on purpose. Shame on me. For instance, I heard that the next version of the Acura NS-X would be a hybrid.
Now, when I see:
- The fact that a car like the Bugatti Veyron advertises the fact that its engine develops 1001 horsepowers, I find it more ridiculous than anything else.
- That mature men and women are ready to pay a lot of money to buy a Hummer sounds more pathetic than anything else
- That young men and women invest thousands of dollars on their cars in accordance to the latest tuning trends, with money that they never will be able to recuperate, I can't help but remember that we are only young once and that it's totally understandable...
In short, my passion doesn't keep me from using my reason anymore.
Reason and passion
Lately, a new trend has started to emerge. I could characterize it by the meeting of passion and reason in the automotive industry. You might have read that companies like Acura, Lexus, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are working on hybrid vehicles.
(N.B: The next paragraph is dedicated to all the 'speed demons' out there)
Before you start thinking of throwing yourself off a bridge in despair at the idea that the cars you love could eventually be transformed into golf carts, let it be known that the efficiency of electric engines is much greater than that of the internal combustion ones. They can be as powerful.
In fact, the reason why gas powered cars are today's' norm has a lot more to do with powerful lobbying from the automotive and oil industry than its potential from the beginning. We could have been driving much cleaner vehicles for decades, had the political authorities shown more insight. Instead they have let these lobbies decide what was good for us.
Have you ever heard about the wheel-engine from Hydro-Québec? One of their groups of engineers has invented a small electric engine that could be fitted on each wheel of a normal car. They put it on a Chrysler Intrepid and the result was amazing. The car had better performances than the normal version, while using a lot less gas than the latter. The only gas engine needed was a small one in the trunk of the car that was used when necessary to recharge the battery. You therefore made the car a lot lighter by eliminating the weight of the big engine, the transmission and the differential.
That was 12 years ago.
And why did this solution disappear from the radar screen? Take a wild guess. I intend to write an article on the subject very soon, especially since it has been brought back from oblivion when Peugeot signed a deal with Hydro-Québec a few months ago.
In this idea of passion and reason, there is a car that will soon appear at a dealer near you: It's the Honda Accord hybrid. Honda seems to be willing to try this dual approach of fun and function by making a hybrid car that's actually more powerful than the most powerful of the conventional version of the same car. This may help change the perception that hybrid cars equal boring.
I must admit that the first hybrid cars on the market were not very exciting. Sometimes, I even wondered if it was done on purpose. Shame on me. For instance, I heard that the next version of the Acura NS-X would be a hybrid.