Do you think Automobile technologies used by us are primitive and not up to the

1. 83

   pinappuposted 11 years ago

   Do you think Automobile technologies used by us are primitive and not up to the mark?
   
   The cars and motor bikes are powered by internal combustion engines. A century old and primitive technology. The new "high tech" car technologies are nothing but electrical cars, so simple. Do you think, in comparison with the computer and electronics industry, the auto mobile industry has not progressed at all ?

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2. 66

   cfinposted 11 years ago

   Yes. Take a look at the new Ford eco engine. It is a one liter engine that outputs the same power as a much more powerful past engine and will easily do 3 times the MPG and will mostly be available in Europe in the ford Mondeo, C Max  and Focus. Its directly connected to fuel and the oil companies.
   
   Gas is cheaper in the US, yet cars have way worse MPG. In Europe, it is not uncommon to have a car that does 40 mpg and the propaganda that states that European cars are trash is just not true. A BMW in Europe with a 2.0 L engine has a 4.0 L engine in the US, yet it drives the same. The only difference is the MPG. Of course the fuel is a lot cheaper in the US, but it works out almost the same when you take into account the efficiency. I first became interested in this topic when i bought a 3.5 L Ford Taurus that does 20 mpg. The first time I filled the fuel tank i noticed an advertisement on the inside of the petrol cap. It read "Use BP fuel".
   
   Its also interesting to think that the Prius battery causes more damage to the environment during its creation, than a car does in 10 years of driving. I find it hard to believe we cant do better than this? Power from the spin of the wheels? power from the air gushing over the speeding vehicle, the rain that lands on it, the sun hitting the roof. And they cant use any of that? As you said, we have all these computers. laptops that can run for 7+ hours on a small battery. But our cars. Nope!

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      pinappuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think the technology of burning some billions of years old oil to produce gas and thus rotating a wheel is nothing better than James Watt's steam engine.

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3. 78

   junksellerposted 11 years ago

   Forget the automobile. Our whole auto-centric world is primitive. Our cities are sprawling concrete monstrosities dissected by arteries of death and filled with these grotesque beasts spewing out toxic waste clouds. Its a nightmare we have all just become used to because it is all we've ever known. ANY automobile is primitive.
   
   What we should have is elevated mass transit only systems and compact cities with the entire groundscape both green and scaled to human life. But being that the most powerful companies on the planet are all dependent on the wasteful paradigm of sprawl, ineffecient cities/buildings, and automobiles, this is what we get. That is the problem with monopolies. Industries that do not have to compete become stagnant. And actually in a lot of ways I think you can see the same thing happening with computers and electronics. Is the iPhone 5 really about innovation or making money? Why don't we have phone chips embedded in our brains by now?

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      pinappuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I know it is very popular in sci-fi to insert a micro chip inside some body's head but I still have doubts that any people will be agreed to insert it inside his/her head ( neither me).

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4. 61

   SunilKalsiposted 11 years ago

   yes! They're loud, polluting and waste masses of resources to be made and kept running. There must be other ways.
   
   The thing is that most people that have cars are just lazy and instead of using their car as a tool they use it for convenience. People could cycle for shorter journeys or walk.

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