The Chevy Volt: What The Press Is Saying.

I’m lifting some quotes from Peter Valdes-Dapena’s article on CNNmoney.com today, detailing his drive experiences so far with the Chevy Volt [link]:

“How well will General Motors' Chevrolet Volt drive once it gets past its 40 mile all-electric driving range and starts to rely on power generated by its gasoline engine? … I wanted to drain the battery as fast as possible and see what happened next.

“What happened was both imperceptible and impressive. Forced to start generating its own electricity on the fly, the Volt's performance changed not a bit. Criticism that the Volt, while running on gasoline power, would perform like a cinderblock looks to be wrong.”

 

“Off-the-line acceleration was dialed back a bit, GM told me, to protect the test car from a jolting, tire-screeching start. Production cars could be a little quicker to jump out. The rush from 15 miles per hour to 60 was actually more striking, providing a respectable punch of power when the "gas" pedal hits the floor. Volt drivers aren't going to be challenging Camaros to drag races, but they'll have plenty of power.”

 

“There's no mechanical connection at all between the Volt's 1.4-liter engine and its wheels…The biggest difference between a gas-power versus an electric-power car is that there's no transmission. Electric motors don't need gears or gear shifts.”

In other words, all transfer of energy to the wheels goes through the electric motor. The Volt is an electric car that carries its own gas-powered generator. [hmmm… I hear Honda makes a good gas generator…<grin!>]

 

“Sports sedan handling isn't what most Volt customers will be after. The Volt feels more enjoyable to drive than a Toyota Prius…”

 

“…the Volt is designed to go 40 miles on a fully charged battery. That's plenty for most American's daily commutes and errands. And if you want to drive further or simply don't charge it, no worries. You can go about 300 miles before you need to recharge battery or refill the tank.”

Valdes-Dapena does point out that other non-hybrid electric cars are designing around huge banks of batteries to get 100+ miles of range, but that won’t get a driver to Seattle without a recharge. If he’s right on the 300 mile range, that’s comparable to a traditional gas-powered vehicle. I’ll bet the gas tank’s only between 5 and 10 gallons.

“The car is expected to be heavily subsidized, so car buyers could get one for about $32,000 after federal tax rebates.

Considering the fact that many drivers could go weeks without needing to refill their gas tanks, and given how good the Volt seems so far, that's probably not a bad deal.”

I’m Going to Rave About My Car

Don’t read this if love letters to a car are uninteresting to you. I get to be self-indulgent here, just for a little while.

You see, I continue to find things to love about my car. And I’m going to spill them here. You have been warned.

The 2004 Jaguar XJ8 I’ve been driving since October has been a great choice. It came to me in such pristine shape, thanks to the previous owners. Judging from the condition (everywhere from the seats, to the trunk, to the lack of grime under the hood) this car has been pampered. Almost 70,000 miles on the odometer, but lightly used.

I’ve been putting 1,500-2,000 miles per month on the Jag so far. My daily commute is 25 miles each way, you see. We tend to use the Jag whenever we can to slow down the miles on the Odyssey and prolong the warranty. Pristine as the Jag is, its the car on which the miles really aren’t going to matter. So, I drive it. And I enjoy it!

The V-8 delivers 294hp to six forward gears. The body AND FRAME are all aluminum, meaning it weighs a minimum of 700 pounds less than earlier XJs. The two-program computer, with a Sport mode and a “comfort” mode, mean that I can cruise it, then pop up to a more aggressive shift pattern and firmer suspension. The difference is indeed noticeable – the kids call Sport mode “ROCKET MODE”.

The cockpit experience is simple. Luxurious, but simple. The automatic windshield wiper mode means that the wipers decide when to run; somehow the wipers sense water on the windshield and ‘just take care of it.’ The headlights have an automatic mode, too. They come on just before I need them, and turn off when conditions are bright enough. The climate control runs off a thermostat. Just set the temperature, and the car makes the appropriate adjustments. Shoot, the Jaguar even senses when the rear window defogger is required and turns THAT on for me, too.

There’s nothing left to do but twiddle the knobs on the stereo, keep my eyes on the road, and DRIVE! So, I do!

A few weeks ago, I drove solo from Portland to the family compound in Pacific City. The next morning, I drove the car fully loaded from Pacific City to Newport and back, then drove solo the day after that, straight to the Portland Airport. The route to/from the beach takes me over a curvy mountain pass. With the 290 hp and a snappy Jaguar gearbox, passing is super easy over any terrain constraints. Just groove the wheels over to the passing lane, goose the accelerator and feel the car immediately pop down a gear before BOUNDING forward like a …. like a Jaguar on the attack. Really!

Going to the beach this weekend, the roads were unusually traffic free. As I left the Tualatin Valley and entered the mountains, I set the cruise control for 70 mph, and wondered how long I could go before the curves got too tight for the speed. I got my answer: never. The Jag glided along at 70 through curves marked 35mph, through sweepers marked 45 mph, and along the long straights where the cops usually sit. Traffic behind me kept up fine on the straights, but give me two curves and they would all be gone in the distance behind me. NOT ONCE did the Jag’s traction control system kick in to assist me. Aggressive as such driving might seem, it was well within the Jag’s capabilities. When I found myself following traffic, I’d drop the cruise control.

Most of the time, working the gas at highway speeds requires a constant tap-and-coast foot action. I don’t hold the accelerator down most times, instead I have to back off often to keep speed down.

I did love the two Mercedes-Benzs. They, too were a pleasure to drive. I must admit, though, they drove like a train in comparison: they handled like they were on rails; they’d drive all day at incredible speeds; but their relatively slow acceleration meant that you had to plan well ahead to have the speed or power you’d need. The Mercedes’ were undoubtedly the finest cars I’d driven up to that time.

The Jag, though, is just different. SO high performance; and so beautifully refined.

I regularly have strangers approach me, as I’m parking or filling up at the gas station, just to comment on how beautiful the car is. The previous owner had swapped out the factory wheels for some chromes that  clearly say 21st century-style but still evoke the classic spoked wheel look from mid-century Jaguar classics. Coupled with the gleaming silver paint and the elegantly creased and curved body styling, the car seems to ooze class. Truth be told, it's not the men who comment me on my car, its the women.  (Don’t tell C that, okay?)

The kids remark that the S-Class Mercedes smelled better. They’re right; the S-Class, even though it was 14 years old, still smelled so heavily of leather upholstery that you could smell it on your coat for the rest of the day. The olfactory sense of luxury and pampering in the S-Class was just massive. But that was the point of the S-Class – comfortable travel. Think express train club car.

The Jag, for all its performance, delivers a cabin that’s just as spacious, with just as much leather and wood trim. But the atmosphere is not that of a club car – it hints too strongly of the ‘pounce’ waiting under the hood.

So, I’m grateful for the opportunity to own and drive this particular Jag. It’s a luxury car that performs better than my own driving skills. So I get to have fun, comfort, and a bit of peaceful quality during my commute. It’s a good thing…

From BoingBoing – Segway & GM Collaborate

 

A two-person electric car, courtesy Segway and GM. 35mph, 35 mile range. I have to presume NO FREEWAYS. So, in all, a great in-city runabout.

For most of the US it won’t replace a car; it’ll merely reduce (drastically?) the amount of driving one does. Since we won’t avoid having to buy a car too,  price will have to be way down there … less than a motorcycle, I’m afraid.

Let’s use me as a case study. In my, ahem, 25 years of working, this vehicle would have been suitable for my commute for the first 15 years, but not suitable for the last ten years. Having said that, though, I’d still have needed a car for all the travel off-commute. But then, we have a family of four, and we live in the Western States. Do business on the East Coast for a few weeks, and you can start to see how this vehicle would address a whole bunch of in-city needs when you have the opportunity to rely on Amtrak and other non-car transport to get from city to city.

I love one of the comments on BoingBoing, though.  The reader say:

“Makes you look like Captain Pike.”

I practically died laughing at that one. What? You don’t get the Captain Pike reference? You know… Original Star Trek. Pike was the…. oh heck, here’s a photo….you’ll remember:

That’s Pike on the far left. From The Menagerie.

Transporters

I decided to have a little fun over the snow-in. A little self-indulgence, I guess. Over on the right side of the blog is a series of photos, titled 'Transporters.' I'm attempting to create a gallery of photos of every automobile I've ever owned. I've tried to find examples that match as closely as possible to the one I drove*. So far, though, that isn't entirely possible. The 1972 Ford Galaxy I drove was seafoam green, not the lemon yellow I have posted in the gallery. Most of them are pretty close, though.

If you click on the gallery, I did include comments and captions with each car. I also attempted to place them in chronological order.

I'll be working on this little documentary as time allows. It might change a bit as time goes on. I also expect that the gallery will slowly filter itself, like sediment, to the bottom of the blog, as do the bits of ferrous metal that comprise some of the cars are already disposed. Still, its fun to be had!

 

===

* I don't seem to have any surviving photos of any of the vehicles I owned prior to 2005. Not sure what that says about me, but there it is. If any of my long-term friends/readers just happen to have a photo of one of my old cars, I'd appreciate a copy...but don't knock yourself out looking for it.

Copenhagan Suborbital

BoingBoing ran this earlier today. I'm adding a similar write up here. Most people who know me know that I'm pretty positive about any space-based activity. But I gotta say THESE GUYS ARE FREAKIN' CRAZY!!!










C O P E N H A G E N S U B O R B I T A L S

Constance*

I put some time into the Jaguar over the weekend. The car's condition is a bit of an unknown quantity right now ... when was the last time it was waxed? Oil changed? ... you know, all that jazz. Because I got the car on consignment, it didn't get any dealer detailing attention. So I gave her a basic all-over detail this weekend. While the weather is still nice, you know...

• Hand wash
• Hand wax
• Wheel chrome polished and waxed
• Tires conditioned and blackened
• Detail brush along all edges and grooves (thanks for that simple, elegant tool, Paula!)
• Engine degreased
• Engine compartment rain gutters cleared of all pine needles, and 'gunk'
• Engine compartment plastic parts refreshed with protectant, for a like-new shine
• Trunk contents organized (first aid kit, tool kit, roadside assist kit, etc.)
• Trunk rain gutters cleaned and polished
• Floor mats cleaned of all grime spots

It took about half my day, but she gleams now. Inside and out. Ready for winter. Here's the engine, just as an example:

See what I mean? The plastics are once again clean and well-conditioned.  That just-built sheen has returned to the exposed metal bits. The scattering of pine needles are gone.

Sunday afternoon, R walked up to the car - unaware that I'd detailed it the day before - and casually ran his hand along the rear fender, just as a daydreaming boy is likely to do.

"Hey! The car's been waxed!" he hollered, surprised and excited. I was flattered, personally. He's not really one to notice things like that. It jumped out at him THIS time, though. He made my day.

I also spent time on the garage this weekend; I finished the interior painting. The garage doors themselves needed paint, as did a few stray 'missed spots' on the walls. Once I tidied up the paint, the next logical step was to finally organize my tools and equipment. It was great to be organizing the space. The garage looks good and, with a detailed car emitting the odors of wax and protectant, smells good too!

The kids were pleased to end the weekend with their computer now properly ensconced in the common room upstairs, instead of hiding out on my basement workbench. I succeeded in getting the desk moved up from the basement, and verified that their shared PC would both connect to the internet and connect to the wi-fi enabled printer. They're all hooked up now, and ready to do their homework as needed, in their own environment.

Which leads me to the basement itself. Organization there continues. We're steadily putting things in an order that makes sense, the end result being a sense of 'spaciousness' instead of oppressive clutter. It's good.

 

* Some, but not all, of my vehicles had names.

	Car	Name
1984 - 1989	1978 Honda Civic	Gertrude
1989 - 1994	1989 Honda Accord Coupe
1991 - 1993	1986 Saab 900 Turbo	Bette
1993 - 2006	1992 Isuzu Trooper	Bessie
1995 - 1998	1995 Kawasaki GPZ1100	Prudence
1997 - 2005	1996 Pontiac Grand Am
2005 - 2008	1992 Mercedes E300 4matic	Babych
2006 - now	2006 Honda Odyssey	Ulysses
2008	1994 Mercedes S320
2008 - now	2004 Jaguar XJ8	Constance

The Bigger It Is, The Smaller It Feels

I've been ruminating on this for a while now and it has been sneaking into my blog. I find it paradoxical that we've moved into the city core from the metro edges, only to find that we have a tighter, more hometown flavored life now than ever before. Here are some cases in point:

1. Our neighborhood has a beat cop. I haven't met him yet, but I know his first name.
2. The gas station attendants know us as neighborhood locals. They ask how we're doing as we fill up our cars. When we need air for tires, they give us tokens because "neighbors can use the air machine for free."
3. The neighborhood Boy Scout troop connects us throughout the central SE by way of professional contacts, with doctors, restaurateurs, sewer workers, lawyers and architects.
4. I read the neighborhood newspaper, the Southeast Examiner only to find long-lost college classmates quoted in articles - and living only blocks away!
5. My son gets to meet the mayor...and give a speech to the Portland City Council.  Among a handful of things that makes R stand out to the mayor is the uniqueness of our location...right off Peacock Lane
6. More than one restaurant in the neighborhood not only remembers us but tends to know what we're going to order -- we have 'usuals' !!
7. A neighborhood meat wholesaler has offered to let us by at restaurant pricing, just because we live in the neighborhood and are active in the neighborhood community.
8. Political candidates come to our door. No, Really. We get a lot of door-to-door canvassing.
9. We shop in the same Fred Meyer store where Grandpa Jerry worked as he finished school. There's a multi-generational thing there, nowadays.

All this, while we live, flat-out, in the city. Oh sure, you might be thinking to yourself, you're in a neighborhood, so you've got neighborhood stuff. Well, here's my list of big city things we live with that are of note:

• I can take any one of four bus routes to other places in the city, all within  two blocks of our front door.
• The library is two blocks away.
• Things that do not require driving to access:
  
  • The airport ($2.00 each way, no parking necessary)
  • Ballet (both performances and school)
  • theater,
  • downtown
  • mall shopping
  • nightspots
  • professional sports
  • family-style movie theater
  • three different high schools
  • groceries
  • pharmacy
  • garden store
  • gas station
  • dance studio
  • play ground
  • Boy Scouts
  • dozens of restaurants
  • Kinko's
  • Health Care (docs, naturopaths, optometrists, etc.)
  • City Library
  • Banks
  • outdoor produce stand
  • haircuts
    
• Come time for high school, we can choose between the neighborhood high school, or three close-at-hand magnet schools: technical; arts & dance; business & commerce
• We are equidistant to three universities: Reed College; Portland State; University of Portland; and a seminary. All three are close enough that a child could live at home while attending.
• Our in-town fireworks display, on the Willamette River, is a bike ride away -- 35 blocks.

Here's the paradox. When we lived in the 'burbs, the societal arguments for doing so often included 'sense of community.' Okay, I'll accept that. EXCEPT that I never had a beat cop I knew by name. I never had a candidate come to my door. The mayor didn't recognize my kid and know where he lived. Shoot, I even recognize the three guys who scavenge returnables out of our recycling every Thursday evening, before the garbage trucks get there.

This is the sort of 'know everybody' stuff you expect from a small town -- Myrtle Point, say, or Pacific City. Only it's happening deep within the one town that contains half of the state's population.... it's certainly not happening in the suburbs, where we're told we'll get that sort of lifestyle.

There really isn't a way to wrap this set of observations up; no ribbon of prose to tie around this blog entry like a bow and turn it into an essay. It's just a societal paradox I need to put forward. I'll close with a question:

We're learning that the post-WW2 belief that our cars would change the world turned out to be all too true, but in dangerous and unanticipated ways. Our 'alternative energy' societal thinking marks not NEW thinking, but rather a return to sustainable OLD thinking. Does it not follow, then, that the post-WW2 thinking about suburbs, and the aloofness they built into themselves, is yet another body of societal thinking that is changing?

I certainly feel like my SE Portland experience has re-shaped my thinking.

It's Different

C took the Jaguar for a solo drive last night. First time.

Now, C loves  her Honda Odyssey. It helps her perform her role as loving family COO, and it's such a safe, comfortable, pleasant, dependable, high-quality vehicle. It handles itself well in town and traffic. It roadtrips five people and a dog to central Utah like nobody's business. And it pulls MPGs in the high 20's for all the space it provides us. I don't think she'd really want anything else for her daily ride. We all love it, frankly. Running a family without one would be much, much more difficult. How we ever got along with the Trooper for so long is hard, now, to imagine.

Having said that, she often confided that having a Mercedes to ride in was a real ego booster sometimes and a nice treat. She noticed that she got a higher level of  respectful treatment when she drove the Mercedes; people were always just a little nicer to her, in subtle and undefinable ways. People would actually notice the car. She could see people trying to connect the car to the owner with their eyes. It was just...different. Special. Worth putting something nicer from the closet.

I had told her it was even more different in the Jaguar, that the conspicuousness goes up a notch, based on what I've seen so far.  She was a bit skeptical (thinking, I'm sure, about the pickup truck driver in southern Oregon who gave us all sorts of attitude just for having a Benz. I mean how could you be more conspicuous than inciting a guy to make gestures and yell out his window while we're on cruise control going down the interstate? Good thing the Benz had double-paned glass...the kids didn't hear the words he used. Neither did we, for that matter, I just read his lips), but then she took the Jaguar out herself and saw what I was talking about.

The gas station attendants immediately called her Ma'am, and used a completely different tone of voice with her -- hushed, deferential. It's more than respect -- awe. People don't just match the car to owner, they stop and admire the car outright. Pedestrians walking past the gas station actually pause and stare. Not at her, but at the car. Then they catch themselves and look for the owner...admiringly. Someone approached her as she waited, just to tell her how nice her car was.

She picked up on that difference once she experienced it for herself. I mean, how could you NOT? She did a good job capturing the feeling when she put it this way:

"In my Honda Odyssey, I'm just another soccer mom. In a Mercedes, I'm respectable. But In the Jaguar, I am a GODDESS!"

I love that line!

 

Driving to work,this morning, I watched a Geo Metro -- paint all beat up, with two young twenty-somethings, man and woman -- pull up behind me at the light. They were both really clean cut, well groomed and dressed like you'd expect a college graduate to dress for their first jobs. I could easily imagine them as a young couple in love, starting their careers after graduating from college last spring, making do with what they've got as they get started. Full of big dreams and ambitions. There was a happiness in their faces. But that changed as he sat behind me, impatient that I didn't make the right turn on the red light quite yet. His body language got a bit angry, as he spoke animatedly and gestured at my car. He wasn't gesturing toward me, I noticed, but toward the car itself. In the rearview mirror, I could see he was staring at the spot on the trunk where the badge is. It was about the car. He'd have been looking at the back of my headrest if he was angry at me. I could see her expression shift from engaged to withdrawn. She had been turned toward him, smiling, as they approached. She turned her head away and stared blankly out the window after that. I got the sense that he was frustrated that he wasn't driving a car like the Jaguar. I made the turn, as did they. For the next two or three miles, he followed me in traffic. They never went back to to their happiness. They were withdrawn.

The whole experience took me right back to my first couple years, driving a beat up Honda Civic. Happy as I was to have a car at all, there was still a hunger. I'd park in the lot at the software company, next to the Maserati, the BMWs, the Porches, and the CEO's Ferrari... in my stupid littl 1200cc Honda pillb0x. "One of these days," I'd tell myself, "one of these days." On a rainy day when the Ferrari wouldn't start again, and the tow truck would come to take it to the shop for an electrical harness dry-out, I'd count the dollars and realize that the CEO was spending more per month on towing than my car actually cost. At least my car would start in the rain, and a set of four tires cost me $60. I counted those things as blessings and told myself, once again, "One of these days..."

Well, young man behind me in traffic this morning: if you're reading this, don't make it miserable for you and your girlfriend. One of these days, you'll have a Jaguar too. Just keep working hard for it, wait for the right opportunity, and don't rush. I feel much closer to you, young man, in your Geo Metro, to this day, than I do to the other Jaguar owners around town. I may be one myself now, but they still intimidate me. I'm sure I'll keep talking to them in hushed, reverent tones -- calling them 'Sir' and "Ma'am" --  even as I drive a Jaguar myself.

Night time with the Jaguar

They are  nocturnal animals, afterall!

We spent the day doing some maintenance around the house. Just some winter-prep work. C painted the areas needing final paint. I mortared some sections of the outside basement wall to prevent any moisture seepage around the windows we replaced a year ago. We made it through last winter withour moisture, but the window still could benefit from some extra coverage. That, plus a  little lawn mowing and that pretty much covers the house work.

Prior to that, we had M's two(!!) ballet classes, and R's private gymnastics session. Both M's classes and R's class time turned out to be good investments. The children are getting SO dialed in to their respective pursuits - the progress is measurable week to week, almost session to session. If that weren't enough, toss into the mix a trip to the bank to finance a car, and it was a busy day!

So, to treat ourselves, we all piled in to the Jaguar for a night-time tour. It's hard to beat a warmish, clear/dry late-summer evening in Portland. Conditions just do NOT get any better than that. The kids each brought a book to read. R - bless his heart - is now reading Dune. M, that precocious eight year old, is reading the Legend of Despereaux. They snuggled up in the back seat, each in their pajamas, and read while we listened to music in KINK-FM,  'cruised' downtown (really! We cruised SW Broadway!)  and then drove around in the West Hills, enjoying some of the prettiest night-time scenery you can hope to find in Portland...before it's gone and winter sets in.

Back in the mid-70's, during the emergence of FM radio, KINK-FM ran a TV ad that showed a young, professional-looking  upwardly mobile couple driving around Portland in the evening, in a Porsche, listening to the unique blend of music on KINK. I may be the only person who still remembers that commercial. It was a low-key, lifestyle-based, cop-this-image proposition they put forth in that spot. Somehow that proposition has stuck in my head. Turns out that our drive was a replay of the drive they took in the commercial.  Imagine that. I didn't intend it, but there it is.

Bought the Jaguar XJ8

It's a great car. Oh my GOSH it's a great car. C test-drove it tonight and fell in love.  Just as I did a couple nights ago.

Then she drove a 1995 Mercedes S-class with a big-boy V12. It felt so familiar and 'normal', except that it had twice as much power as the S320 had. A very nice car, at half the price...and half the MPGs.

Her reaction? Same as mine. The Jaguar is just a much better direction to go; the cost is minimal. Maintenance will be less (for a while).

So we agreed on the Jaguar. We put some money down to hold it (it would otherwise sell over this coming weekend, doubtlessly). I'll process the financing/settlement/payments. The Jaguar is a good deal; blue book is at least $5,000 higher than we're paying for this car.

We're pretty pleased.

Swiss man flies over Channel on jet wing

 

Excerpted from the San Francisco Chronicle article, linked below:

"He had nothing above him but four tanks of kerosene and nothing below him but the cold waters of the English Channel. But Yves Rossy leapt from a plane and into the record books on Friday, crossing the channel on a homemade jet-propelled wing."

"Rossy's wing was made from carbon composite. It weighs about 121 pounds when loaded with fuel and carried four kerosene-burning jet turbines. The contraption has no steering devices. Rossy, a commercial airline pilot by training, wiggled his body back and forth to control the wing's movements."

Swiss man flies over Channel on jet wing

My Mercedes S320 got Clobbered

I've had a blog post on the 'death' of my S320 in the works for a couple weeks. I've just abandoned that article and will update everyone else with a bit of journalism, not story-telling.

The S320 got rear-ended about two weeks ago. I'm fine. The car's a total. Yes, I know I've only had it since March. The insurance company is being extremely cooperative with me and I'm pleased overall with their performance. For the record, I am currently working directly with the offending driver's insurance company, not my own.

I'm currently driving a rental; will switch over to the parents' Lincoln for a bit, then buy a replacement once the money comes in. My best guess is that the replacement value for my S320 is in the $10K range. $4.50/gallon gas drove the resale value of the six-cylinder S-class right up. It's the highest-value S-class on the used market right now. And that means there aren't that many of them popping up on the used car market. Imagine that!

I need a category for automobiles...