Looks like it would get some good mileage, from the size. Fiats weren't the best made cars in the past. But, in a few years, either you'll be seeing a lot of them on the streets or you'll see a lot of them in the bone yards. It looks like a mini austin-cooper.
Apparently the Fiat 500 might be sporting a Chrysler badge in North America. I will give it a year or so after production to decide if I will get one or not. Just like tech, its better to let others do the beta testing on this one. Yes it may yet turn out to be another dud like the PT Cruiser.
Also I prefer the stock version, not the Abarth (Sports). Will be using it to get from A to B when cycling is not feasible due to distance, weather conditions.
The diesel engines still put out a lot of pollution. Ever get stuck behind a school bus? I'd be interested in that Cooperstation wagon. I'm guessing that it would still have the cornering and sporty-fun-to-drive-ness. I like little cars that don't have the heavy SUV steel plate safety. You might feel safe. But, you can still roll it in a crash. The gas in the tank can still burn. Safety isn't about who has the biggest tank on the road. Maybe driving slower and a bit less drunk might contribute to safety - I don't know. I'd like to be able to drive around and get 50 MPG before the gas is gone completely.
I was offered a job at UCBerkeley to be the scapegoat for a computer driven freeway train made up of cars. There were magnetic strips embedded in the freeway asphalt and the car had a load of sensors that could view the objects in the road ahead make corrections in the speed. There were computer programs and 20 Lincoln Towncars to be fitted with this computer drive system. I didn't take the job because we all knew that there would be many problems in creating such a system. If they hired someone whom they wanted to keep in the job, the media and the public would eat the director of the project for lunch. There would be errors in the computer programming, in the sensor calibration, etc. If you don't have a human controlling a 2 ton metal tank of gas in traffic where dogs, people, other cars intersect daily, you don't have the ability to make the appropriate adjustment for the accident that just occurred in your lane, or the cow in the street, or the oil slick, or the icy road, etc. This was about 1987 or so. They did hire someone and did fire him - along with about 5 other directors. The project was an attempt to show that the car companies were interested in improving the world of traffic. It was all PR. It's now 2011 and there aren't any cars that drive themselves. Think of the lawsuits if GM put out a car without a human controlling the driving.
It's a nice fantasy. But, a car is such an easy tool with which to cause a disaster. The terrorists would love them. You can't easily build a Radio Controlled Car. I wonder why that is?
That's pretty cool. I wonder if the bike could have some softer parts that could become parts of a backpack? The wheels are small enough to fit on the back. If it could become a briefcase or a backpack, maybe they could be rented by the day at the train station and returned on the way home.
I wonder if UPS could deliver what you purchase at the grocery store. It would be a big hassle trying to bike home with a watermelon they had on sale.
Stuff is still the problem. We accumulate the stuff and need to store it all somewhere. Maybe we should all have a warehouse space at the storage facility next to the store.
Designing lighter folding bikes that can be carried on your back could be the key. This also solves the problem of bike theft since you can take it with you most of the time... park it under your table at work for example. No need to carry heavy/bulky U-locks to secure your bike to a post.
There are cargo bikes designed for hauling stuff... though these won't be as portable as folding bikes.
We've gotta figure out how to "Beam me up Scotty." If we could dematerialize stuff (and ourselves) and reconstruct the digital file, we could solve the space travel problem we have today. Warp drive would be nice. We're just sitting around without any funding money being spent on future quests. I guess we're out of money. Maybe the Chinese have some companies working on secret projects, funded by Walmart, that won't be in the stores next year. I wonder if the CIA is spying on them and their interests. Maybe we are staying buddy-buddy until they do something we can't - like prosper by selling us plastic toys that we can't afford the factories to make.
This driver had taken more than just evasive action. He had a camera filming on his dashboard. I wonder if there's more to this than we've learned at this point? He had some conflict with his insurance about something else?
Anyway, the footage does show how close he was to total disaster. I agree that whether he had 20 sensors with processors telling him about danger ahead, applying his brakes for him, steering just to the right spot, he was still very close to being crunched.
The weight of his vehicle and the amount of protective metal plate wouldn't matter at all in this case.
Comments
But, in a few years, either you'll be seeing a lot of them on the streets or you'll see a lot of them
in the bone yards. It looks like a mini austin-cooper.
Also I prefer the stock version, not the Abarth (Sports). Will be using it to get from A to B when cycling is not feasible due to distance, weather conditions.
I'd be interested in that Cooperstation wagon. I'm guessing that it would still have the cornering and sporty-fun-to-drive-ness.
I like little cars that don't have the heavy SUV steel plate safety. You might feel safe. But, you can still roll it
in a crash. The gas in the tank can still burn. Safety isn't about who has the biggest tank on the road. Maybe driving
slower and a bit less drunk might contribute to safety - I don't know. I'd like to be able to drive around and get 50 MPG
before the gas is gone completely.
of sensors that could view the objects in the road ahead make corrections in the speed. There were computer programs and 20 Lincoln Towncars to be fitted with this computer drive system.
I didn't take the job because we all knew that there would be many problems in creating such a system. If they hired someone whom they wanted to keep in the job, the media and the public
would eat the director of the project for lunch. There would be errors in the computer programming, in the sensor calibration, etc.
If you don't have a human controlling a 2 ton metal tank of gas in traffic where dogs, people, other cars intersect daily, you don't have the ability to make the appropriate adjustment for the
accident that just occurred in your lane, or the cow in the street, or the oil slick, or the icy road, etc.
This was about 1987 or so. They did hire someone and did fire him - along with about 5 other directors. The project was an attempt to show that the car companies were interested in improving
the world of traffic. It was all PR. It's now 2011 and there aren't any cars that drive themselves. Think of the lawsuits if GM put out a car without a human controlling the driving.
It's a nice fantasy. But, a car is such an easy tool with which to cause a disaster. The terrorists would love them. You can't easily build a Radio Controlled Car. I wonder why that is?
The wheels are small enough to fit on the back. If it could become a briefcase or a backpack, maybe they could be rented by the day
at the train station and returned on the way home.
I wonder if UPS could deliver what you purchase at the grocery store.
It would be a big hassle trying to bike home with a watermelon they had on sale.
Stuff is still the problem. We accumulate the stuff and need to store it all somewhere.
Maybe we should all have a warehouse space at the storage facility next to the store.
There are cargo bikes designed for hauling stuff... though these won't be as portable as folding bikes.
problem we have today. Warp drive would be nice. We're just sitting around without any funding money being spent on future quests. I guess we're out of money.
Maybe the Chinese have some companies working on secret projects, funded by Walmart, that won't be in the stores next year.
I wonder if the CIA is spying on them and their interests. Maybe we are staying buddy-buddy until they do something we can't - like prosper by selling us
plastic toys that we can't afford the factories to make.
with his insurance about something else?
Anyway, the footage does show how close he was to total disaster. I agree that whether he had 20 sensors with processors telling him about danger ahead, applying his brakes for him, steering just to the right spot, he was still very close to being crunched.
The weight of his vehicle and the amount of protective metal plate wouldn't matter at all in this case.