August 23, 2010 archive

I apologize for posting later than normal.  Windows decided to perform an update when I sat down to finish this piece, so I lost around 45 minutes this evening.

The most important part of an automobile is how to power the wheels (or belt, if one talks of a snowmobile).  What ever device does this must fulfill several requirements, which we shall look into later.

A device to propel a car must do several things, depending on the complexity of the automobile.  It must produce enough power to overcome internal friction, to overcome air resistance, to overcome rolling resistance of the tires, and a couple of other things as well.  Because of differences in combustion engines and battery operated motors, each type will be discussed separately.

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

In the firefly-dreaming edition of last week’s Burning the Midnight Oil for Progressive Populism diary, RiaD raised the issue:

only that i’m a rural dweller, we must have a vehicle as there is no mass transit here. but we do pay very close attention to our trips to town (10+ miles) & city(40+ miles) and do as much as possible each trip. i would guess we actually use less gas living rurally than most city/urban dwellers.

we’ve got to start thinking differently as a nation.

become more citizens of the planet than american consumers

imo anyway.

… which set me thinking about the difference between One-Size-Fits-All solutions like Auto-Uber-Alles and A-Fit-For-Each-Size solutions. One size fits all makes is seem as if “that does not do this” is a massive obstacle … when under A Fit for Each Size, it is a challenge to find the means of accomplishing that task.