On Sun, 25 May 2008 14:36:42 -0700 (PDT), kayak44
wrote:


Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it and
Detroit learned nothing from Japan in the 70's and 80's when they got
their rear-ends handed to them, now it's happening all over again.
Detroit's getting all goo-goo about hybrids a full 8 years AFTER
Toyota brought them mainstream. snip

Not only that, but Toyota now has a plant working 3 shifts producing
Priuses (Prii??) and they STILL cannot fill orders fast enough. In
LA, there is a 60 day wait for either a Prius OR a Honda Accord
Hybrid.

However, let's not get too shortsighted. Gasoline hybrids, at best,
are about a five years stop gap. Further efficiencies will be gained
with diesel-electrics (hell, the RRs have been using those since the
'20s, the first being the Canadian National in 1929) and, finally, the
abolishment of fossil fuel driven cars altogether. This will
instantly impoverish both of our major enemies...the Arabs and the
Russians...as well as deal China a severe blow to their overblown
economy.

But, GM is too stupid to know this and too greedy to care about the US
future economy, and allowed ChevronTexaco to hijack their metal
hydride battery supplier, which has effectively shut it down. Score
another one for the Japanese...they have FAR better battery technology
readily at their disposal with which to finally destroy GM once and
for all time. Ford is spending every cent it can now on the final
solution...the hydrogen fuel cell...and may survive, once the
Republican administration is gone and a Republican Congress won't be
installed for at least the next 50 years. Chrysler, now run by a
bunch of Republican greed mongers, is on the short list for extinction
as well...as is Charlie Nudo, who will eke out his remaining years
diving into dumpsters.