How do you spell Freedom from Oil?

POSTED BY: AnthonyT
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 16:38
VIEWED: 2561
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KWICKO

Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:29 AM

The way I see it, we're exactly ONE breakthrough away from a monumental revolution in battery technology, just as we're one breakthrough away from a monumental revolution in solar cell technology.

What that breakthrough is, and when we'll hit it, is the open question. But it will be to those technologies what the silicon microprocessor was to computers. Until that happens, hybrid cars can still have solar cells imbedded in their roofs, sunroof panels, and trunks (the hood may be problematic, due to engine heat); those panels won't provide enough power to charge the battery at anything above a trickle (they sell "trickle chargers" for regular cars, which use a small solar panel that plugs into the lighter socket to help maintain a full battery charge), but they can help generate power to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter, power an engine-block heater for extreme winter climates, power a de-icer system, etc.

And yes, you'll absolutely be able to use your smartphone to tell your car to crank up the A/C 15 minutes before you get out to the hot parking lot. :)

I'd say we're a few iPad/iPod/iPhone Apps away from being able to customize our cars' performance parameters. Anyone who dabbles with performance tuning on modern cars knows about "chipping" the car's ECU (Electronic Control Unit), the computer that controls the car's fuel maps, shift logic, etc. What if you could just pull up your customized iPod App that would allow you to have extra performance if you wanted it (poorer fuel mileage would likely attend the added performance), or allow you to choose extreme fuel efficiency at the cost of performance? And what if these were just a few touch commands away, and easily (and safely) reversible? That's where we're going now. Just watch - you'll have an App for snow driving, which will alter the antilock brakes, slow the steering ration a bit, start off in 2nd or 3rd gear, dull the pedal response (the key to driving in snow and ice is SLOW actions, not sudden ones!), you'll have an App for launch control (select "Launch", put the gear selector in first gear, stand on the throttle - which will hold the revs at 3000rpm or so, and then just sidestep the clutch, dropping it instantly - and away you'll go, at maximum velocity, with no drama and no wheelspin.

Better still, you'll have automated transmissions that will be adaptive, and you can switch between YOUR driving style, and your wife's (or husband's), and the gas pedal will react differently, the shift points will be different, etc.

And you will be able to program all of it - easily - to allow you greater fuel mileage, less emissions, or whatever you want your car to be at the moment.

Just a thought.

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

ANTHONYT

Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:38 AM

Hello,

I've always wished I had a speed governor that I could 'plug in' to my car somehow, and dial up the maximum speed I want to achieve at any given time.

I hope the customizable performance you speak of materializes.

--Anthony

Due to the use of Naomi 3.3.2 Beta web filtering, the following people may need to private-message me if they wish to contact me: Auraptor, Kaneman, Piratenews, Wulfenstar. I apologize for the inconvenience.

KWICKO

Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

I've always wished I had a speed governor that I could 'plug in' to my car somehow, and dial up the maximum speed I want to achieve at any given time.

I hope the customizable performance you speak of materializes.

--Anthony

Due to the use of Naomi 3.3.2 Beta web filtering, the following people may need to private-message me if they wish to contact me: Auraptor, Kaneman, Piratenews, Wulfenstar. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I agree, Anthony - I'd love to be able to set my route and set the maximum speeds along it, with speed traps in mind. I have a tendency to speed a bit, and tend to drive at a speed that seems reasonable, safe, and prudent, but may not coincide with the posted limits at the time.

The fear I have of such systems and capabilities is the fear that if *I* can set my maximum speed, so can someone else set my maximum speed.

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

ANTHONYT

Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:00 AM

Hello,

True enough. They can already shut some of em down by remote.

--Anthony

Due to the use of Naomi 3.3.2 Beta web filtering, the following people may need to private-message me if they wish to contact me: Auraptor, Kaneman, Piratenews, Wulfenstar. I apologize for the inconvenience.

KWICKO

Thursday, June 17, 2010 11:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

I didn't know natural gas was hurting the environment. Half the appliances in my house use gas. I've always been led to believe it was a good economical and eco friendly option.

--Anthony

Due to the use of Naomi 3.3.2 Beta web filtering, the following people may need to private-message me if they wish to contact me: Auraptor, Kaneman, Piratenews, Wulfenstar. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Anthony - I'd been led to believe the same things. You should look into a new documentary called "Gasland". NPR's Fresh Air did an interview with the film maker last week which was pretty eye-opening. It's not just the gas itself, but how they go after it, that is having the biggest negative impact on the environment. Crazy things like people being able to light their tapwater on fire, their water wells exploding, etc.

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

KWICKO

Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kirkules:
Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

Yes, if I drove cross-country a lot, it would be a problem.

But I don't. I haven't done a drive in excess of 100 miles since 2004.

And if I needed to make that rare trip? Well, I could rent a car, buy premium, and still come out ahead after my once-per-decade road trip.

--Anthony

If every two car family bought one electric car for around town and kept one of their gas guzzlers for cross county it would still make a huge difference.

Very good point.

I don't expect us to get *OFF* oil; but I *DO* know that we can use a hell of a lot LESS of it than we currently do, and we can do it without endangering or really inconveniencing anyone; we just have to be a little more thoughtful and a little less lazy to do it.

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

KWICKO

Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Geez

Check out the tesla family car. Things are ramming up real quick.

Also, can I make a plug for nuclea here? The power of a decent third gen nuke generator dwarfs anything else we have

Also, I'd gladly take oil over nat gas, coal or biofuels, since all of the latter are far more ecodamaging. I think oil is pretty ecosafe, though not as much as wind, solar or nuclear. It's just that you cant have halfassed douche bags running oil wells. Bp has in my mind sacrificed it's right to that oil, our oil, and someone else should drill it.

After someone plugs the damn hole.

Right now were doing everything possible to *stop* nat gas and coal, which are wreaking havoc on our landscape and water supply. Sort of on a level of nuclear war, so it's not slight.

Tesla is a move in the right direction, but it's still going to be quite expensive. They've made a lot of noise about how it's going to be "affordable" ($50,000 price range) and have great range and great performance, but so far all I've heard is talk. And the original Tesla Roadster hasn't really proven to be all that, either. Top Gear ran one against the car it's based on, the Lotus Elise, and the Tesla overheated and shut down pretty quickly. They had some other problems with it, too.

As a TOY, some of these are quite fine, and a lot of fun. But as a real, daily-driven, only-car-you-own kind of car, really the only viable choices now (as Geezer has correctly pointed out more than once already) are the gas-electric hybrids. The Chevy Volt promises a lot, but nobody has really gotten to flog one around for 40,000 miles to see what its real-world limitations and expectations are. Ditto the new Tesla (why can't I remember its name?) and the Fisker Karma, which also promises a whole lot of potential (but at a $100,000 price, alas...).

But the thing is, there ARE choices available RIGHT NOW. This hasn't always been the case. We CAN use less oil and gas, we CAN make that choice and do it really easily. All we have to do is choose to do it.

Does America have the guts and determination to do that, and do we have the long-term memory to stick by the harder choice even when gas prices are kept artificially low?

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

DREAMTROVE

Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:08 PM

Mike, anthony, good points.

Car could have an app to analyze problems as well. I could change my fan speed, the pressure of my cylinders, etc. And the symptoms of dysfunction could probably target any hitch which came up, maybe isolate ti, especially if there were redundant systems.

On performance and speed limits, I think a system whereby your speed could be auto limited by the posted speed and dialed down could be a pretty nice adjustment. It would need an override feature, like "emergency moded" but having such control in the car would obviate the need for highway cops. I'd want it to be read from roadsigns though, to all cars, not something sent from central control or they could use it to fees your car.

Re electric vehicles, maybe it shouldn't be your only car then. We could use smaller light weight electrics like NEVs to do our mundane driving to work, etc. I've actually for a while now wanted to design a sexier NEV, something a little more roadster and a little less golf cart, but I think the general sub car transit system would be a good idea. Also, I like rail for some real world chaos. In Europe you just duck on to a train anywhere and disappear, and reappear somewhere else. I think that a system like that for NEVs would also be good.

You would still have a car for driving, just transport all the drudge work transportation to other vehicles. Not only is a he'll of a lot of travel drudge work human moving, but an awful lot more is freight, something else to bear in mind. Also, industrial use, transportation use, these are things to consider. Jeered another thought: bicycles. If you can propel yourself by pedaling, your contributing that kinetic energy, which could be stored and reused in more innovative ways.

JAYNEZTOWN

Friday, September 19, 2025 2:02 AM

US Firm Achieves Second Thorium Breakthrough at Idaho National Lab’s Reactor
https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/news/us-firm-achieves-second-thorium-br
eakthrough-at-idaho-national-lab-s-reactor/article_975ab7db-c84b-52ec-9ebb-69613595d83f.html

JAYNEZTOWN

Sunday, January 4, 2026 10:12 PM

Black-Bush

can do Venezuela now

Oil? Who said something about oil?

General Jack Keane had a massive Freudian slip on Fox News while discussing Venezuela.
https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/2007685540687265840
“The implications here are really great for the Israel… Venezuelan people.”

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