Transportation

I’ve long been fascinated by the role of safety devices and greater risk taking

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I’ve long been fascinated by the role of safety devices and greater risk taking.

Study after study has shown that if people normally act a “danger level of 2”, they’ll notch up their danger level to “danger level of 3” or “danger level of 3 1/2” if a safety device is designed to keep the device safe up to a “danger level of 4”.

This obviously undercuts many of the benefits of the safety device, when increased safety margins are just used to promote more dangerous behavior. Often redundancy encourages bad practices, even if it’s designed to increase safety. 

 … Do take a look at the Normal Accidents article I just posted.

GM to go all-electric by 2035, phase out gas and diesel engines

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GM to go all-electric by 2035, phase out gas and diesel engines

General Motors plans to completely phase out vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2035, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra announced Thursday. The automaker will go completely carbon neutral at all facilities worldwide by 2035.

Barra has frequently touted GM's plan for “an all-electric future,” recently increasing to 30 the number of pure battery-electric vehicles it will launch by the middle of this decade, but this marks the first time the largest Detroit automaker has set a hard target for completely phasing out gas and diesel engines for all light-duty vehicles, including pickups and SUVs.

I think Americans will like electric cars. They'll have good acceleration, with rocket-like starts onto the freeway if the drivers want to really wallop the accelerator. Battery packs are big and heavy, which necessitates larger, higher profile, longer vehicles. The demand for larger ranges and bigger battery packs might actually bring back some of the 220-inch behemoths that once ruled the road in 1950s and 1960s, especially for people who don't live in cities and have to parallel park.

It's unclear if there will be much of a push for efficiency standards with the new vehicles, especially right away, as electricity is so cheap and plentiful as gasoline once was, and the tailpipes for generating plants tends to be located outside of cities, so localized pollution is a lot less of an issue.

The rise and fall (and rise again) of retro car design | Ars Technica

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The rise and fall (and rise again) of retro car design | Ars Technica

Odds are you probably never liked the Chrysler PT Cruiser, a retro-style five-door hatchback sold from 2001 through 2010. In fact, you might even hate it. Most people do. Just ask Tom Gale, Chrysler Corporation’s former vice-president of design.

"The PT Cruiser gets hammered by a lot of people,ȁ Gale said. “But it really hit a spot. You know, we sold 1.3 million of those things.ȁ

Today, it’s easy to forget how outrageously popular this compact car was when it was launched. Credit the PT Cruiser’s success to its retro look, which was a relatively new automotive design trend that was growing in popularity at the time. The PT Cruiser would ultimately be but one of many retro-style vehicles created by automakers. Others include the 1989 Nissan S-Cargo, 1991 Nissan igaro, 1992 odge Viper, 1993 BMW Z8, 1994 odge Ram, 1994 ord Mustang, 1997 Jaguar XK-8, 1998 Plymouth Prowler, 1999 Jaguar S-Type, 1999 Volkswagen New Beetle, 2001 Mini Cooper, 2002 ord Thunderbird, 2002 Jaguar X-Type, 2004 Chevrolet SSR, 2004 Chrysler Crossfire, 2004 ord GT, 2004 Jaguar XJ-8, 2006 Chevrolet HHR, 2008 odge Challenger, 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, 2011 iat 500, 2017 iat 124 Spider, and, most recently, the forthcoming 2022 ord Bronco.