Saw this over on the POC.... no wonder...

[blueskies]

No wonder Chrysler is going down the tubes... Their idea of the future is a $20k golf cart...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/805/chrysler-introduces-city-friendly-peapod.html

Ten years ago the electric car technology was far better than this.

Pete

[Young Ed]

They already have a 10K golfcart thing on the market too.

[Normspeed]

Consider this. I'm taking a grand daughter to a father/daughter school event Tuesday night. When she asked if I could take her, I said, sure, but you need to decide which car to go in. I was sure she would choose the P24. I hardly had the words out and she said, "The little blue one!"

The little blue one is a 90 Festiva:confused:

[Norm's Coupe]

I wouldn't pay anywhere near $10,000 for one of those things, or any thing like them, much less $20,000.

When I buy a car, I want a car. One that will go anywhere with room for luggage, etc., plus be able to put something I buy in the car to bring home. These things are toys, not cars.

[PatS....]

Great idea, but if 30 miles on a charge is the best it will do, it's not ready to leave the drawing board.

Better of with a Smart Car...or a tricycle

[Norm's Coupe]

Great idea, but if 30 miles on a charge is the best it will do, it's not ready to leave the drawing board.

Better of with a Smart Car...or a tricycle

Smart car isn't much better or larger than this thing. Have a neighbor around the corner from me that has a Smart Car. It's just a toy too.

I don't believe this type of car would go anywhere as far as sales, or distance for that matter. For proof of that just pick up a copy of the 1946 - 1969 Ultimate Car Spotters Guide. It's full of small little commuter cars like these that didn't last on the market more than a year or two. Some didn't get past the showrooms.

[Reg Evans]

Consider this. I'm taking a grand daughter to a father/daughter school event Tuesday night. When she asked if I could take her, I said, sure, but you need to decide which car to go in. I was sure she would choose the P24. I hardly had the words out and she said, "The little blue one!"

The little blue one is a 90 Festiva:confused:

I feel your pain Norm. I can't get my grand daughter interested in old cars either. Still working on her though. 3 more years before she get her drivers license.

[Tony Cipponeri]

H MMMMM, I wonder what the resale value will be in 5 years. I think in a excess of $500.00. What A deal!!!!! Tony C

[martybose]

I feel your pain Norm. I can't get my grand daughter interested in old cars either. Still working on her though. 3 more years before she get her drivers license.

Too bad. My daughter is a sophmore in college, still living at home. Whenever she and I are doing something local, she always asks if we can take the 47, and I'm almost always happy to oblige!

Marty

[48Dodger]

My kids love the old iron and I'm doing my best to keep the "brain washing" up. lol. lord knows its tough to do with the teachers they got today. Seems they want my kids to feel guilty about everything. I tell my kids the best thing they you can do for the world, is keep America strong. Fuel cells, electric, hydrogen, gas, diesel, I don't care...long as we're doing it better than anyone else. The Peapod? Geez..oh boy...

My son is planning on studying engineering in the Air Force. Hopfully he'll use his love of america steel to help get us out of the "peapod" phase and onto something a little more promising. lol. Papa's gotta dream right?

(following photos are of my son with his 1995 dodge truck, his 1972 Roadrunner, and him working on my 1950 dodge)

[PatS....]

Smart car isn't much better or larger than this thing. Have a neighbor around the corner from me that has a Smart Car. It's just a toy too.

I don't believe this type of car would go anywhere as far as sales' date=' or distance for that matter. For proof of that just pick up a copy of the 1946 - 1969 Ultimate Car Spotters Guide. It's full of small little commuter cars like these that didn't last on the market more than a year or two. Some didn't get past the showrooms.[/quote']

We have had Smart Cars here for a few yrs now... I don't like them, but they seem to be holding up well to our winters.

There are a few hundred here in the city. I see a few every day. The Peapod would be good for once across the city and you'd need to find a room with a plug-in and go home the next day!!!

How much of that range would be consumed by having the heater on at -30?

I wouldn't buy a Smart car but they are proving themselves to be the real thing here.

The big 3 should be marketing something to compete with it. It does have a place...not with me, but with some. (my a$$ is too big:eek: )

[Norm's Coupe]

The big 3 should be marketing something to compete with it. It does have a place...not with me, but with some. (my a$$ is too big:eek: )

Well Pat, I can't comment on your a$$ being too big because I've never seen you. However, I've seen my neighbor and his isn't all that small if you get my drift. He looks a little funny sitting behind the wheel of his Smart Car. To be honest, I don't know how he fits in there. Sort of looks like a teenager or grown man sitting in a pedal car.

Anyway, my point was. Most people can't afford to have a car just to drive around the city that cost between $10,000 and $20,000. When they buy a car, they want to be able to drive it cross country in at least some comfort. So.....I really don't think they will buy a toy car like the Smart Cars or like the Peapod. I know I wouldn't buy one even as a second or third car. I like for the cars I own to be able to go anywhere I want and in comfort, if I want to drive it there. The old Plymouth or other old car is the only exception to that because that is also a toy.

[RobertKB]

Only 30 miles on a charge is ridiculous. Anyone living in a large city and commuting will not buy one as they will often do more than that in a day. This is another example of the North American auto industry shooting itself in the foot. They spend a lot of money on developing something that is virtually useless at a price you can buy other real cars for. Other car companies world wide have or are developing electric cars far better than the Peapod. There are even a few small companies in Canada and the US that have built way better products than this. I believe one of them was in the Logos quiz.

[Normspeed]

Robert, the amusing part is, this is one of the big 3 American auto companies that are asking for a huge bailout to avoid bankruptcy. Part of the deal if/when they get it, will be to make some reasonably believable effort to produce energy efficent cars. Apparently this feeble brainstorm is meant to appease the American Public. :D

Oh hell, sorry, off my soap box now.

[Allan Faust]

I liked what was shown on the Canadian news about the big 3 bailout.... they were all asked why they each took a privat lear jet trip from Detroit to Washington, and if they were going to sell their private jets, etc.... bailing out companies that pay fortunes to the high ends... cut those costs first.... nah, they'll cut via the bottom.... the workers first..... then give themselves a raise....

Off my soapbox.

Allan

[Jim Saraceno]

There is a dealer selling SmartCars in my neighborhood. The sticker price is from $28K to $36K. I don't get it. My 98 Ford Escort gets 32 mpg city and 36 highway. It cost half that and seems twice a big.

[LAKOTA169]

Now if they came out with this at a reasonable price....

http://www.rsportscars.com/dodge/2009-dodge-ev-concept/

[blueskies]

... reasonably believable effort to produce energy efficent cars.... .

And to think the Toyota Prius was put into production because Toyota feared that the Chevy EV-1 would dominate the market.... Where would Chevy be if they hadn't crushed all the EV-1 cars as if they never existed, and made Hummer their focus. Chevy had a two year technology lead on the others, and they threw it away. The new Chevy Volt is all hype, it was designed for battery technology that doesn't exist, and even if it did, it has worse overall performance than the EV-1 did ten years ago.

And now they'll likely go bankrupt, which will take 3 or 4 years to sort out, and they will be just that much further behind when (if) they finally get it together.

Unbelievable.

Pete

[blueskies]

Now if they came out with this at a reasonable price....

http://www.rsportscars.com/dodge/2009-dodge-ev-concept/

I want this one....

Perfect for living in the rockies...

Pete

[PatS....]

I thought for a long time the problem with the big 3 was that there were no car guys running them with the fire in the belly for cars.

But when you look at the imports, you don't see any evidence of any fire in any belly there...just the opposite.

So, what's the attraction to imports? Or is it just that it's not fashionable to drive domestic?

The stats prove that quality is getting to be on par, or are stats wrong?

I just don't get it. It seems the domestics are doomed and no one knows how to fix it.

Sad

[Don Coatney]

Interesting that Harley Davidson had a "quality" problem a few years back and fixed it. Now they have a quanity (as in they cannot supply enough) problem and the price of there used machines has sky-rocketed. Is there a lesson to be learned here?

[blueskies]

.....So, what's the attraction to imports? ...

Maybe this has something to do with it...

Average Hybrid fuel economy (hwy and city)-

Japanese Hybrid Vehicles: 46 mpg

Domestic Hybrid Vehicles: 25 mpg

Pete

[PatS....]

Is it purely MPG?

[Norm's Coupe]

Interesting that Harley Davidson had a "quality" problem a few years back and fixed it. Now they have a quanity (as in they cannot supply enough) problem and the price of there used machines has sky-rocketed. Is there a lesson to be learned here?

Harley is also taking a hit just like the auto makers, just not as hard yet. Harley just announced a lay off too.

Pat S,

You asked what's the attraction to imports.

First of all. Quality. Second is warranty. For example: My wife bought a new Kia Spectra in 2002. We have not had that car into the shop yet (about 43,000 miles now) for anything except oil changes. Plus, it gets between 36 and 38 MPG on the highway. As for the warranty, it's 100,000 miles or 10 years. And, best of all, the initial cost of the car with the options we have was about $4,000 to $5,000 less than the closest comparable American made car. You don't get any of those things with the American cars.

[David Maxwell]

...becuase, like it or not, the future is going to look a lot like them. But at $20K and a 30 mile range, I have to think... hmmm..., my $400 bicycle gets unlimited mileage and I can easily ride 30 to 100 miles in a day. AND..., my rack and a backpack have about the same cargo capacity lol....