Uh-Oh! Another Electric Auto Company . . .

I would like to interject here on one point that I feel is more than relevant.I have no idea if DD has anymore insight into the sector than the auto execs,but i do know that GM's execs ran the company into the ground and for that,there is no excuse,ford was the onlyUS automaker that could've withstood the severe turmoil of that time.

I may have stated my whole position on the auto bailouts but i'll say it again. Out of all the bailouts,the car makers bothered me least. That was a shitload (or crapload) of jobs that would've been lost right then that would've hurt the most I believe. The bailouts that bothered me the most were the banks, to be more exact wall street. They were the ones who really were the ones responsible for creating a worldwide ecocomic meltdown,or as close to it as one can get. To see those execs get eased right back into their nice cushy business as almost routine while people started losing their homes was and is a pretty sickening thing to see.

I would've liked to see at least see the top dogs of GM ousted and someone from within to or from outside, I wouldn't care where they came from, put into place to run gm.

J


EDITED to read "homes"not houses.

"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”__Squealer in Animal Farm by George Orwell

UH....YEAH! They're downright unaffordable because i for one like to see a room i'm in,if i want dimmer lights sometimes i install a dimmer switch. I'll add also that i can't stand the new mandated bulbs,i don't know why but they don't last any longer in my house than a regular bulb. I remember when they first came out i paid like 18 bucks for one because there was one light that was a bitch to replace and it didn't last any longer than a normal incandescent bulb.

Also,those new bulbs(the curly flourescent ones) contain a good bit of mercury which is a pretty nasty chemical,a lot moreso than the old thermometers and the govt banned those quite awhile ago.

J

I also don't like the govt. mandating what bulbs i cant use.

I suppose the same question was asked about Hoover Dam.

You're comparing Hoover dam to a lightbulb. LOL.

Maybe you could try again and come up with something intelligent.

Using the figures in the article DonDiego's cited, if just 5% of American households were to install about five of these bulbs, it would save as much energy per yearly as the Hoover Dam produces every year. And even if the technology doesn't get cheaper (fat chance), and electricity prices don't rise (fatter chance), these households would save a combined $400 million per year in energy costs.

Was that intelligent enough for you, snidely? I don't want to disappoint!

Arsealine,I don't know which is dimmer,the arguement you put forth you or the dimly lit bulbs.

Seriously?.the hoover dam is the basis of your arguement??

J

I'll also add do you honestly think the hoover dam could be built for 400 mil.? If you want to stick with this arguement recalculate and come up with the cost of what that $50 bulb would be.

I'm glad you asked!

I'll estimate $54 total cost per device, including sales tax, zero for the salvage value, and ten years as the useful life. With straight line amortization, I get ($54 - $0) / 10 = $5.40 amortized cost per year.

According to DonDiego's source, these devices will save a average of 150 kilowatt hours per year With an average cost of 11.8 cents per kilowatt hour in the US in 2011, this results in a gross savings of $17.70 per device and a net savings per device of $12.30. If your household have five of them, that's a bit over $60 per year in net savings. Of course the savings would be even greater if electricity prices rise or if the cost of the bulbs fall.

Of course foolish short-sighted people will just consider the purchase price alone.

Jeff imholt who is a major owebama butt boy has GE buying 25,000 volts and beginning 2013 GE will only reimburse mileage for people who own volts.

When you drop out these purchases there is almost no demand for this car.

The GM workers at the volt plants will continue to be paid while this shutdown is in effect - certainly helps to have a union supported by the president

Interestingly the car traded in the most for the volt is the Prius.

Forky and company who constantly support this car don't own one

I don't own a Volt because I consider the purchase of expensive cars, whatever their energy mode, to be a needless expense. But that's for me; I wouldn't be so sanctimonious to criticize the choices others make.

Almost thirty-five years ago, I made a needless, expensive purchase, and spent $1,295 on a "microcomputer." My original Apple II came with 16k of ram, no monitor, and no floppy or hard drive. I'm glad that I, and people like me, financially supported that technology in its infancy, and helped make it what it is today.

Of course Apple wouldn't be anywhere near what they are today, without the substantial US government investment in DARPA, which resulted in the Internet. Not to mention government development of GPS, which is a key selling point of iPhones. So to recap, it took early adopters paying seemingly outrageous prices, plus substantial government investment, to get us where we are now.

The same will be true for alternative energy vehicles.

Note: I do hope that snidely considers this as "something intelligent." I don't want to disappoint.