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My Dad owned a GM dealership in the 70's. I grew up working in the parts department. Part of the business model were "genuine Delco parts" plus a very busy serv
by musesum 5y ago
My Dad owned a GM dealership in the 70's. I grew up working in the parts department. Part of the business model were "genuine Delco parts" plus a very busy service department. So, low fixed cost with high variable cost. Somewhat akin to that cheap printer with expensive ink.
Then I read the March 1973 "Bicycle" issue of Scientific American, which measured efficiency in terms of Kilograms/Kilometers/KCalories. Back then bikes were about 28x more efficient than cars. Steve Jobs referred to that article when he declared computers to be a "bicycle for the mind". As for me: I dropped cars and bought a bike.
- justinator 5y agoI had a Geo Metro, which was more motorcycle than car. It was a very dangerous to drive anywhere except on small, city streets (where it excelled). It was finally was too expensive to justify repairing, so I bought a bike - telling myself I'd never buy a car again, unless I could afford something of worth. Well, that was 17 years ago. Turns out where the Geo Metro excelled, a bicycle was even better.
- musesum 5y agoI wonder if an Aptera would qualify as the Geo Metro of EVs? I haven't owned a car since 2008 - living in SF helped. Was commuting to Mt View with the SF2G group. There is one member of the group who's Twitter handle is "Electric cars are still cars" Be that as it may, I reserved an Aptera with a 1000 mile range. Feels less like a car and more like a flightless airplane.