Coffee Brake: Last Gasoline vs First Electric
Let’s face it, the internal combustion engine is dead. It’s had a great life, from humble beginnings as a design by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens in the 17th century for a gunpowder fueled engine to supply water to the gardens at Versailles, to the quad turbo 8.0 liter W16 1000 hp monstrosity in the Bugatti Veyron. But all things must come to an end. So, the question for today’s Coffee Brake is, what will be the last car you want to drive in the age of dino-juice and what will be the replacement when electrons rule the planet?
As the road infrastructure continues to crumble and the world transgresses into a dystopian Mad Max style wasteland (before being reborn as a Naboo-like clean energy oasis) there is one and only one car that will do the job. A W123 Mercedes with diesel power, preferably raised and ready for adventure, like this 1984 Mercedes-Benz 300D that was featured a few weeks ago at $5500 and is now offered (inexplicably) for $8500. As folks with cars that use electronics struggle to find replacement parts, the W123 will drive over their corpses while running on a finely tuned mixture of kerosene, absinthe and pork fat.
As society starts to re-emerge into a feudal society with laws and small power plants ruthlessly ruled by cyborg clones of Mark Zuckermanberg, I will be the first to embrace the new kings..and two wheeled transportation. I’ve been to the future — specifically, metropolises like Shanghai, Bangalore and Detroit and I can tell you that two wheeled transportation just makes more sense once energy becomes expensive because really only you need to get to work and back, not you and 10,000 lbs of manure and 16 4X8 sheets of gypsum board. Well…maybe you and your family, but I’ve seen families of four fit comfortably on motor scooters, so I say embrace the future and pick up a used electric bike like this 2011 Zero S
for about $8,500 on ebay.
What would you drive for the last gasoline/diesel/cng and the first electric vehicle? Comments below.
In high school I was a part of the engineering club (I was a real hit with the ladies, let me tell you…). We entered a formerly diesel VW Rabbit in the "tour de sol" annually. It was lead acid deep cycle marine batteries from floor to ceiling in that thing. Slow too. Skinny 14" re-tread tires, could barely take a corner at any speed over 15mph. Downright dangerous on the freeway. Maybe 35 – 45 miles on a charge, but for 15 years ago, that wasn't entirely bad.
I think my electric car will be the same as my dino-juice burner. Just upgrade the springs in my 240z, remove the L24 (and make a coffee table out of it in my yurt or whatever we'll have to move to once the oil is gone), throw a bunch of batteries, a controller and a bunch of solar panels at home on the roof of the car port, and keep my trips limited to around. Oh and invest in a lot of fire extinguishers. haha.
An oft repeated quote I've grown fond of is "once the oil is gone, the man with the horses will suddenly become relevant again." I don't think this will happen even in my great grand-children's lifetime, but it's something to ponder.
My last gasoline driver would have to be something with a huge gas guzzling V8 up front, like the Galaxie 429 from this morning. Electric ride. The BART. Not stuck in the Bay Area with limited access to the a few dozen stops, but a 6 car train freed from its underground prison and set loose on the roads with one car dedicated to a coal fired steam plant or fusion reactor.
something vintage Italian – Lancia Fulvia Sport >>> electric, feh – unless they can replicate the key aspects of the ICE + gearshift experience – and why the heck couldn't they? – servos and sensors and FADECs programmed to replicate any driving experience – scan it and replicate engine behavior, pedal locations, shifter feel, everything – Acura NSX on the way to work, freewheeling Saab 96 on the way home – that might be just enough fun
Did you mean Zuckerberg?
Whops! Berg…man…ehhh…let me fix that!
My last gasser might be the one I have now honestly. It's not going to be that long before, like Dylan at Newport in '65, we will all go electric, so the earlier I adopt the better I'll be at hopping up whatever electric ride I get. Besides, we only have about 5 years before the high end cars are mostly autonomous anyway so then electric will make even more sense as the car will drive to a charger while you have fun a the beach or whatever. It won't be long before there will be hop up kits for old Teslas and people will be rollling up at the malt shop in 100kw Nissan Leaf "sleepers".
It's facinating to me how much some people are resistant to the idea of gas cars dying out. I guess those are "slide rules are as good al calculators" types. Elon and his "Muskateers" have proven that electric is here to stay. Embrace it.
I already drive a Nissan Leaf as the daily appliance, and there aren't many better appliances out there for commuting. If it could drive itself, I'd be in heaven.
If I never buy another gas-burner again, and I'd love not to, that means my Volvo 145 is the last combustion-powered-vehicle I'll have. I'd say the B20 is pretty apocalypse-ready.