News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on The electric car as a talisman of false hope. Parent comment

Re:The electric car as a talisman of false hope by magduf on Friday August 16, 2019 @11:12AM (#20715947)
The Ford Focus is still a 3000-pound car these days. Even "economy" cars these days are rather heavy, and you'd be surprised how little those 70s cars weighed. Old Mustangs are positively lightweight. While the land boats are mostly gone, cars in general have gotten larger and especially heavier, even with lightweight technologies and materials used to offset the increase.

The way I read it, the OP was talking about people needing to drive micro-cars (e.g., ones that can only hold 2 people, like the micro-cars that are only sold in Japan). Those cars would fare very poorly in a crash against just about any typical car (let alone SUV) on an American road.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The electric car as a talisman of false hope by JoeAltmaier on Friday August 16, 2019 @11:16AM (#20716000)
Just like a bicycle. Which are also booming. And which are also dangerous to ride on the road with any car.

The argument I was addressing was, if its really an arms race, then no way we would go from the 4800lb Ford Thunderbird to the 2600lb Ford Focus in a generation.

Folks have by and large opted out of the arms race. For better and for worse.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The electric car as a talisman of false hope by magduf on Friday August 16, 2019 @03:13PM (#20718616)
The only problem with your argument here is the fact that Ford doesn't sell cars, including the Focus, in the USA any more. So I'm not sure what locale you're talking about, but it doesn't reflect reality in America right now.

The 4800lb Thunderbird buyers aren't buying cars; they're buying SUVs and crossovers these days.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The electric car as a talisman of false hope by JoeAltmaier on Friday August 16, 2019 @03:49PM (#20719003)
Ford still sells the Focus; I chose it for exactly that reason. Its the only sedan they kept.

Ah now I see they're renaming it the 'Active'. My mistake.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The electric car as a talisman of false hope by ilaksh on Friday August 16, 2019 @08:29PM (#20721014)
But bicycles offer zero protection in contrast to lightweight cars which at least provide some.
[ Parent | on HN ]