On my morning flight to Denver, I caught up on some Science Friday podcasts. The one on the Chevy Volt reminded me how crappy American innovation has become. The GM spokeswoman proudly touted that their best offered vehicle will (later this year) be a Saturn Hybrid that gets 28/35 MPG for city/highway driving. That’s crap. My 1998 Honda Civic gas engine gets the same mileage, and costs significantly less.
The EV1 farce that GM executed a few years back reminds me that US car companies really don’t care. All there better sounding vehicles are pure concept, not reality. The recent X-prize offered for a vehicle that gets over 100 MPG and can be brought to market and affordable sounds more inspiring. I guess if we can’t trust human spaceflight innovation to NASA, we can’t leave human transportation to car companies.
Want to see why? Go watch the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
