Fall is starting to set in. The air in the morning is crisp. Some
of the trees are changing color and it appears some of the birds are
developing their winter coats. The garden is winding down although
we have decided to plant some peas as they seem to grow okay during
the winter here. Some of the eggplants we have in containers have
been shifted to the green house since they are still blooming and
fruiting. Eggplants, we are told, need heat and they don't like the
wind.
Last week we had to make a trip to the Bay area for some of our
staple groceries and that provided an opportunity for the well to
catch up and finish filling the tank. We still need to be judicious
about our water use, but things should be okay.
In the 'less is more' department, I think this one is the car of my
dreams *warning, this site might be offline since it is solar
powered*
"In spite of all the high-tech that has been squeezed into cars, the
2CV from 1949 is still more energy efficient than the smallest
Citroen today."
https://tinyurl.com/y9r9qs7h
A couple of days ago, while vacuuming out the Prius, I thought it
would be nice to be able to just wash out the inside of the vehicle
with a garden hose, open a drain plug and let the dirt just drain on
out. Alas, things just aren't that simple, but the Citroen 2CV
probably comes pretty close. Over the decades of it's production
(all of 42 years), the power output increased substantially as more
modern technologies were applied to the drive train. Interestingly,
the weight remained almost the same at 500 kg (1102 lbs) for the
life of it's production run. A little interesting history:
https://tinyurl.com/y92b6xuy
Okay, that's nice...so what? Obviously, this was a vehicle
conceived and engineered before war time ostensibly for the French
farmer, but I suspect the designers and engineers had something else
in mind with war looming on the horizon. Granted the 2CV was not
mass produced until 1949, but it was conceived long before that.
Anyway, safety issues aside, I think the technology is just as
relevant today. I consistently average ~ 50 mpg with the Prius.
The curb weight rating on the Prius is 3042 lbs (1380 kg). I don't
think it would be a stretch to guess that a healthy percentage of
the weight is electronics, climate control, power windows, power
steering and other fluff. Even shaving off 500 lbs (226 kg) could
make a dramatic difference in fuel economy. At 1100 lbs, the CV2
was a remarkable vehicle which still has a cult following even
today. Someone has already crunched some numbers on fuel economy
versus mass:
https://tinyurl.com/yatenv2e
I would also bet that the total energy consumption footprint from
energy required to manufacture a unit to end of life for the vehicle
would be much lower than today's modern vehicles.
*Life in the slow lane*
Perhaps the takeaway here is that the latest and greatest technology
may not be the best solution. The CV2 obviously was not built for
speed but for utility as well as economy of operation. The forte of
this vehicle is it's horizontally opposed 2 cylinder air cooled
engine which is most likely quite light. The car as a whole has
fewer moving parts, fewer layers of complexity, easier and cheaper
to maintain.
Now let us talk about speed and fuel economy. Kris De Decker has
also researched that aspect as well:
https://tinyurl.com/y7k6xnnc
So if we took a vehicle as light as the CV2 with a more modern drive
train AND reduce our national speed limit (I can hear the gasps of
horror), the reduction in consumption would be dramatic. I already
try to do my squirrel bit by holding my speed below 60 mph as well
as staying within the eco band on the hybrid system indicator.
Traveling from the San Francisco Bay area to Mendocino county, I was
able to squeeze out 57 mpg even through the hills and curves of
Mendo. A vehicle as light as the CV2 with a modern drive train
could probably double that figure.
Coming back to the safety issue, obviously safety is a good thing,
but the undisputed champion in vehicle safety has been the seat
belt. The need for speed has spawned the need for more
sophisticated safety systems which adds weight (along with complex
electronics) to the vehicle. Seat belts add very little in the
weight department.
During the oil crisis of the early seventies, Datsun introduced the
B210 to the North American market. By modern standards, the vehicle
was quite basic and with a curb weight of 2000 lbs (907 kg) the B210
was substantially lighter than American automobiles of the day. The
1978 B210 sold in the North American market was rated at 50 mpg.
Datsun engineers had done an admirable job shaving weight from the
vehicle and sales did well in the North American market. The point
here is that design engineers quickly came up with economical
solutions to meet design goals and market requirements. In the case
of post war Europe as well as the oil crises of the seventies, the
solution was invariably "less is more."
The hitch here is energy input required to manufacture one
automobile is substantially higher now than in previous decades when
one factors in all of the additional electronics, safety equipment
and comfort accoutrements that most consumers have come to expect.
In the current scenario of dwindling fossil fuel supplies, the
automobile, as we know it today, will be relegated to the dust bin
of history. Probably won't happen in my lifetime, but transport
will be in for some major transformations. If I were to speculate,
I would imagine mass transport taking a more prominent role in the
transport industry, but development of rail lines is frequently
mired in politics. Time will tell...
