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Comments 15

Probably a bit off your original topic but.... simmiejoy January 11 2006, 12:58:22 UTC

Hey! You are right down the street from me (work-wise)...literally!!! I have the same type of commute you do -- Santee to Rancho Bernardo Road (25 miles), only I go right and I'm right there at work.

How very small a world, eh?

Simmie

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Re: Probably a bit off your original topic but.... tkil January 11 2006, 21:01:28 UTC
Yes, tiny world. :)

I suspect you work a drastically earlier shift than I do (as I rolled into the office at about noon today!), but if you'd like to meet up for lunch one of these days, that would be fun.

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Re: Probably a bit off your original topic but.... simmiejoy January 12 2006, 14:02:50 UTC

You suck! NOON!!!!! Hrmph! Yes, I work earlier -- 7:30 to 4:00. Although a noon to 8 shift I could probably handle fairly well also! I'm flexible!

I'll post back here about lunch in the next few weeks, I don't think I have your pvt email -- will check on that tho.

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Re: Probably a bit off your original topic but.... tkil January 13 2006, 19:38:54 UTC
Ha ha. :)

Yeah, being a computer geek for a fairly laid-back company has its advantages. Heck, I've gotten them so well-trained that they gave me crap for getting in "early" today... at 11 a.m.

My e-mail is tkil@scrye.com Hope to hear from you!

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You know I love you Tony, but ... shinankoku January 11 2006, 15:43:33 UTC
Two words, friend Tony: executive summary!

;)

Nick

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Re: You know I love you Tony, but ... tkil January 11 2006, 21:05:32 UTC
Yeah, yeah, I know... long experience of nobody reading past the third sentence in my e-mails.

Somewhat in my defense, though, this was an ongoing discussion on a mailing list; I was just trying to inject some hard data (milage numbers and their context) as well as the soft data (why I chose a Prius).

As well as noting that there's no one best answer, as everybody has different subjective criteria as well as how they rank the objective analysis. The MBA in you would probably enjoy some of the more extreme rebuttals of the hybrids, where they start hauling in CO2 credits. (e.g., http://ideas.4brad.com/node/308 )

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Even less Petroleum used than a Prius scousineau February 2 2006, 17:43:05 UTC
I commute 11 miles one way from Tigard, Oregon to Portland, Oregon in a Dodge Ram 2500 (with a Cummins TurboDiesel). Assuming 18-20 MPG I am using less petroleum than a Prius (or nearly any other vehicle save a bicycle). I buy Bio-Diesel produced locally in Oregon from SeQuential Biofuels (website: http://www.sqbiofuels.com/). The fuel is B95 which is 95% biodiesel and 5% conventional diesel. Costs about 60 cents more a gallon than regular diesel right now, but the price gap has closed from a high of $1.25 when I first started burning the fuel ( ... )

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Re: Even less Petroleum used than a Prius tkil February 7 2006, 09:09:33 UTC
Fancy meeting you here...

Agreed with most of your analysis. If I have to continue the long commute, I would love for something like a biodiesel hybrid to be available in passenger car size.

Overall you use about as much fuel on your commute as I do, 1 gal/day. You can claim a more closed loop on your CO2 emissions with the biodiesel. On the flip side, you're still wasting a lot of energy: no regen braking, and you're moving 2x the mass (maybe 1.5x). And you're substantially more dangerous to others in your 2500 than I am in any passenger car (think kenetic energy, center of gravity, braking distance, and frame+chassis vs. unibody construction ( ... )

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Re: Even less Petroleum used than a Prius scousineau February 7 2006, 20:11:27 UTC
> Fancy meeting you here ( ... )

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Re: Even less Petroleum used than a Prius tkil February 8 2006, 07:15:34 UTC

Re: Even less Petroleum used than a Prius tkil February 8 2006, 07:14:59 UTC
A few scattershot points.

1. We're talking about commute. I know you like the potential to carry your whole family around; how often do you use that, though? And would not a single multi-seater vehicle accomodate that (the cases where you need more than 2 adults + 2 kids ( ... )

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Safety and Such scousineau February 8 2006, 21:15:43 UTC
To the best of my knowledge and reading, there is some validity to the claim that heavier is better in an accident all other things being equal and that is true even when and SUV runs into another SUV. The small and nimble car avoiding accidents is an interesting idea if you see it coming and have someplace to go. I've dodged a couple accidents in the full size SUV and Ram 2500. The Expedition (2003s have fully independent suspension like on sports cars) was amazing one time when I had a person try to side swipe me, I'd go so far to say that few other vehicles I've ever driven would have done so well in that rapid lane change. The sportier Merkur XR4Ti that I once owned and that you were familiar with would not have done it so well ( ... )

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Peak Oil Article scousineau February 9 2006, 21:29:42 UTC
Being in the energy business, I see lots or articles on the future of petroleum. The one linked below is concise, thoughtful and relevant to any discussion of BioDiesel versus the reduced consumption of a Prius ( ... )

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