Over the years, I have driven cars from Model A Fords to a 2004
Mercury. In fact, when I was 11 years old, I remember learning to
drive, taught by my dad, in a maroon ’35 Ford, two door. He took me
out on a seldom used dirt road and taught me how to drive. This was
before Drivers Education.
Over the years, I have driven cars from Model A Fords to a 2004 Mercury. In fact, when I was 11 years old, I remember learning to drive, taught by my dad, in a maroon ’35 Ford, two door. He took me out on a seldom used dirt road and taught me how to drive. This was before Drivers Education.
From this experience, my interest in cars started and has continued for some 60 years. Since then and over the past 53 years, I have owned 27 of them.
Presently, I drive an all-wheel drive SUV for traveling, a Mercury Mountaineer. I feel safer. In town, we drive a Mercury Monterey van.
About every two months, my wife and I drive down to our cabin on five acres at Twenty-nine Palms, California. I feel safer driving Interstate 5 in an SUV. And, even more so, on the desert, while driving on those sandy roads. One time, recently, we started exploring a steep 45 degree trail down into a deep sandy creek bed. I lost my nerve and backed out. No problem with my all wheel drive SUV.
Not surprisingly, my family includes a son, who is in the automobile industry.
Recently, he came home for the holidays and we began to talk.
He is California born and California raised. For almost 15 years, however, he has worked for a well-known worldwide company as a semiconductor failure analysis engineer. They manufacture electronics for all cars.
In fact, he travels to headquarters in Germany several times a year and speaks passable German. Recently, he visited Munipowered vehicles for them to be successful in the market place. A few conservationists may buy them out of concern for the planet, but the normal family and “hot rodders” certainly wont.
That is why the progression will have to be slow, until battery technology can catch up. But, the industry is working on these problems and they will eventually be solved.
Additionally, my son predicts that future tax relief and other incentives for hybrids will probably occur; conversely, such taxes and penalties may be levied on petroleum powered transportation.
His other ruminations included recognizing that over the past few decades our refineries have continuously become fewer, limiting our internal supply of petroleum. And, certainly oil companies are not going to invest in new refineries, now. Therefore, we should open ANWAR to help supply our short term needs, rather than become more dependent on imported oil.
No matter, I still like my big bulky SUV.
