Gale Hawkins
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EV owners of today and tomorrow
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ning
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Shrewd, yes
But you have a very strange idea of what "diversified" means if you think he's "extremely diversified"
5030
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Care to elaborate?
ning
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He's worth $400B, and a full 1/3 is in one chunk of TSLA stock. That's not diversification. It's not all the eggs in one basket, but if 1/3 of my net worth was in one spot I'd be told to diversify; nobody would claim I'm *extremely diversified*.
CloverKnollFarms
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The Cybertruck Appears to Be More Deadly Than the Infamous Ford Pinto, According to a New Analysis
Blowout On a crisp, dry New Years morning in downtown Las Vegas, US Army Master Sergeant Matthew Livelsberger rolled his rental cybertruck up near the front doors of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. Levelsberger then armed a device which would soon detonate a collection of gas canisters and...
5030
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Guess I'm the 'odd man out' because I not only owned and drove a Ford Pinto but a Suzuki Samurai as well. I actually owned 2 Samurai's a hardtop and a convertible and like the Pinto, never had any issue with them at all, but then I don't drive like an idiot either.
The Suzuki's were outlawed because of their penchant for rolling over but so was the solid front axle Jeep CJ 5's (I owned one of them as well btw) but because the Jeeps were made here and not in Japan like the Suzuki's were, not a lot of public fanfare was ever made about that fatal trait. The CJ's were just as bad about rolling over but again, only if driven like an idiot.
Far as the Ford Pinto is concerned, Nader's raiders capitalized on the fact that the rear mounted fuel tank was a bomb waiting to happen but even today, rear mounted fuel tanks are very common place and no stink is being raised on that score at all. All distills down to how they are driven and of course how the media presents them. Kind of like how the media twists the current political scene today.
I'll leave it at that except to say, I'm still here after driving many miles in what the media proclaimed as 'death vehicles'. A Ford Pinto plus 2 Suzuki Samurai' and a CJ5 Jeep.
I also owned and drove for countless miles, a Renault Alliance, another vehicle that was proclaimed by the media as a death vehicle. That car got over 40MPG, way back when.
Maybe I'm inordinately lucky or maybe it's because I drive sanely. You decide. I already have...
Presently, I own and drive a Ford Focus RS Turbo which is size wise about the same as a Ford Pinto was but unlike the Pinto that had less than 150 horsepower, my Focus makes 355 horses and is a rocket ship and if I drove it in an insane manner (I don't), it has the same potential as a Ford Pinto to kill me.
All distills down to a matter of common sense and how much you believe in media hype and published falsehoods perpetuated by people who 'think' they know, but in reality don't know beans.
The Suzuki's were outlawed because of their penchant for rolling over but so was the solid front axle Jeep CJ 5's (I owned one of them as well btw) but because the Jeeps were made here and not in Japan like the Suzuki's were, not a lot of public fanfare was ever made about that fatal trait. The CJ's were just as bad about rolling over but again, only if driven like an idiot.
Far as the Ford Pinto is concerned, Nader's raiders capitalized on the fact that the rear mounted fuel tank was a bomb waiting to happen but even today, rear mounted fuel tanks are very common place and no stink is being raised on that score at all. All distills down to how they are driven and of course how the media presents them. Kind of like how the media twists the current political scene today.
I'll leave it at that except to say, I'm still here after driving many miles in what the media proclaimed as 'death vehicles'. A Ford Pinto plus 2 Suzuki Samurai' and a CJ5 Jeep.
I also owned and drove for countless miles, a Renault Alliance, another vehicle that was proclaimed by the media as a death vehicle. That car got over 40MPG, way back when.
Maybe I'm inordinately lucky or maybe it's because I drive sanely. You decide. I already have...
Presently, I own and drive a Ford Focus RS Turbo which is size wise about the same as a Ford Pinto was but unlike the Pinto that had less than 150 horsepower, my Focus makes 355 horses and is a rocket ship and if I drove it in an insane manner (I don't), it has the same potential as a Ford Pinto to kill me.
All distills down to a matter of common sense and how much you believe in media hype and published falsehoods perpetuated by people who 'think' they know, but in reality don't know beans.
WinterDeere
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I agree with most of your premise, 5030. But in the case of the Pinto, it’s not so much how you drive, but whether the person behind you is distracted while driving. If you stop for a kid on a bicycle shooting out of a driveway along a country road, or slam on the brakes for a deer, you’d better hope the 19 year old girl tailgating you wasn’t texting on her phone at that moment.
Now that I think about it, my wife was rear-ended once by a plow truck, while sitting at a stop sign. She’d been sitting there 20 seconds waiting for traffic to clear on the busy road she was crossing, the plow truck driver was apparently just not watching ahead.
I also thought there was a higher probability of fire in the Pinto, even over other vehicles with rear-mounted tanks, but admit I was only a kid when all that went down.
Now that I think about it, my wife was rear-ended once by a plow truck, while sitting at a stop sign. She’d been sitting there 20 seconds waiting for traffic to clear on the busy road she was crossing, the plow truck driver was apparently just not watching ahead.
I also thought there was a higher probability of fire in the Pinto, even over other vehicles with rear-mounted tanks, but admit I was only a kid when all that went down.
Grumpycat
Veteran Member
IIRC there was a structural element which punctured the Pinto gas tank. That the designers added a plate to protect but later someone deleted to save cost in production. That civil suits would cost less than the plate. It was this discovery that led to all the brouhaha.
5030
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You get gob smacked in the rear end by about anything, especially when the smacker is not attentive and hauling butt, you are going to get hurt, exploding gas tank or not isn't really relevant.
I must dance on the side lucky because in all my driving career in big trucks and smaller vehicles I never got rear ended. I was driving in a car with another driver, way back when and he got gob smacked by an inattentive driver while we were sitting at a stop light and he as seriously injured and so was I and we both went after the guy that hit us, his insurance company and quite candidly, I got a bundle for it. Was a Chevy Malibu and he hit us so hard, it pushed the rear bumper into the back seat. I got away with some hospital time and was repaired. He wasn't as lucky and even today, many, many years later, he has an artificial leg and could never work again and walks with a decided limp even now.
No amount of compensation can fix that.
Like I said, I don't and never have driven like an idiot but like you stated, you cannot control the 'other driver'.
Never rolled the Suzuki's or the CJ either but again, I never drove like an idiot.
I do have a penchant for speed however and I've explored the upper limit of my Focus RS as well as my late dad's 66 Vette way back when (150 plus mph), but only did it when I had the visual clear distance and not in a traffic scenario.
I look at owning a rocket ship vehicle for what it is not what it can do but being a human, I have explored that aspect in the past, just don't make a habit out of it. The 'clock' on my RS goes to 160 clicks and I've been there in the past as well. One time was enough however. Seed is way to risky, even on a highway with no other vehicles around. In all my years, I've never gotten a traffic ticket for anything, guess I'm pretty lucky in that respect and my insurance does reflect that and that includes literally millions of miles driving Class 8 tractor trailers, hauling steel and over dimensional loads. Today especially I view driving as a privilege, not a right and I motor as such.
I must dance on the side lucky because in all my driving career in big trucks and smaller vehicles I never got rear ended. I was driving in a car with another driver, way back when and he got gob smacked by an inattentive driver while we were sitting at a stop light and he as seriously injured and so was I and we both went after the guy that hit us, his insurance company and quite candidly, I got a bundle for it. Was a Chevy Malibu and he hit us so hard, it pushed the rear bumper into the back seat. I got away with some hospital time and was repaired. He wasn't as lucky and even today, many, many years later, he has an artificial leg and could never work again and walks with a decided limp even now.
No amount of compensation can fix that.
Like I said, I don't and never have driven like an idiot but like you stated, you cannot control the 'other driver'.
Never rolled the Suzuki's or the CJ either but again, I never drove like an idiot.
I do have a penchant for speed however and I've explored the upper limit of my Focus RS as well as my late dad's 66 Vette way back when (150 plus mph), but only did it when I had the visual clear distance and not in a traffic scenario.
I look at owning a rocket ship vehicle for what it is not what it can do but being a human, I have explored that aspect in the past, just don't make a habit out of it. The 'clock' on my RS goes to 160 clicks and I've been there in the past as well. One time was enough however. Seed is way to risky, even on a highway with no other vehicles around. In all my years, I've never gotten a traffic ticket for anything, guess I'm pretty lucky in that respect and my insurance does reflect that and that includes literally millions of miles driving Class 8 tractor trailers, hauling steel and over dimensional loads. Today especially I view driving as a privilege, not a right and I motor as such.
5030
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Whatever. Long time ago and like I said, never had issue one with mine, Wasn't like it was over powered either. Basically was a 4 wheeled lawnmower.
I find most vehicles today (Tesla's included) to be not physically large enough to sustain life in a serious crash anyway and why I always drive pro-actively. I'm always cognizant of what the 'other guy' is doing and how his actions or inactions might impact me.
My wife is the same way and why I let her drive most of the time. Besides I feel inherently safe in her Suburban and so does she. It's a big boat with a full ladder frame and most times we sit above all the other smaller vehicles on the e-way anyway. My F350 Ford pickup truck is the same way but my Ford rides like a lumber wagon whereas the Burb rides like a Cadillac. After driving big trucks for decades, I appreciate ride height as well as vehicle bulk. Problem is, you pay for that in fuel mileage. Neither my pickup truck or the Burb likes to pass a filling station. My Focus does, however. Little rocket gets 40mpg so long as I drive it conservatively, which I do.
Something else I find interesting today and that is, most new vehicles get poor mileage for some reason, even with smaller engines that are the norm today.
My renters next door have a new Ford Escape and it gets like 25 mpg highway. I find that totally unacceptable in a vehicle that costs 50 grand plus, but then I'm also inherently cheap.
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