LOL, The Grauniad just lies that electric vehicles aren't heavier and don't produce more tire pollution than conventional vehicles

The average weight of all cars has been increasing. But there has been particular debate over whether battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which are heavier than conventional cars and can have greater wheel torque, may lead to more tyre particles being produced. Molden said it would depend on driving style, with gentle EV drivers producing fewer particles than fossil-fuelled cars driven badly, though on average he expected slightly higher tyre particles from BEVs. 

More here, in "Car tyres produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show".

Meanwhile, the great Scotty Kilmer was all over this like white on rice a couple of days ago:

 

Firearms are not the leading cause of death in children: CDC's own data over time shows that motor vehicle accidents are far and away the number one cause

 Here's the CDC data for all children, all races, ages 1-17, from 1999-2020 showing drownings and firearms neck and neck for number two position but motor vehicle accidents far and away the leading cause.

Liberals are all upset about 3,000 children shot and killed in one year when America's liberals are responsible for that many abortion deaths EVERY GODDAMN DAY.

 

 

Average US vehicle age is now a record 12.2 years

 

 

The average age of a car on the road is 13.1 years, while trucks sit at 11.6 years, according to the analysis.

Michigan's Governor Whitmer is hard at work making sure there's a network of electric vehicle charging stations which won't work during the next massive power outage for which Michigan will doubtlessly rank Numero Uno

 

There wasn't a single new car on the lot for sale or in the showroom at my Honda dealer yesterday, and I got the very last door lock assembly in the parts department

 Blank, like this page.

Case in point: This morning Glenn Beck had on the show the former CEO of Toyota North America and they both agreed that reducing atmospheric CO2 is critical to preventing future warming

 It's not, but it sure as hell would be associated with another ice age.

Glenn Beck might as well be another AOC.

If this keeps up America will be just like Cuba

The average age of a car on U.S. roads rose to 12.1 years in 2021, according to IHS Markit. The average age had been 11.9 years in 2020. In 2002, the average age was 9.6 years. ... Car shopping site iSeeCars publishes a list of the longest-lasting cars on the road. Recently, it found that 16% of the Toyota Land Cruisers on the road have at least 200,000 miles on them. Meanwhile, at least 2.5% of several other models — from car makers including Toyota, Honda and General Motors — also have at least 200,000 miles on their odometers.

The story never mentions that a declining middle class finds it increasingly difficult to afford newer vehicles.

More.

 

The only thing Trump has accomplished at "warp speed" is ruining the US economy because he ignored a deadly virus until it was too late

Trump, the supposed savior of US manufacturing, has presided over the utter collapse of manufacturing capacity utilization to a level in April 2020 never experienced in the post-war. The president could lawfully and easily order this unused capacity to make masks which would in fact protect everyone, and other PPE for hospital workers and care-givers to protect our front line workers, but he has not. Were he serious about re-opening the country, he would have made this JOB 2 on Feb 1, after JOB 1, which was hard-stopping all passenger air travel, the primary vector for the pandemic. Trump didn't do JOB 1, either.

Industrial production generally has imploded to levels never seen since 1919. The so-called America first president has done nothing in three years to make America strong enough to prevent this from happening. Remember Ann Coulter said long ago already that Trump was a lazy ignoramus. 

Motor vehicle production annualized has tanked 11 million units in just two months to fewer than 72,000 annualized. That's the typical monthly sales figure for a single popular car. 

Oh, I've forgotten unemployment, which also is unprecedented, though understated, at 14.7%. It's actually closer to 20%. North of 33 million not-seasonally-adjusted have made first time claims for unemployment from March 19th inclusive.

Trump's numbers are truly great, as in "you great oaf!"

Yes the government has "bailed out" the workers and the businesses, but with a Rube Goldberg machine which has been completely unfair in its results, picking winners by virtue of their established access to bankers or savvy state systems of unemployment administration. Bank or live somewhere not up to speed? Dats tuff, Anwar. You're a loser anyway.

Meanwhile coronavirus infections are set to soar again because our president is throwing a tantrum to open the country but hasn't made it safe to do so. He's had two months for that but has produced BUPKIS. If you want people to go back to work, they need masks. Where are the masks? Oh well, you were on your last legs anyway.

How anyone can vote to re-elect this level of horrific incompetence and reptilian danger is beyond me.

Average miles traveled on US roads in 2019 through July looks flat compared with 2018

To put the complicated calculation in a nutshell, travel per person 16 years old and over averaged about 12,497 miles for the first seven months of 2019. The full year average for 2018 was 12,483.

So despite there being more cars on the road and population growing and a so-called economic boom, road travel has plateaued.

For another look at it, see Jill Mislinski here, whose population-adjusted road travel chart also shows that the flatlining began with 2017 and that 2005 was the peak year.

You are free to move about the country, but you are not, at least not like you were in a car. 

Average age of US vehicle on the road climbs from 11.7 years in 2018 to 11.8 years in 2019

The number of registered light vehicles in operation in the U.S. hit a record of more than 278 million this year, an increase of more than 5.9 million, or 2.2 percent.

IHS Markit began tracking the age of vehicles in 2002, when the average age was 9.6 years.

More.

Ah yes, the Mazda RX-7, well known preferred vehicle of pharmacists everywhere

Shit-hole traffic update: 18 crashes in Mexico City at this hour, zero in New York City

Carr Fire victims in California had no car, may not have known of evacuation order

The Sacramento Bee reports here:

Also believed to have died are a 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren.

According to relative Donald Kewley, James Roberts, 4, and Emily Roberts, 5, went missing with their great grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70, Thursday night. Kewley told The Sacramento Bee that the three were last seen at their home near Keswick Dam Road and Quartz Hill Road – a home that was destroyed in the blaze – before evacuations were ordered.

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko confirmed that three bodies were found inside the family home, but that no formal identification has been made yet.

“They are overwhelmingly sure that there are decedents at the scene,” the sheriff said. “And they have communicated that with family members. However, no bodies have been recovered. 

Separately reported here:

“There was no evacuation notice,” said Kewley, who lives about two miles away. “Our evacuation was a mile-wide column of smoke rotating toward us.”

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko Saturday said evacuation notices had been given in multiple formats in the area, including reverse-911 robocalls, calls to cell phones of those who had signed up for such emergency alerts and notifications via TV and the federal Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, which broadcasts warnings during emergencies.

Bosenko could not say if authorities had gone door-to-door in the Bledsoes’ area, as they have in other evacuation sites.

He said Thursday night, as the fire unexpectedly and rapidly came into the city, streets were “bumper-to-bumper” with people trying to escape. At one point, Bosenko said, a civilian purposefully hit a sheriff’s vehicle trying to get through an intersection.

“It was very chaotic and people who had waited to the last minute were panicking,” Bosenko said.

In that frenzy of smoke and confusion, Melody, James and Emily sought help.

Maybe gasoline wouldn't cost as much if we didn't export 8% of our consumption

In 2017 our consumption of gasoline came to 3.40 billion barrels, but that year we exported 0.273 billion barrels, or 8% of that consumption, a new record. Consumption actually fell in 2017 from 2016 when consumption hit 3.41 billion barrels.

The news today says prices are climbing because of increased demand and tighter supplies. But as prices have risen in the last year, miles-traveled are down sharply year over year in January. Growth of miles-traveled had barely caught up with pre-recession levels in 2016 and 2017 and is now on the verge of recession-like conditions to start 2018.

We'll see if any of this continues, but one thing's for sure. Paying $3.00+/gallon this summer isn't what we voted for when we voted for Donald Trump.

Trump orders review of Obama's crazy CAFE standards

From the story here:

Mr. Trump on Wednesday announced plans to re-examine the fuel mandates, taking a step back from Obama-era environmental regulations. ... The standard for passenger cars stayed at 27.5 mpg from 1990 until 2007. In 2009, the government set a fuel economy standard of 34.1 mpg for cars and light trucks by 2016. In 2012, it set a new target of 54.5 mpg by 2025. The number can change depending on the mix of vehicles customers buy. Right now, it stands at 51.4 mpg because people are buying more SUVs and trucks.

Since the 1990s 144,000 manufacturing and related jobs lost in Wisconsin due to free-trade agreements

Reported here:

Wisconsin has lost more than more than 68,000 manufacturing jobs since the mid-1990s and the first of several controversial trade pacts with Mexico, China and others took hold.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor has certified about 76,000 Wisconsin workers in various fields as having lost their jobs due to either imports or the work they do being shipped overseas. ... 

Caterpillar has laid off about 600 of its 800-plus workers over the past two years because of a business slowdown. ...

Wisconsin’s heavy manufacturing sector, once one of the country’s strongest, has been taking a lot of punches in recent years. General Motors, General Electric, Chrysler, Joy Global Surface Mining and Manitowoc Cranes have all cut jobs or closed operations in recent years for a variety of reasons.

Hometown companies such as Kohler, the plumbing supply manufacturer; and Trek Bicycles have offshored jobs to India, China and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Madison, the state capital, will lose 1,000 jobs over the next two years as the 100-year-old iconic Oscar Mayer meat processing plant shuts down. And just east on I-94 in Jefferson, Tyson Foods will cease operations at its pepperoni processing plant, cutting 400 jobs.

Another achievement for Obama, the worst president ever: Worst ever opening week for stocks

Story here:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average careened into the close on Friday, finishing down 169 points, or 1%, at 16346. That left it off about 6.2% for the first five trading days of the new year. That is the worst opening five days in the index’s history, eclipsing the 5.6% drop the index had in 1978.

The S&P 500 is in the same boat. It dropped 21 points, or 1.1%, on Friday, closing at 1922 and down about 6% for the week. That is the worst opening five-day stretch for the index ever, wider than the 5.3% loss in 2008.

Muslim terrorists are smuggling weapons into Europe hidden deep inside cars

Reported here by Ian Traynor: 

"The man was stopped in a Volkswagen Golf with Montenegrin plates near Germany’s border with Austria on 5 November. Officials found a pistol under the bonnet, prompting them to take the car apart. In doing so, they uncovered a sophisticated smuggling operation, with automatic weapons, 200 grammes of dynamite, hand grenades and ammunition concealed in the car’s bodywork, according to Bavarian public radio.

"Examination of the suspect’s mobile phone and the car’s GPS system indicated the detainee was en route to Paris."

Michigan Republicans increase gasoline excises by 7.3 cents, taking the state from 12th to 5th for highest gas taxes paid in America

Here's the current list of highest combined federal and state gasoline taxes per gallon paid in the top paying states, from highest to lowest:

PA: 73.70 cents per gallon

WA: 62.90

NY: 62.67

HI: 61.55

CA: 59.32

CT: 55.91

FL: 54.82

NC: 54.65

WV: 53.00

RI: 52.40

NV: 52.25

MI: 52.24

IL: 51.87

IN: 51.70

WI: 51.30

GA: 51.02

MD: 50.50

IA: 50.40

ID: 50.40

The tax increase in Michigan will bring the current level to 59.54 cents, ahead of California!

Lest you tree-hugging electric and hybrid drivers think you'll escape, you get slapped with $100 and $30 surcharges (hahahahaha!), according to the story here, on licenses, the rest of us 20% increases:

"Registration fees for passenger vehicles and trucks would rise by 20 percent in 2017, meaning an average $100 bill would rise to $120. The state would also assess a new $100 annual surcharge on most electric vehicles and $30 on hybrids."

And you thought Republicans were against raising taxes.

Average age of a car on the road climbs from 11.4 years in 2014 to 11.5 years in 2015

IHS Inc. reported here at the end of July:

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The combined average age of all light vehicles on the road in the U.S. has climbed slightly to 11.5 years, based on a snapshot of vehicles in operation (VIO) taken Jan. 1 of this year, according to IHS Automotive, a global provider of critical information and insight to the automotive industry and part of IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).

I know. Mine average 13 years old.

floats like a butterfly . . .

. . . stings like a bee, when you stick it