…not the dying of the light, but against those who want the internal combustion engine gone from our lives.
In one of his more serious moments, Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Aston Martin Vantage V12, and his conclusion was unexpectedly poignant (watch it first before reading on).
“…what I’m driving here is an ending.”
Lamborghini has bid farewell to its incredible naturally-aspirated V12 engine, fitting the final two powerplants into a pair of one-off cars that pay testament to one of the great supercar motors.
The Invencible [no, that’s not a typo] coupe and Auténtica roadster are unique special editions modelled on the outgoing Aventador and will be the last 12-cylinder Lambos without any form of hybridisation, with the Italian marque set to embark on electrifying its model line-up in the coming years.
I’m not a Lambo fan, haven’t been one since the disappearance of the wonderful 400 GT:
But I love what Lamborghini cars have come to represent (even though I don’t much care for it, personally): completely batty, speed-is-everything, balls-to-the wall acceleration, hopeless impracticality, outrageous body shape, even more outrageous prices, and all that.
And all that, as Clarkson observes, is going to be taken away from us by the bloodless killjoys among us because in these oh-so modern times, we’re not allowed to have fun [thousands of silly and who-cares reasons omitted because I don’t want to have an RCOB].
Even the Puritans of the Mayflower would have said, “Stop that foolishness.”
But we can’t stop them.
I’m feeling even gloomier than Clarkson.
The effort to ban the internal combustion engine is doomed. The idiots behind it can even keep the electric grid up to current demands, but less the levels necessary to run their EV toys, and that will be the political death of them.
The thing that baffles me is that there is a possibly viable low emissions tech they COULD have pushed instead of their silly battery cars; hydrogen. I know they’re are serious technical issues to overcome with hydrogen fuel-cell cars (storage, safety, and so on) but it doesn’t strike me as a dead end, which battery cars are. The greens latched on to batteries like leeches, and won’t let go, probably until long after the issue is deader than the Charleston.
Of all the sad and disturbing things these days, the rise in the population of nannies, scolds, fun-suckers, and killjoys has to be the worst.
I once had a huge argument with a coworker because he spied a dude driving an Expedition. You see, no one needs such a truck so he shouldn’t be able to buy one. I went through a battery of vehicles, all of which he said were fine. All of which were bigger gas hogs. He himself, the hypocrite, had a v6 Mitsubishi he’d brag about.
What do I care what another man drives?
Hell, my dentist drives a Mclaren. God bless ‘im. Enjoy your money. Otherwise uncle sugar will just take it.
Damn if that second pic doesn’t look like what Batman would drive in his off time to impress The Ladies.
“I have seen the future and it is stupid ”
I think I stole the quote but I don’t know who to attribute it to.
There are plenty of use cases where electric vehicles won’t displace petrol ones. Anywhere off-road, for instance. The military, for another. Petrol is just too dense and efficient and flexible and (contd. p97) as a store for energy. Until they make nuclear reactors as compact and safe as petrol engines petrol engines are safe.
I try not to be a conspiracy theorist but…
At this point, it’s pretty obvious that we won’t have the ability to manufacture or charge enough batteries to support electrification of the entire transportation system. I really think they want to push us past the point of no return then….oops, it’s not working out so you plebs will just have to walk, ride the bus, and live in forced 15 minute “communities”. All for Gaia.
when I hear of things like this, I’m reminded of a picture going around the internet showing a person at the top of a utility pole adjusting traffic cameras with a hammer. Usually the caption reads something like “not all heroes wear capes.”
JQ