Why didn't I think of this? I've been grumbling about how the government never sends me (or Jane's Electric, or Miller Construction, or any other working folks) a bailout check if I make bad investments and wind up in deep debt.
GMAC, the branch of General Motors that handles your financing when you buy a Chevy, must have felt left out, too. But they've found a way to turn grumbling to green: they are applying to become a bank so they can expand the services they offer customers... and so they can qualify for federal bank bailout funds.
Brilliant. Abso-gosh-darn-lutely brilliant. If the rest of GM were that crafty about ways to make money, they'd be buying Toyota and Honda.
Hand me an application: it's time to open the Madville Times Bank and Trust!
I'll open a subsidiary bank to yours and we can both qualify!
ReplyDeleteIsn't this ridiculous???
I heard a better idea on NPR "Science Friday" this afternoon. Loan the money to Tesla Motors (that cool high-end electric vehicle company) so Tesla can buy GM.
ReplyDeleteI thought of calling into NPR with a question, but maybe Tony can answer it for me. How many kilowatt hours of electricity is needed to fully charge an electric vehicle that gets, say, 100 miles to a charge? That electricity won't be free, you know.
I am flabbergasted by how determined these so-called for-profit corporations are to remain unprofitable. Sheesh!
Stan:
ReplyDeleteThe current Tesla Roadster gets about 3.1 mile/(kW*h) including all losses (conversion from grid to stored energy, conversion from stored to mechanical motion, etc.). So to charge the battery for 100 mile range would be ~100/3.1 = 30 kW*H. This is equivalent to about 250 mpg.
The Tesla roadster is a well optimized vehicle and the equivalent MPG of an electric will differ just like a gas car.
Thanks, Tony.
ReplyDeleteI just got done looking at the Tesla Motors Roadster Web site. I got figures in the same ball park as yours.
If it takes 30 kWh to drive 100 miles, and 1 kWh costs about 7 or 8 cents, then that works out to a little over 2 cents per mile, if I got my arithmetic right (which I often do not).
Not bad. A good looking car too. But the upfront cost ... ach! Better start writing some best-sellers.
Need a proofreader, Stan? Or an agent? LOL
ReplyDeleteNever can have too many pfoofreaders.
ReplyDelete