OT: Hybrid cars

[Oleg Goldshmidt]

"E.S. Rosenberg" <esr+linux-il at g.jct.ac.il> writes:

> European lawmakers when talking about pollution and efficiency
> generally want to lower maximum speeds since it entails less pollution
> and more fuel efficiency...

Let's say, for the sake of the argument, that all cars in France are
tuned to 100km/h as the most economical speed. The highway speed limit
in France is, IIRC, 130km/h. This basically means that unless there is a
problem (accident, poor visibility, rain, whatever) everybody is
*supposed* to drive at 130km/h on highways. Driving too slow is a
violation in every jurisdiction I know. [Well, the French used to drive
a lot faster, I thin they increased the fines now...] So you are
supposed to drive on a highway faster than your optimal speed.

How can you make people drive at the optimal speed?  Two solutions:
lower the speed limit (and reap more fines, maybe, at the expense of a
lot more time being wasted on the roads if your speed is reduced by
20-30%, and bias towards older, actually more polluting cars), or
improve aerodynamics of cars so that their optimum is closer to the
limit. Hmmm... A dilemma...

Now, consider the same situation, same cars, but your current speed
limit is 100 or 110 km/h... 

There are reasons why, despite the screams from various influential,
well-meaning but not very deeply thinking quarters, our highway speed
limits have risen from 90 to 100-110 in many cases.

-- 
Oleg Goldshmidt | pub at goldshmidt.org