While The Pope Goes Green, Mortals Get Gas
The Pope is working on his green creds. When the German Pope Benedikt XVI will come to Germany in September, he will wave at the faithful from a plug-in hybrid. Made in Germany, of course. Mercedes is putting the finishing touches on a new popemobile. Based on the new M-Klasse, it is powered by a 60 hp hybrid module. The lithium io battery will supposedly be rechargeable in 60 minute, allowing the Pope to travel for 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) on heavenly electrical power alone. Once depleted, the ICE kicks in.
Why no pure plug-in?
In the meantime, mere mortals are lacking divine inspiration. Says USA Today:
“Despite months of high gas prices, a bevy of new fuel-stingy cars with conventional gas engines may be eating into sales of pricier gas-electric hybrids.”
“Sales of high-mileage, high-value conventional compacts such as the Hyundai Elantra (shown above), Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze are hot, while hybrid sales have stagnated.”
Why? Filthy lucre.
“Even with the fuel savings, it doesn’t make sense to buy a hybrid” for many buyers, says J.D. Power Senior Manager Mike Omotoso. “This year, we had $4 gas (in many cities) but we saw the introduction of compacts that get 40 mpg. All of these cars are considerably cheaper than hybrids.”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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“Even with the fuel savings, it doesn’t make sense to buy a hybrid” for many buyers, says J.D. Power Senior Manager Mike Omotoso. “This year, we had $4 gas (in many cities) but we saw the introduction of compacts that get 40 mpg. All of these cars are considerably cheaper than hybrids.” Those pragmatic EV hating Germans! When are they going to understand that you don't buy EV's because they make sense, you buy them because it's the right thing to do. Sarcasm mode off..
Sounds like we've heard this operation cycle before - first on battery - then ICE when battery exhausted. "Range anxiety" has been replaced by "escape anxiety". Oh wait a minute -it's the Volt.
So the Popemobile is a essentially a Mercedes built Chevy Volt. Very serious question about Papal security. I would suspect that the Popemobile's first mission is to protect the Pope by being a hard target; but how hard of a target can you be in a bubble of balistic glass. Would the second phase of protecting the Pope be agility, to move the Pope quickly out of what military ops would call "the kill zone," and is a hybrid/ICE system up to that challenge?
Doesn't the popemobile get flown around in a private jet? Wouldn't the most energy savings be obtained by making the vehicle as light as possible instead of adding hundreds of pounds in batteries and electric motors?