By Edward Niedermeyer
March 24, 2008 - 9,250 Views
In The Wall Street Journal [sub], Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche and GM Car Czar Bob Lutz discuss their respective companies' approach to environmentally-friendly vehicles. Dr Z wants to sell more diesels. (And there you have it.) Maximum Bob eschews oil burners to hang his proverbial hat on E85. Of course, Lutz' preference for corn juice will cost consumers plenty through government spending on ethanol infrastructure and corn price supports. But the winner of TTAC's first annual Bob Lutz Award reckons developments in corn breeding will blunt E85's inflationary impact on food prices. "So I think that people who say, well, the ethanol industry is taking food from the mouths of babies and it's driving tortilla prices up– I think these are highly suspect conclusions." Meanwhile, both executives say Daimler's success selling the smart in the U.S. heralds the end of the efficiency vs safety debate. "There are no statistics that would support [the idea] that you are less safe in the smart than you are in any kind of vehicle," says Dr Z. Lutz appears equally oblivious the laws of physics, stating "If a vehicle is registered for sale in any developed market of the world, it is going to be an extremely safe vehicle."
Subscribe to Newsletter17 Responses to “ Maximum Bob and Dr Z Talk Diesels, E85, Safety ”
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POWERED
March 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
They have had success selling the Smart car?
And why do they call it a Smart car?
March 24th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
This is what happens when a Smart and an S-Class hit head on.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
OK Lutz is nutz on the E85 thing, though he was right with Diesel being a bad plan for the US (light vehicle market).
As for Zetsche, of COURSE he thinks “Diesel” is the way to go. He’s German. Even when he lived in the states for years (OK I admit it, he lived in la-la-dreamland of rich Suburbs in Detroit, not in the real world of the rest of us) he still thinks diesel is da answa. Nope.
E85 is bad because once the tax monies stop flowing to make it affordable and/or people wise up and start to realize that the food prices going up 50% here, 100% there, 200% over here, etc., is due to the imbecilic concept of growing corn to make ethanol to fuel SUVs (so their mileage can plummet from 13 to 9 or 8 mpg).
Diesel doesn’t work well because our diesel fuel infrastructure can’t handle any more demand (lots of reasons, one of which is the fact that the oil companies have not built a new US oil refinery since 1976).
So, the answer is obvious, Captain Obvious! Smaller gasoline or gas-hybrid vehicles, along with utility trailers for those few times when you actually need to haul something big.
Ironically, only Hyundai and Toyota make cars with anything resembling a tow capacity.
Sonata and Elantra 1500 pounds, Corolla 1500 pounds, Camry (not hybrid) 1000 pounds.
We pull a 1350 pound pop-up with our 2007 Sonata four cylinder and it does fine. The 2009 is going to be even better, with a 5 speed auto (not 4 speed as now) and an additional dozen ponies, as well as better MPG. (Of course, towing means MPG drops to the low 20’s - “DUH” - but is is significantly better than 6 or 8 mpg of a motor home). Plus we paid cash for the pop-up, new.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I’m not sure I know what that tape represents, Ed- not knowing German. Yes, the Smart did get pushed backwards and roll on its roof, but the passenger compartment seemed to retain its integrity. Would I rather be in the C-class during the accident? Sure, but if I lived in a crowded city, I’d probably rather live with the Smart right up until then.
As I can tell, the Smart is constructed well, and is very safe for its size. So is the C-class, which wouldn’t do too well in a head-on with a garbage truck, would it?
March 24th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
My rapidly increasing grocery bill is not a crock of sh*t.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I wasn’t trying to make the point that the Smart is a deathtrap. Obviously, anything that size is going to get messed up in a head-on collision with an S-Class, but I think the Smart did about as well as could be hoped for. I think the guy in the video says that access to passengers was an issue for the Smart (my german is not what it once was), but the video shows them just rolling the thing over…
March 24th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I was skeptical of the Smart at first, but I’ve seen a few of the around town now, and the seem well-suited as urban transport pods. Plus my kids go apeshit whenever they see one, and I can’t help but get caught up in their excitement.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
What does your grocery bill have to do with this, ash78? If you place blame on the diversion of crops to fuel, look also at how far your food travels from farm to market. It takes a lot of diesel fuel, or worse, jet fuel, to keep a modern supermarket stocked. Sadly, the world just doesn’t owe us unlimited cheap fuels to put tomatoes on your table in February.
March 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Seriously. Start paying more attention to the cost value equation and your grocery bill will go south while your health goes up. Or, you could hope someone else does something about it, while you blame the world.
March 24th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
“So I think that people who say, well, the ethanol industry is taking food from the mouths of babies and it’s driving tortilla prices up– I think these are highly suspect conclusions.”
Yeah, just because the price of corn itself is going up doesn’t mean that the rise in the price of Masa and corn flour tortillas is necessarily related. Maybe it’s just the tortilla manufacturers gouging their customers.