Jeremy Clarkson on Eco-cars

I cannot understand why the British put up with such awful cars. They judder about on the poorly-maintained local roads, they have very little poke, and they are so small as to be uncomfortable for any more than two people. Drive out onto the M25 and you are treated with the hilarious sight of 10,000 people revving the crap out of their tiny micro-engines as they burn along at 80mph and 5000 rpms.

Even worse are the eco cars. These have all the above problem, but also cost and weigh twice as much as they should. In terms of the precious 'earths' resources' that environmentalists witter on about, they are the equivalent (in battery / Nickel terms) of about 1000 laptops. Very eco-friendly indeed.

Luckily, there is Jeremy Clarkson, who is on to this scam. His review of the Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid is worth reading from start to finish.

On engine noise:

And the sound is worse. The Honda’s petrol engine is a much-shaved,
built-for-economy, low-friction 1.3 that, at full chat, makes a noise worse
than someone else’s crying baby on an airliner. It’s worse than the sound of
your parachute failing to open. Really, to get an idea of how awful it is,
you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer.

On the environmentalists who drive them:

But let me be clear that hybrid cars are designed solely to milk the guilt
genes of the smug and the foolish. And that pure electric cars, such as the
G-Wiz and the Tesla, don’t work at all because they are just too
inconvenient.

The only hope I have is that there are enough fools and madmen out there who will buy an Insight to look sanctimonious outside the school gates. And that the cash this generates can be used to develop something a bit more constructive.

Looking around I think Mr Clarkson can rest easy. There are absolutely masses of fools and plenty of madmen about. With the decline of knitting and morris dancing, people urgenty need an outlet, and it seems environmentalism is it.

Comments

[Leisa Dreps]

I have great appreciation for the people that try to develop alternatives to better the state of our environment, but you do have to admit, the cost, pollution, and inconvenience done during the process, is much more damaging than just using normal cars. I'm not saying that it's impossible to be able to find a better solution, but we're still far from it.