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Hot Wheels better capitalized than General Motors — only in America

By: Elliott Monday October 27, 2008 4:39 pm

hot wheels

GM deserves it. They had every opportunity to produce cars that were right with the world; but no, they went Hummer instead — complete with tax exemptions for super-sized vehicles.

A gas guzzler, as defined by the Energy Tax Act of 1978, is a vehicle that gets a combined city and highway fuel economy of 22.5 miles a gallon or less, as calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Sounds clear-cut. But as government regulations go, that’s never the case. Turns out, there are enough loopholes in the gas guzzler statute to drive a truck, a minivan, an S.U.V. and even a few hybrids right through it.

Mattel is worth more than GM — and we wonder why our economy is in a ditch, has run off the road? We stuffed ourselves into the guard rail of life. Thank goodness we are headed onto a smoother road to the future come November 5th.

Hot Wheels are hot again. Parent company Mattel is now worth more than GM.

But GM’s bailout is right around the next bend.

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6 Responses to “Hot Wheels better capitalized than General Motors — only in America”

Ari October 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

GM also is the biggest greenwasher of the auto company.

egregious October 27th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Well maybe Hot Wheels didn’t view its working capital as gambling money. Good post.

Ann in AZ October 27th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Well, GM didn’t have a divorce scandal in the family to help them! Hmmm…wonder if Mattel made a Barbie/Sarah Palin doll, if their income would go up or down!

Seriously, though, I thoroughly agree with you that the American car makers have had an awful long time in which to rethink and redesign the cars they make and to retool. They haven’t done it! One wonders why not, if there is any other reason than the obvious greed! Great post, Elliott!

Scarecrow October 27th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

Just proves that a car company can be more profitable if it makes smaller cars that use less gas.

ThingsComeUndone October 28th, 2008 at 7:13 am

GM is going to get cash from the government. But if they mess up this time well maybe Obama should fund these guys instead and create a major car company

With the All Electric Aptera, it is very easy to figure out the mileage range. The mileage is determined by the distance you can drive, under normal circumstances, until the batteries are effectively drained. In the case of the first Aptera typ-1e, we have calculated the range to be about 120miles.

With the Plug-in Electric Hybrid version of the Aptera(typ-1h) the mileage of the vehicle is difficult to describe with one number. For example, the Typ-1h can drive 40 to 60 miles on electric power alone. Perhaps for such a trip, the engine may only be duty-cycled for a few seconds or minutes. This would produce a fantastic number, an incredible number that, though factually true, would have no useful context, i.e. it’s just a point on a graph.

An asymptotic decaying exponential is an accurate way to describe the fuel mileage of the Typ-1h. For example driving say, 50 miles, one might calculate a MPG number that’s 2 or 3 times higher, say, 1000 MPG. As battery energy is depleted, the frequency of the engine duty cycle is increased. More fuel is used at 75 miles, the MPG might be closer to 400 MPG. Again, we’re using battery energy mostly, but turning the engine on more and more. Just over 100 miles we’re just over 300 MPG, and just beyond 120 miles, we’re around 300 MPG.

So why pick a number at 120 miles? Well, it’s more than double of most available plug-in hybrid ranges that achieve over 100 MPG. It’s three times the distance of the typical American daily commute. It’s a meaningful distance that represents the driving needs of 99% of Americans on a daily basis. Sure, it’s asymptotic, after 350-400 miles it eventually plummets to around 130 MPG

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Do not tell me America does not have the tech to make a hybrid car BETTER THAN JAPAN. GM and Ford lack the Will.