Politically Rewarded Behavior: Calif. Lets Single-Occupant Volts Into HOV Lanes
Silly me. I thought "HOV" when used in connection with expressway traffic meant "High Occupancy Vehicle." Apparently not, now that California is allowing a 2012 version of the Chevy Volt to use HOV lanes, even by drivers who have no passengers. Maybe the acronym really stands for "Haughty Obama Vehicles." Or "Hapless Odd Vehicles." Or "Have-to Offload (these slow-selling) Vehicles." I'm sure readers can do better.
As would be expected, no one in the press seems to be noticing (or is pretending not to notice) the irony of letting politically favored driver-only vehicles into lanes which were originally designed to encourage people to carpool. Here are a few paragraphs from one of the longer items on the topic found at 3D-Car-Shows.com:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓2012 Chevrolet Volt Cleared for California Carpool Lanes
Low Emissions Package model certified for special driving privilege and rebateA low emission model of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt electric car are on their way to California, where customers will qualify for a $1,500 state rebate and be allowed to drive solo in the state’s carpool lanes.
Volts with the Low Emissions Package, which is standard for California, began shipping from the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck plant this week and should begin arriving at the more than 140 participating Chevrolet dealerships in California before the end of the month.
Commuters who use carpool lanes in Southern California save an estimated average 36 minutes a day, or about a third of their total driving time.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is making 40,000 Clean Air Stickers available for registered vehicles that meet the state’s emissions standards. Applications can be downloaded from the DMV’s web site at dmv.ca.gov
Additionally, the new Low Emissions Package makes the 2012 Volt eligible for owners and lessees to receive up to $1,500 in state rebates through the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. This incentive is in addition to a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 Clean vehicle rebate applications can be submitted online at www.energycenter.org.
California has more than 1,400 miles of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. Originally restricted to vehicles with two or more occupants to help minimize congestion, the lanes are now open to single occupancy use by owners of advanced, low-emission vehicles.
Since enticing consumers with a variety of tax breaks and credit isn't enough, the government has to hand out "commute breaks" as political favors to save Volt owners time each day. This is unfair to other driver-only vehicles whose owners must endure the more congested lanes. I would say that this favoritism will inconvenience current HOV lane users, but there probably still won't be enough Volts sold to cause HOV lanes to slow down.
True Blue NZ, from which the "Fire Sale" graphic at the top of this post was obtained, made an interesting point back in January that "the bulk of these have been bought by government agencies" (if not a majority, certainly a significant percentage), whose drivers get to look down their noses at the rest of the poor peons in the slow lanes as they cruise past.
One upside: At least the drivers sitting stalled in the slow lanes won't have to worry about having a nearby Volt catching fire and having it spread to them.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
- Tom Blumer's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
california
Submitted by angelann1 on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 10:49pm.
Please LORD, have all liberals travel to california and then have california break off and float into oblivion!!
angelann, as a conservative native Californian, ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:15pm.
could I be allowed to float to Hawaii and visit killa before heading on off to oblivion?
If that could be arranged, I promise to take one for the team and personally escort the east coast libbies and the miscreant CA libs to their just desserts - Oblivion PLUS. :o)
MD
I'd be happy to hang out with
Submitted by killa37 on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:22am.
I'd be happy to hang out with you, MD, and a few others............but the whole California mindset - as it has developed - pretty much drives me up a wall!! I can't take the 'dude'..........or the 'guy'..........or the 'bro'.............or the hoier-than-thou attitud that seems to permeate from these dipsh*ts.............MOST of whom are NOT original Californians!!! And I have a couple of ex-girlfriends over there too..............who purport to be somewhat 'conservative', but underneath it all are hopeless libs!!! But I know I'm generalizing here, so please take that into consideration!!! After all, I live in Asia - the People's Republic of Hawaii - one of the MOST liberal and progressive and ass-backward places on this planet!!!
Fortunatly, we're also quite beautiful............and that is a great equalizer. I guess that's why the mooooooooooooooooooooslem people are always on a bummer- they live in a hideous part of the world!!! And they have hideous DNA!!! Now, for all your dumb-ass libs out there - what's YOUR excuse????
Dude-ness
Submitted by miss911ninja on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 12:45am.
I'm in trouble now! I signed off on my last email to you by saying "Later, dude."
But I'd signed off with "Rock On" the day before, so was just trying to change it up a bit. Having said that, I do think you have a dude-ness about you Killa, just like Todd Palin, "The First Dude."
Very Sincerely Yours,
Ninjie
Oh come on...
Submitted by zenman1661 on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 10:52pm.
considering how few of those useless cars are sold even with a federal subsidy, how upset can someone get over 30 or 40 cars in that lane.
The Volts may not have enough
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 10:57pm.
The Volts may not have enough juice to make it one way much less two ways. From what I hear the range is around 30 to 50 miles and probably less with air conditioning going.
The Volt is...
Submitted by NascarShizzle on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:38pm.
a combination of electricity and gas power. Yes, the car will drive up to 50 miles on a charge, but after that the gas engine takes over and allows up to 350 additional miles.
So What?
Submitted by chiefpayne on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:20pm.
I can get OVER 400 miles in my Toyota Camery...WITH the airconditioning running...AND I only have to fill up the tank and DON'T have to recharge it.
And if I am so desperate to run in the HOV lane, I'll just take my wife with me and we can do that.
Gas guzzlers?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 5:29pm.
I can get 600 miles on a tank of gas in my F150(350 in town), gets 25 miles to the gallon on the highway even at 70 mph and AC running with a regular weight of 4000 pounds(2 tons for those of you in Rio Linda) and it's a V8 made in 1997. And they tell me my truck's a gas guzzler??
Engine technology has gotten so much better with gas mileage and cleaner burning engines in the last 15 years until all this ethanol nonsense and then pushing these stupid hybrids that cost way too much and offer way too little, let alone these stupid electric cars, good grief, talk about going backwards!
-Jon
No emissions
Submitted by CO2Maker on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:06pm.
You mean the Volt as originally delivered less than a year ago was NOT clean air certified? Chevy had to tweak it and recertify it?
Clean air and no water in the Central Valley. The postal code for California is WTF.
is the HOV lane to encourage
Submitted by Edhenry on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:14pm.
is the HOV lane to encourage fewer cars, to decrease congestion? The volt is only the first to ask (do you think the makers of other hybrids will sit by and not demand equal consideration). This could actually lead to more congestion as the number of vehicles could actually go up.
But our government has made never before caused unintended consequenses. They are so smart, smarter than we, the unwashed.
How pathetic...
Submitted by NascarShizzle on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:36pm.
For years the state of California allowed hybrids like the Toyota Prius to drive in the HOV lane, provided they had the proper stickers issued by the state. But the lanes became crowded with single driving hippies, and last year the state canceled the program. The uproar from these gas sipping liberals was expected...but the lanes have to have access for REAL car poolers. This move by the state to allow the Government Motors Volt to drive in the HOV is laughable. So few Volts have been sold here....in the past six months I have only seen ONE. And the poor saps who are forced to take public transportation...take comfort that these vehicles are only bought by rich people...the 1%...
Hybrids can still use the HOV lanes
Submitted by GW on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 10:53am.
legally in Florida. I guess we haven' t gotten enough hybrids to jam up the lanes yet.
We tossed the HOV lanes in South Florida recently
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:44pm.
On I-95 from the Broward county line down through Miami. It's now a Toll Lane, and only if you have spent the effort to get yourself a SunPass. So you can either pay, and zoom (and sometimes stall out if there's a wreck in your lane, because there's only about two places to get off it), or you can not pay and sit in the parking lot. It's particularly useful to get to the Miami airport, as the toll lane has it's own flyover eliminating the big tangle making that exit on the regular freeway.
I really like it...but then again, I'm not making a weekly trip to Miami any longer.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
J?
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:52pm.
Did you get my email?
BK
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:55pm.
No. ??? Checked my junk mail, too....as it has a tendency to toss things there I don't want there.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
J- weird,
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:58pm.
Yahoo says they sent it. Anyway, here it is, basically.
Did California install sprinklers in the HOV lanes?
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:49pm.
With the way those Volts catch fire, you can imagine that having the HOV lane blocked because with fire trucks won't do traffic flow any good.
Wish I ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 11:04am.
... would have thought of that line.
HOV
Submitted by mmilesll on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 12:54am.
California is the perfect place for the Volt-overpriced, loaded with subsidies, catches on fire a lot and a total joke for a car. It reminds me of what the state has turned into.
The volt will be the leader of a parade, going 25 MPH
Submitted by upcountrywater on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 1:14am.
If the car was full of people it would only go 15 MPH..
So be happy, nanny staters. Who in their right mind want to share a ride in a putz putz government car.
Time is money... this is a time tax..
Toss these guys out the window too, Nagel–Schreckenberg model
Step 1 describes the desire of the drivers to drive as fast as possible
You Didn't Build That.
I can't wait to see the stories where irate Hummer and Suburban
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 1:26am.
...pilots start putting these stoopid Chevy sh*t-boxes into the wall out of frustration with their slow progress.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Don't worry Dave...
Submitted by NascarShizzle on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 3:33am.
I live in SoCal and in the past six months I have seen ONE. And to my surprise it was a good looking car. I have better odds seeing Michelle Obama eating a 'double-double' at In-n-Out than I do seeing a Chevy Volt driving on the I-5 in Los Angeles.
HOV
Submitted by ampul man on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 7:05am.
How about "Hold you nose, Or Vomit"?
CNN, the Clinton News Network---Bill decides; Hill reports
Come On!!!!
Submitted by BeanMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 7:16am.
I can't believe anyone is shocked about this. HOV lanes are to reward people who participate in government approved activities. Most HOV lanes are in areas where there are a lot of government workers. Government workers who travel the same route, sit at the same desk, do the same work every day, never go anywhere, never talk to a customer or participate in anything that will take them away from their little office cubicle. These are the people HOV lanes were designated for. They can get in their van-pools and off they go while the little people who work in the private sector are left to push their way through the bumper to bumper traffic.
Public transportation? Same answer. In order for me to use public transportation I need to spend a half hour driving to the metro station, spend another 1 and 1/2 hours on the metro, then get on a bus that makes 25 stops before it gets to within a quarter mile of where I work. 2.5 to 3 hours one way to get to work. Then how am I supposed to get to my customer's location? I do not participate in government approved activities and so I cannot be blessed.
Since government is coercion, politics is largely the exercise of deception regarding the intended use of coercion - George Orwell
Low emmissions, oh a highway?
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 12:53pm.
I wonder if anyone in the California actually drive one of those Volts, and if they understand that, contrary to what they've been told, the "highway emissions" of a Chevy Volt is about the same for any compact car, as the Volt, or any hybrid, for that matter, rely upon the gas powered ENGINE to reach and maintain highway speeds? Batteries alone can only get a hybrid up to about 35 to 40 mph (hybrids are designed for inter-city use, not intra-city highway driving). After that, it's all gas powered. So, "low emissions" are non existent for Hybrids in high-speed mode. They may as well "certify" all compact cars for HOV lane use. The emissions are about the same.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
An electrifying idea
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 1:14pm.
I've always wondered why "city planners" don't put induction coils in roadways, so that electric cars can recharge themselves as you drive? I mean, really, the goal is to save energy, isn't it, and to lower gas consumption? Well, having a network of intra-city roads outfitted with high voltage, low amperage induction coils embedded in the roadways would be a hell of a lot more efficient than constructing a series of low voltage, high amperage "fast recharging stations" scattered every 1000 to 3000 feet along the roadways, as would be needed in their "perfect" low-emission scenarios. It takes a hell of a lot more energy to "create" amperage then it does to "create" voltage. Also, it's "easier" (more efficient, hence "cheaper") to send 50,000 volts through hundreds of miles of wiring than an equivalent amount of amperage, thanks to this thing called "resistance." That higher voltage, however, can easily be transformed into the amperage needed to recharge a battery, with the use of a transformer, a 130 year old technology.
The costs of installing, and powering, such a system could be added as a "fee" to car registration and licensing costs. It's a simple, elegant, cost effective solution, one that the "progressive" idiots would never consider, let alone adopt. And why is that? Because, contrary to their own beliefs, "progressives" don't have the ability to reason, to think, especially in larger terms.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
A similar idea
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 1:55pm.
I also had a similar idea for home electrical use. The vast majority of electrical items in any household, excluding "large appliances" such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, ect. all use low voltage, low amperage current. Modern radios, HD TV, Stereos, ect. all use 3 to 24 volt, milliamp (that's a thousand of an amp) current to drive the electronics, yet we still plug them into 120 volt, 60 amp circuits, and each and every device requires their own internal transformers in which to reduce the inputted power into something the device itself can handle, thus generating enormous amount of heat, and wasting an equivocate amount of energy in the process.
Wouldn't it be better if every household was outfitted with a single transformer/reducer circuit, one that could deliver the low voltage, low amperage electrical power throughout the entire household? Shouldn't the "industry" adopt a, say, 24 volt, 350 miliamp input plug design, so that the device in question didn't NEED those internal transformers anymore? Each device would then need only a "solid state" voltage/current regulator circuit, something that is VERY efficient as compared to step down transformers those devices currently employ.
Think about it for a minute. Instead of all those of individual transformers stepping down the relativity high voltage and amperage of the "common" 120 vole, 60 amp household current, which is how we are doing it today, a single, efficient transformer could send the lower voltage, lower amperage current throughout your entire household and power all those devices simultaneously, thus saving you, and the rest of us, hundreds of dollars in electrical costs each year.
It's a simple, elegant way to save the entire country LOTS of energy, energy that is wasted due to the very design of the devices themselves. I wonder why on one else has thought of it. especially those "experts" we see on TV each day telling us all how to save energy? I guess they're just too damn smart for their own good. I mean, really just the savings of the "need" for the use 40 gauge copper wiring to "handle" that lower voltage/amperage current, as opposed to the 120 volt, 60 amp , 14 gauge wiring that is currently needed (and required by law!), would equate to BILLIONS of dollars in saving, both in the manufacturing and in installation/use costs nationwide.
If we're looking to save energy, and save the American consumer money, as is the stated goal, then let's do it in a way that actually works, as an entire integrated, intelligently designed system, instead of the piecemeal way they're doing it now, one "CFL" at a time. The cost savings would be enormous!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Whoa Telsaman
Submitted by mandrake on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:15pm.
Better run to the patent offiice right now before some MIT student thinks of it!
They can have the patents
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 3:05pm.
They can have the patents, the "glory" of "invention," I just want the cost savings! Of course, the question is: Why hasn't some AIT grad already thought of it? I never even graduated from high school! Aren't they supposed to be smarter than a high school dropout?
That's the problem with MIT students. Each and every one of them use electrical devices, like computers, cellphones, and the like, but very few of them understand just how they're powered, and, most importantly, just how inefficient they really are, especially in their recharging necessities! They can tell you, in detail, how to build and operate a sub-atomic particle super-collider, or a megawatt solid state laser, but very few of them can tell you how to wire your house, or even how to fix that leaky faucet!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
The idea is very dangerous to
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 8:18am.
The idea is very dangerous to begin with. Do you have any idea of what is in the ground in the first place? It is a maze of pipes and cables for one. Then you have the idea of the induction coils themselves creating problems like microwave ovens. How would the coils perform through 8" to 24" of concrete and re-bar? The maintenance would also be a nightmare, especially in wet soils or soils with high resistivity. The idea is interesting but the implementation is impossible.
Interestingly some innovation was attempted in snow and ice removal by heating the roadway by similar means. They encountered some of the same problems and maintenance headaches.
I'm not sure what the big
Submitted by BosTarus on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:06pm.
I'm not sure what the big deal is here. For one, California has always struggled with smog problems-especially LA. They work very hard to keep their smog levels in check. The HOV lanes had a twofold effect-curb traffic, and curb emissions. So it makes sense that they'd want to incentivize anything that had lower emissions-to lower smog.
Now, a poster above claimed that these hybrid electric cars have the same emissions as a compact car because they use their gas engines at highway speeds. I'm not sure if that's true, even if it is, the vast majority of driving in LA is done on city streets-which is where the battery would kick in. So even if the gas engine is running on the highways, it still makes sense to encourage cars that, on the whole, will have considerably fewer emissions than standard cars. Electric cars don't make sense in the suburbs where you'd do considerably more highway driving-but in urban environments, where you rarely hit speeds above 45 mph, it makes alot of sense.
(Heh, also; in LA, even on the highway you rarely go above 30!)
It's not just a claim, it's the truth
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:54pm.
"Now, a poster above claimed that these hybrid electric cars have the same emissions as a compact car because they use their gas engines at highway speeds."
That's not just a claim, that's the truth. Do you know how much energy is needed to push through the air at highway speeds? Much more energy than those batteries can deliver for more than a few miles at a time. (by the way, that reminds me of the "innovative," 130,00 dollar all-electric "high performance race car" that Tesla Motors has developed. They claim that car can do 120 miles and hour. What they don't tell you is that the car can only do that for about 5 miles before requiring a complete recharge! Of course, if you're wealthy enough to own an 130,000 dollar high performance electric car, who cares about the recharge time? You'll just jump into your Ferrari and have a ball while waiting for your toy to recharge.)
"the vast majority of driving in LA is done on city streets-which is where the battery would kick in."
So what good do Hybrid lanes do on the highways? Wouldn't it make more sense to have dedicated Hybrid-only lanes in the CITY?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Well, they can't suddenly add
Submitted by BosTarus on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 3:36pm.
Well, they can't suddenly add lanes to city streets, so no, it wouldn't make more sense to have "dedicated Hybrid-only lanes".
Also, I wasn't trying to argue that the above poster's claim was false. I was saying, that the electric cars aren't really intended for long-distance highway driving. They're intended for everyday city street driving-which is the bulk of urban driving. So they do, in fact, have lower emissions because the bulk of their time is spent on city streets using their electric engines.
The HOV lane deal is simply a small incentive to help reduce the city's rampant smog problem. And that's what it is, a "small incentive". I don't think this is an issue at all.
lol.....slow day at Newbusters.......
Submitted by stehill51 on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:07pm.
lol
Too bad for you ....
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:40pm.
... the post went up last night.
LOL!
Submitted by Rukus on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 3:53pm.
Perfect!
HOV LANE
Submitted by Jarhead68 on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 4:22pm.
Hybrids are allowed in the HOV lanes here on Long Island, too. So are motorcycles. What's with that? I can see how they may want to prevent bikers from weaving in and out of traffic during rush hour but why a Prius or Honda hybrid? Makes no sense...unless...they don't want them to lose all their battery juice in a traffic jam. Then they'd be burning fuel like the rest of us...but wait...when they travel over 30-40 mph, the engine kicks in, right? So what's the fracking point?
polluters stay longer on the road
Submitted by soCal on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 5:07pm.
So with this policy change they punish the "polluters" by staying on the road longer and increasing pollution.
They should let the biggest gas guzzlers and polluters use the HOV lanes since it makes sense to the POTUS policies of rewarding the bad-doers and punishing the right-doers.