[PLUG-TALK] Diesel more expensive? No, avgas -> high horsepower

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 22 Jan 2015, Keith Lofstrom wrote:

> They earn less profit on something they charge an artificially higher
> price for? Please explain the contradiction.

   Who said there was logic (financial or otherwise) in business pricing
decisions? If a company can make a huge amount of money selling gasoline why
not discourage switching to diesel engines? Diesel probably raises their
CAFE and gets them in deep doo-doo with the EPA.

> Postwar, what to do with huge high-octane refining facilities and no giant
> air force? And all those aircraft manufacturing plants, many built and
> operated by automobile companies during the war? Build big gas-guzzling
> autos to burn all that cheap fuel. See the USA in your Chevrolet!

   Looks similar to what the auto, tire, and fuel manufacturing giants did in
LA to stop the building of trolleys and increasing the use of buses. Same
thinking.

> Military truck diesel fuel remained also, which powered the new road-train
> tractor-trailer trucks, now delivering consumer goods rather than supplies
> and ammunition. Much war materiel was manufactured on repurposed and
> expanded civilian production lines. After victory, that idle production
> was combined with television (repurposed radar tech) to create the
> post-war consumer society.

   Along this line, the International Harvestor (now just International)
engine in my truck was originally designed as a industrial tractor engine.
IH changed the mounts to fit in Ford's trucks and so began the era of diesel
pickup trucks ... and cars.

> If you want to remake society quickly, develop weapons made in factories
> that can be retooled for the goods your want a post-war society to have.
> Vast swarms of robot military vehicles can lead to the post-war
> self-driving electric car - or an apocalyptic robot-ruled wasteland.

   Or militarized police forces. Did you know that the Keene, NH, police
bought an armored car to protect their annual pumpkin festival? And the San
Diego School District bought one for their school police. Brave new world,
here we come!

Rich