On The Road, Again!

                                              Let’s go for a ride!
Now that the weather is beginning to lose the sting of wintercold, everyone is being seen getting their lawns cleaned up, the grass has been cut at least once here in Wisconsin. Most everyone is planning, or at least dreaming about gassing up the family car and taking off for a few days.

Our roadways are rarely empty as travelers speed to their destinations in vehicles that are known as ‘trucks’ now that the gas prices remain relatively low. Cars of several nations are common on the highway. European and Asian brandnames mix with US well-known companies, most with one thing in common: “Over ninety-nine percent of  cars sold still use the internal-combustion engine”according to the US Department of Energy, and this will likely continue to be true for the foreseeable future.

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However, this is changing. Europe has some different ideas.

When I was an Army GI stationed in Germany in the ‘50s, there were a few different car types whizzing

An early French Citroën

by . France had a car called a Citroën ( SIT’-tro-n’), a major French automobile founded in 1919. In1955, it was the first mass produced car with modern disc brakes. In 1967, Citroën introduced swiveling headlights, allowing for greater visibility on winding roads.These cars  received various international and national-level awards, including three European 'Car of the Year'. André Citroën had built armaments for France during World War I and after the war, he knew he would have a modern factory without a product.To stay in some business, he decided to become an automobile manufacturer once the war was finished. Not many were seen in 1950, outside of those we saw in Paris, while on leave.

Our  faithful  Opel

As  GIs , we, somehow found time to travel. I, and another Army-buddy pooled our ‘scrip-money’ to buy an older 1940s Opel that we really enjoyed.This was a car headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, later becoming a subsidiary of General Motors Company. The company distributed Opel-branded passenger vehicles that were later sold under the Buick name . Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862. This enterprising  company began  manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899.
We drove our Opel from Frankfurt Germany to various cities in Spain.

Time for  oil

 However, the age of the  vehicle and the speed to which we were accustomed finally took its toll in engine oil. MPG were better known as quarts of oil per mile! Occasionally, early-morning village residences walking the road to their fields  quickly left for the roadside as they were startled by the clatter of our approaching Opel. This must have reminded them of menacing tanks in earlier times. However, this Opel got us all the way home.

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However, times are changing. Globally, about 15 percent of manmade carbon dioxide comes from cars, trucks, airplanes, ships and other vehicles.Global warming reports are being linked to rising levels of carbon dioxide that comes from cars, trucks, airplanes, ships and other vehicles.
     Alternative power-sources are slowly being investigated.

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Sweden has released some surprising automotive news!

Sweden has made the decision to discontinue the production of their famous Swedish Volvo.Workers at the Torslanda plant in Gothenburg and their counterparts in  Belgium have been assembling this favorite for two decades, but  age calls for change and the time has come to retire a model that has served  well. "It feels like saying goodbye to a classic, a car for which many Swedes have voiced their love," said Jessica Span, sales manager for Volvo Cars Sweden.The Volvo XC/70 is  being phased out, with production ending in the second week of May.

The final product as production ceases.

The last Volvo to leave the production line won't even be for sale! This red Volvo will be put on display at the Volvo museum in Arendal.

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There are several  reasons for ‘change’, and one is  high gas prices. A Scandinavian exchange student speaking to our  Sons of Norway group commented that the price of gas in her area was nine dollars a gallon (liter?). Another incentive for change involves the public's interest in  electric-powered vehicles.
Electric vehicle sales in Europe doubled  for the fourth consecutive year, with more than one in every 20 new auto-buyers in the Netherlands and Norway opting for battery-powered cars.

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 The largest market of electric-powered vehicles is Norway.The fleet of plug-in electric vehicles in Norway is the largest per capita in the world, with Oslo becoming the EV capital of the world.The Norwegian government has offered many incentives to buying and driving an electric car. Among the existing government incentives, all-electric cars and vans are exempt in Norway from all non-recurring vehicle fees, including purchase taxes and a tax reduction for plug-in hybrids that will become law starting in July .

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These government incentives are irritating some Norwegians who continue driving gas-combustion vehicles. There are complaints of traffic congestion in some of Oslo's bus lanes due to the increasing number of electric cars that are allowed in bus-only lanes; the loss of revenue for some ferry operators due to the large number of electric cars exempted from payment; and the shortage of public parking spaces for owners of conventional cars due to 'posted-preference to electric cars' (although this was actually the intended policy).

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While here in the US, work and research is focused on ‘driverless vehicles’ and crash-preventive computer-controls, our electric-charging stations remain ‘open for business’ but normally empty as our highways continue to be  crowded by speeding gas-powered vehicles while our family trucks and cars hurry  to their  destinations.

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Enjoy your summer..