One of the joys I have in life is finding a unique way to answer a question that’s technically correct, but also not what the question asker is looking for. Usually, this is only for lighthearted stuff and results in a laugh from both parties. Such a thing just happened today, and it was great.
Matt wrote a Morning Dump that ended with: “What % of the new car market in the United States, in a vacuum, do you think should be electric cars?” Rockchops had a creative and technically correct answer:
To answer TBQ with utmost accuracy, 100%. Because ICE vehicles wouldn’t function in a vacuum. I’m not sure what the point would be as we’d all be dead, but you’d be better off with an electric vehicle.
Faerie Alex:
In a vacuum 100%, since all combustion engines rely on oxygen in the atmosphere to operate. We actually don’t have to guess at this – if we look at other (non-US) celestial bodies such as the Moon and Mars which lack oxygenated atmospheres, we indeed see 100% electrification.
Love the profile picture, Faerie Alex!
Even Cheap Bastard got in on the fun:
TBQ: 100% since electric cars like the lunar rovers can work in a vacuum but air breathing ICE cars do not.
Jason started our day with another post about Citroën facts. Goblin added more:
A bit of history here…
*** Andre Citroen was an extravagant genius. He first made a fortune in cogwheels in the early 1900s.
*** The double chevrons logo comes from the double chevron (herringbone) cogwheels he was selling. Depending on sources, the claim is he originally found the concept in Slovenia, or one of the Baltic states, or Poland, while on a trip. My money is on Slovenia, as the first Citroen dealership one can see in Slovenia after the Karavanken tunnel used to have a pair of huge (like 12ish ft) chevron cogwheels on display in the front.
*** Andre Citroen made his main fortune during WW1, making shells and other ammo.He was an amazing engineer combined with an extravagant compulsive gambler. He’d lose and win entire fortunes in a night. The legend goes that one night he opened at the Deauville casino with a 20 million francs loss, ended the night at a 80 million win, and gifted a Citroen car to every single croupier present.
***He was constantly in debt, always able to pay it back. Usually. Mostly.
***This all went till the early 30’s. He became heavily indebted – mostly to the Michelin brothers – with the development of the Traction Avant along with his extravagant life habits. The Traction Avant was released too early, and had plenty of teething problems. Andre Citroen and the Michelin brothers, it is claimed, were good friends.
*** The story becomes murkier from here. One day a small creditor presented an immediate payment request for a debt for 160000 (or was it 60000) francs – a ridiculously low sum by Citroen’s standards, which he expected to be able to pay in a snap. So he went around the usual suspects for a small loan to cover this.Turned out – no one would advance him a single centime anymore. The thing snowballed, and very quickly Citroen went bankrupt, with his largest creditors – the Michelin brothers quickly taking over everything. They then invested whatever little money was needed to fix the Traction Avant’s issues, and it became a hot seller.
*** History’s jury’s still out about the Michelin brothers’ role in this. Many claim that the whole operation with the small creditor popping out was orchestrated by them. From there, the opinions are split – some claim it was a nasty operation to steal Citroen from Citroen, others say that they simply were seeing no future for the company with Andre Citroen at the helm, considered he was dooming it, and decided to save it as it was toast anyway.
*** Andre Citroen died within an year. Many say the events killed him.
*** This is where this prototype comes in. The Michelin brothers were notoriously frugal, financially responsible and cautious. Just as the Peugeot family was. These guys didn’t do into extravagance or opulence. They took over in December 1934. This prototype is from 1934. Probably the first of many to go on the chopping block.
Some quick research seems to back this up. Have a great evening, everyone!
Top graphic image: SpaceX
vive le historie lol