We recently went to a British car show. There were new MINIs and old Minis. We saw DeLoreans, yes, they’re British too. And a great bunch of MGs. Mgs started me off loving British cars. I wanted a MGBGT when I was in high school. I would walk down Pacific Coast Highway and drool at the shiny little cars and knew one day I would have to own a British made car. No matter what TopGear has to say about them! ;o)  One of the things people say about MINIs is you get more smiles for the mile. I believe it. When I’m driving I get waves and smiles from all sorts of people. It’s fun to drive too!

Who doesn’t enjoy looking at the workmanship display when looking at vintage cars. I think of the artisans and craftsmen working to refine the “definition” of a certain car. Morgan, for one had the best looking emblems, from which Mini also took to the “wings” format of an emblem design along with many other car companies.

One of the most famous Mini drivers, beside Minnie Driver herself, is Mr. Bean. Who doesn’t recognize that guy when he’s climbing out of a Mini.  So I had to take this shot:

You can see more of my pictures from the car show in my flickr account.

It’s got me thinking about electric cars. The new Chevy Volt. It is supposed to be the cure all for SoCal. I’m not picking on the Volt, it is a rather attractive vehicle. But I need more info.

We are the car capital of the western world. There are cars everywhere and gas is expensive here because we consume so much of the stuff. So everyone jumped on the bandwagon of alternative energy vehicles. Well, until someone finds one that will run on water, I think we’re in trouble.

No matter how attractive a car is, if it is using a resource that is going to increase my electric bill more than it already is, I shudder to think about how that is helping our environment. And, my bottom line. Edison tells me I pay so much because my consumption is higher than last year. Well, I have more people living with me now than last year, can they add in that factor? No. If I add a car to the usage it is only going to be more usage. Not a good idea. Will they give me a break because I’m powering a car? hmmm. maybe I should ask them.

The other train of thought is how all that electric is generated. Just where does the electricity come from? Well, at the SCE website they tell me that the majority of the electricity the provide is derived from natural gas resources: “The primary energy source is burned as fuel or used directly to spin a turbine, which spins the generator. The generator is basically an electric conductor, such as copper, that spins within a magnetic field, producing “alternating current” electricity at 60 Hertz, or cycles per second.” Hmmm. How is that helping the environment? So if I buy an electric car, I use more power at my home, Edison uses more power at their plant and both of us harm the environment more than if I just continue to drive my MINI Cooper and use the fossil fuel that I’ve always used. I spend $25 a week on premium gasoline. I drive about 300 miles a week, all in the span of 7 mile bursts, yeah gotta love that! But I do get to drive into San Diego or OC on occasion for some fun.

I think I like my carbon footprint just the way it is now.