Meet George Jetson . . .
December 23rd, 2006 by 
Caroline Spector
I got my George Jetson car. Okay, technically it’s The Dude’s car, but I get to drive it occasionally. It doesn’t fly, but it comes very close in all other respects.
It doesn’t have a regular key and ignition. You get in using the proximity remote. Once inside, you push the power button. The front heads-up display appears as does the touch pad climate, audio, and trip display.
It’s ready to drive, but I’m sitting in silence. That is until the Lucy station on XM radio kicks on with Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer.” I toggle the Lucite encased CVT gear shift to “D.” There’s a small hiccup as I depress the gas pedal and glide off in almost complete silence.
The Dude is calling it The Pious. But it’s really The Prius – and it rocks.
I like to drive fast. Even my “Mom-mobile” is a turbo-charged Volvo station wagon. But in the Prius, I am The Zen Queen. “Pass me, you SUV douche bags, I care not. You are dinosaurs and I am a mammal. Your reign on Earth is coming to an end. Bwahahahahahah!” Okay, so I get a little personal while driving.
According to the sticker, it should get 60 MPG on the highway. I asked the salesman when we were test driving it what it really got, and he admitted to 50 MPG on the highway. I can live with that. At least for now.
I don’t think we’re saving the world by buying the Prius. I’m just hoping to make a change in some small way. And I figure – like Egg Shen says in the beginning of Big Trouble in Little China, “See, that was nothing. But that’s how it always begins. Very small.”
And ain’t that the truth?
Posted in Caroline, Daily Life, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Dude | 
10 Comments »
December 23rd, 2006 at 10:36 am
Small steps are better than no steps. Both our cars are hybrids though one of them, the Toyota Highlander, is a soccer mom car capable of carrying seven (and very safe) but only gets 30 mpg. But it is an ULEV.
The Honda Civic Hybrid does get 46 mpg, easily, and if I’m careful, I can push that above 50.
As to that label thing–the EPA just changed the way it calculates MPG on those stickers and starting in 2008, they will be a lot more “Real world.” Link.
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:01 am
We got a Prius back in 2005 when Martha’s Saturn was rear-ended. Great car, very nice mileage. We use it for all trips out of town. My only complaint is that ergonomically it’s very uncomfortable for me to drive. I either have to learn too far forward to reach the wheel, or my knees are jammed into the dash. Martha says it’s because it’s designed more for a woman’s body than a mans.
I just hope they come out with a hybrid pickup before it’s time to say farewell to mine.
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:02 pm
WOOT! Sounds like a friggin awesome car! No, it won’t fly but you still feel closer to the imagined future.
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Troyce, The Dude also has complaints about the seats in the Prius. I’m with him on this one. I love my heated, infinitely adjustable seats in the Volvo.
My hope is that Volvo will come out with a hybrid soon. I am loathe to give up all my Volvo bells and whistles.
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 pm
(My highlander has heated front seats. {glyph of na-na-na-phoo-pha} )
But you live in Austin! Whatfor you need heated seats?
December 23rd, 2006 at 1:48 pm
I need seat warmers because I am really a lizard. Give me a warm rock or heated leather seats and I’m happy. (When the weather dips below 70, Mama gets cold.)
December 24th, 2006 at 12:19 am
Barb wanted a Prius when _her_ Saturn was rear-ended in early ’04 . . . but at that time, there was a wait of over a year. So she bought the Civic Hybrid instead. It’s a pretty efficient vehicle on its power plant’s own merits — but in addition, the current-gas-mileage feedback on the dashboard alters one’s driving habits, which further helps avoid wasting fuel.
December 24th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Spector, you keep getting tunes stuck in my head!
I love Priuses. They are sweet looking. I get tech lust every time I see one on the road.
December 24th, 2006 at 2:00 am
Okay, so Ed and I are not that environmentally conscious. But MINI didn’t/doesn’t have a hybrid. On the other hand, we’ve only bought gas twice since arriving in Seattle 8 months ago. That, surely, should count for something.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
[...] For Caroline: “Meet George Jetson” led me to . . . well, “Meet George Jetson.” (Also to his boy, Elroy; daughter, Judy; and Jane, his wife.) [Note: I almost linked to Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” because of “She’s got a corpse under her bed . . . “ But I think the world at large will be grateful I didn’t.] [...]