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As a whole, we can pretty much have whatever we want. Henry Ford had an famous quote that goes, “You can have a Ford in any color you want, so long as that color is black.” This motto hardly stands today. Today you can get your car in any color your can dream of. Sick of the factory colors? Go get yourself a custom paint job. Get flames detailed on the side. Get your license plate to say your name, or that you love golf. Would you like fries with that? Supersized?
Want, however, is so temporary; what lasts forever is need. We need to get around, and so we want cars. We need to get places on time, but we don’t want to spend time traveling, so we buy bigger engines that get us there faster. We need clean air, but we want cars that cough out CO2.
Maybe we just have to realize, or at least re-realize, the difference between want and need. Last week I wrote about the decisions process to choose the new New York City Taxi. All of the speed limits in New York City are 30mph, yet these cars are capable of reaching your standard speeds over 100mph. Why? We clearly don’t need the extra engine capability. I could see reason for an engine that reaches 40mph, but in a car specifically designed to only be used as a NYC Taxi-what do we really, honestly, need?
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.