GM's Commitment?

So GM is shutting down its factories in Oshawa, ON with the view of converting to a new future of private transportation.

Let's hope that future has not been determined by media hype and coffee-counter science, the forces most likely responsible for the global warming and climate change theories.

GM spokespeople talk of self-driving vehicles and electric cars. That probably needs a bit of revised thinking.

Electric vehicles will need a phased-in infrastructure to equip homes with suitable voltages. So the key word here is phased-in. No crash conversion.

Self-driving vehicles will also need to be phased in, because most people will feel a self-driving vehicle is just not worth the bother. Why not just take public transit?

I'm an old fossil from a past generation. Modern vehicles are already a let down for me. No longer is it possible to match one's driving skills with a clutch and a neat, nicely-synchronized manual four-on-the-floor to play coherent highway tunes on a responsive vehicle.

It is to be hoped that the decision makers at GM, Ford and the other auto manufacturers take the time to factor in the influence of media hype and publicity-hungry science before making any solid commitments.

There is also the question of electronic efficiency. Naturally, all the electronic people promote their stuff as gospel, but how good is it actually? There is always the thought that much of it only adds new layers of complexity to problems that would have been better left to human evolution instead of being committed to technology.