biggbrother
Premium
join:2001-11-07
Providence, RI | First TV... Now They're in the Automotive Business?
Wow. That had to be expensive. Come get your Verizon Prius! |
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rantou
join:2002-06-04
Richardson, TX | What about that marketing scheme???
So they will use gas guzzling Hummers for advertising, but they want to be green otherwise? Sounds like the pot called the kettle black! |
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N3OGH
Bear patrol must be working like a charm
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs | Good point.. |
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brainlessdog
join:2005-11-30
Portsmouth, NH | This has nothing to do with Broadband
Verizon started using recycled toilet paper today. |
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Littlefalls
join:2004-11-16
Ringwood, NJ | Cool
That's pretty neat actually... at least someone is "trying" to make a difference |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19
 ·Comcast
| reply to rantou
Re: What about that marketing scheme???
said by rantou  :So they will use gas guzzling Hummers for advertising, but they want to be green otherwise? Sounds like the pot called the kettle black! They don't give a crap about the environment. They want to save money on gas. Anything that will cut costs is positive for them and much needed. |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| They actually help start the 3rd brake light.....
When Verizon was C&P Telephone here in the Mid-Atlantic, many of their cars were retrofitted with 3rd brake lights. They had a lot fewer rear-end accidents and their experience was one of those used to promote the regulations. They did this back in the 70's and 80's. |
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SD6
join:2005-03-26 | nothing but PR
"one of the largest private motor vehicle fleets in the US..." and they retrofit 13 vans.
big whoop, shame on those news organizations who fall for this PR and tell people that Verizon is being green |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
 ·Verizon FIOS
| How is this being green?
Duty vans just sit idling, as the techs do their paperwork, or pull along other techs and chat.
Taxicabs should be hybrids. Not utility vans. Not unless the duty of the Fios van driver is stop-n-go in a metro area.
Verizon could be green if they ditched the Hummer2 marketing vehicles (but why should they? it's a complete wash for a 100% lease writeoff...).
Verizon could mandate that all service vehicles run on ethanol (not going to happen, especially when the big trucks are diesel). Or could encourage employees with incentive to move to hybrids (again, will they go to Camrys? Since that is the only nice car-hybrid available...).
This is just attention-whoring on the "Look, we are doing something for the green team" PR.
Yet, our Fios equipment uses YOUR electricity bill. Rather Verizon could penny-up to donating to windmill farms, or solar arrays on their access/comm areas.
Sorry. bad morning. grumpy. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Minimize the Impact?
Hybrid vehicles are not the environmental panacea everyone makes them out to be. They simply trade one form of pollution for another. In my opinion, exchanging the pollution of a gas-powered engine for the pollution created by battery production is a bad trade.
Over the past 30 years, efficiency of gasoline engines has improved significantly, and while more work needs to be done in this area (revising CAFE standards, etc.), gasoline engines have come a long way in terms of producing less emissions as technology improves.
However... anyone who knows anything about making batteries knows that the process and chemicals used in these suckers are extremely toxic. Couple that with the fact that all batteries eventually die out and have to be replaced will mean that even with recycling, you still have to scorch the Earth to make even more.
Which poison is better?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to MadMANN
Re: What about that marketing scheme???
said by MadMANN :They want to save money on gas. Anything that will cut costs is positive for them and much needed. Hybrid vehicles generally cost so much more than gasoline powered equivalents that any savings from gas use is minimal at best.
According to the article, Verizon had their vans equipped with after-market hybrid technology. This process adds significantly more cost to the vehicles (assuming they were purchased new). It is unlikely they will recoup any savings from gasoline purchases using this approach.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26 | Was this before or after
they pulled their ads from Anne Coulter's website?
i yi yi ... |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
| Good PR and thats it?
Is anyone else as skeptical as me.....VZ owns one of the largest repair fleets in the nation and they only do 13 vehicles and then make a big deal out of it?
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic inQuake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by Loker :VZ owns one of the largest repair fleets in the nation and they only do 13 vehicles and then make a big deal out of it? Yea... it sounds a lot like someone who uses 20x more power in his own house than the average house, but then buys carbon credits from a charity that he founded and still manages and then uses that as an excuse for being able to pollute more.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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jervin123
join:2005-04-14
Philadelphia, PA
| Hybrid + Nickel Battery = bad
I don't understand why many hybrid car makers decided to use Nickel based batteries then Lithium-ion/polymer just my opinion. Then we could store energy after shutting down vehicle where as most hybrids discharge their battery immediatly after shutting down. |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19
·Comcast
| reply to pnh102
Re: What about that marketing scheme???
said by pnh102 :According to the article, Verizon had their vans equipped with after-market hybrid technology. This process adds significantly more cost to the vehicles (assuming they were purchased new). It is unlikely they will recoup any savings from gasoline purchases using this approach. As a field tech, I put about $100-125 in my tank every week. In a year, that's $5200. In five years (the average life of a field vehicle, sometimes more), that would be $26,000. So you are telling me that a hybrid truck would cost close to $26,000 more than a normal truck?
The savings are obvious. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to jervin123
Re: Hybrid + Nickel Battery = bad
said by jervin123 :I don't understand why many hybrid car makers decided to use Nickel based batteries then Lithium-ion/polymer just my opinion. Then we could store energy after shutting down vehicle where as most hybrids discharge their battery immediatly after shutting down. NIMH don't discharge on shutdowm. They maintain a charge for several months without recharging.
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My BLOG
My Web Page |
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Lets Go
join:2005-03-05
Homer, NY
| reply to Loker
Re: Good PR and thats it?
said by Loker :Is anyone else as skeptical as me.....VZ owns one of the largest repair fleets in the nation and they only do 13 vehicles and then make a big deal out of it? How would you feel if they fitted all their vans and the technology doesn't work for them. My guess is that you would then complain because they can not come to your house because all of their fleet was broken down. I think testing it first makes sense.
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to MadMANN
Re: What about that marketing scheme???
said by MadMANN :As a field tech, I put about $100-125 in my tank every week. In a year, that's $5200. In five years (the average life of a field vehicle, sometimes more), that would be $26,000. So you are telling me that a hybrid truck would cost close to $26,000 more than a normal truck? The savings are obvious. What is not being told here is how much Verizon spent on each vehicle to have it converted. Given how much more hybrid cars cost than non-hybrid cars, it is not reasonable to assume that the cost of converting each vehicle for hybrid use could be that high. For example, compare the cost of a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan to a non-hybrid Honda Civic Sedan. The hybrid costs about $7500 more than the non-hybrid (assuming the lowest MSRPs are used).
Another factor is that hybrid cars realize much of their gas savings from the fact that they are small. Compare the 4 cylinder Saturn VUE SUV to its non-hybrid counterpart. The former gets 27-32 MPG and the latter gets 22-27 MPG. That isn't exactly a stellar difference.
I am also assuming that a field truck gets more abuse than a standard car, so there might also be a battery replacement needed (especially since older batteries lose their ability to retain charge). There's another ding in the potential savings.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
| reply to Lets Go
Re: Good PR and thats it?
said by Lets Go :said by Loker :Is anyone else as skeptical as me.....VZ owns one of the largest repair fleets in the nation and they only do 13 vehicles and then make a big deal out of it? How would you feel if they fitted all their vans and the technology doesn't work for them. My guess is that you would then complain because they can not come to your house because all of their fleet was broken down. I think testing it first makes sense. why make a big deal about testing it then? it is just PR....I would be surprised if we see many more the vehicles in their repair fleet upgraded to hybrid technology....I mean their trucks have been falling apart here for at least 7 years....they can not be bothered to maintain their fleet as is!
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic inQuake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking |
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