NISSAN LEAF: NO TAILPIPE; SMOKESTACK INSTEAD!

GLENN:

January 18, 2011

TRASH-TALKING: Nissan’s Tavares to GM: Electric cars don’t have tailpipes.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 1:00 pm

AUTOBLOG:

Carlos Tavares, the automaker's executive vice-president of the Americas, spoke at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit last week. Tavares held a muffler and tailpipe in the air and uttered these words:

As automakers, we have a duty to communicate with clarity to help customers understand today's technology. If you're calling your car electric, and it has one of these, you're only muddling the message.

OF COURSE, ELECTRIC CARS DON'T HAVE TAILPIPES;

• THEY HAVE SMOKESTACKS AT THE POWER PLANT THEY'RE PLUGGED INTO - WHICH PROBABLY BURNS COAL.

• AND THEIR MANUFACTURING BATTERIES FOR THEM REQUIRES A TON OF POWER, TOO.

IOW: ELECTRIC CARS ARE TFBS.