I stood 3-4 deep from the stage at the DBT show last night and didn't much care if I looked like an middle-aged idiot (which I did, I guess but there were others [idiocy loves company]). It was a good show. That's Patterson Hood to the right. There were lights behind Cooley so I couldn't get a decent picture.
My favorite part of the show was during the encore when the big furry student (... male ...) stage rushed and planted his large self right in front of me. Then decided he needed about 2 more feet all around to really get his dance on. Whoa big fella! But, I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
The show was scheduled to start at 9 with an opening act. I got there about 10 and found out the opening act started at 9:30. They played until 10:30 and DBT didn't start until 11:00 (why am I always surprised when this happens?). I got home at 1:10 am, got to sleep around 1:30, then inexplicably woke up at 5:15. Good morning!
It is really a good thing that nothing is going on today (other than George Parson's electric car seminar** ... I already have my first hard-hitting question lined up: "Have you ever driven a Volt?" and then a follow-up: "What's that like?" Then I'll follow that answer up with something like: "That's awesome." [University of Chicago seminar style]).
Notes:
*But I ain’t too crappy, too crappy at all.
**Abstract: This paper presents a stated preference study of electric vehicle choice using data from a national web-based survey. In our choice experiment respondents were asked to choose between two electric versions of their preferred gasoline vehicle and their preferred gasoline vehicle. The electric vehicles varied in attributes and price. The preferred gasoline vehicle was the opt-out alternative. Using the response data we valued five electric vehicle attributes: driving range, charging time, fuel cost saving, pollution reduction, and performance. Driving range, fuel savings, and charging time lead in terms of importance to respondents. Individuals were willing to pay (wtp) from $35 to $75 for a mile of added driving range, with wtp increasing at a decreasing rate with distance. They were willing to pay $425 to $3250 per hour of charging time (for a 50 mile charge), with wtp increasing at an increasing rate for shorter charges. Finally, people were capitalizing about 5 years of fuel saving into the purchase price of an electric vehicle. We simulated our model over a range of electric vehicle configurations and found that people with the highest values for electric vehicles were willing to pay a substantial premium. At the same time, our results suggest that battery cost must drop significantly before electric vehicles are economic.
