NYC's 19th-Century Horse Carriages Spawn Weird, Truck-Size Electric Car

cartechboy (2660665) writes "Led by Tesla, electric cars are all the rage now. And the idea of a nine-passenger all-electric vehicle sounds good--until you learn that it maxes out at 30 mph, weighs almost four tons, and costs in the six figures. What is this monstrosity? It's the Frankenstein creation of a group of animal-rights advocates, who are proposing it as the replacement for New York City's fabled horse carriages--and who paid $450,000 to have a prototype built. Who's against it? Would you believe Liam Neeson and one of NYC's daily papers? The huge electric car--modeled after an early 1900s open touring car, complete with brass lanterns--is on display this week at the New York Auto Show, and it's certainly attracting its share of attention."

Comments

Animal rights?

[PPH]

Its either pull a carriage or off to the dog food factory. Ask the horse for its preference.

Re:Animal rights?

[MildlyTangy]

Its either pull a carriage or off to the dog food factory. Ask the horse for its preference.

The horse was consulted and has been asked which option it would prefer.

The horse did not respond.

The general conclusion was that it seemed likely that the horse did not understand English.

Animal cruelty?

[gman003]

OK, the car actually seems like a decent idea, and might work well. But their motivation seems a bit ridiculous.

I've ridden horses. Anyone claiming that riding horses is automatically animal cruelty is quite simply a moron. Fortunately, these people do not seem to be pushing that particular agenda - their claim is that NYC is inhospitable to horses.

I haven't been to NYC, other than driving through, so I can't personally claim either way. However, if NYC is inhospitable enough to qualify as cruelty to horses, then NYC ought to be abandoned as unsafe for human habitation as well. After all, homo sapiens is a species of animal, so shouldn't animal cruelty apply to us as well?

I like it!

[nine-times]

I'm not against the horse-drawn carriages, but I kind of like this car. It's charming. Can we have both?

Re:And the horses?

[BenSchuarmer]

They'll take them to a nice farm... um out in the country... um where they can spend all their time in a field chasing rabbits.

Stupid?

[chispito]

Disclosure: I've never been to NYC, and I don't know how these horses are treated. If they're generally treated poorly, then disregard my comments.

That said, it makes me wonder if the animal rights activists have ever met working horses. Working animals are bred for their jobs and they tend to enjoy them. My brother owned a draft horse and there was nothing he liked better than pulling. If pulling teams are animal cruelty, then so is playing fetch with your retriever.

Re:Stupid?

[swillden]

My brother owned a draft horse and there was nothing he liked better than pulling. If pulling teams are animal cruelty, then so is playing fetch with your retriever.

Just another anecdote, a friend of mine has sled dogs (~30 dogs, two sleds; he's fairly serious about it) and those dogs clearly love to pull. All you have to do is jingle a harness, or start loading equipment into the trailer used to haul dogs + gear and they go nuts with excitement, crowding over and trying to be first into the traces/trailer. You lay the traces out on the ground and they immediately run to their positions, with some squabbling over who gets to be where, and wait anxiously to be hooked up. The toughest part of getting going in the morning is making them wait until you're ready to go, and then they'll happily run all day long (as long as they get suitable breaks, with food and water). Those who are hurt or otherwise getting a day off are clearly dejected by not getting a chance to get into the traces.

I've known many horses who were almost as excited about their jobs... though I've also known a few who were quite lazy and didn't like to work.

Re:Stupid?

[geekoid]

"They never leave the city (except to be sent to slaughter.) "
not always true.

"Their stalls are appalling."
That's a blatant lie.

" Often, they don't 'like' pulling, "
You have never worked around horse, have you?

"which is an appalling stable in this case."
again,l that's a blatant lie.

hmm, someone with the name VeganCyclist whose opinion is devoid of facts. I'm shocked.

Use the Big Dog instead

[Anonymous Coward]

Bunch of idiots. If they are going that route, why not use dog robot developed by Boston Dynamic? See www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2rq7rKgjJQ

Re:Use the Big Dog instead

[Ralph Wiggam]

I would absolutely pay to ride in an old fashioned carriage pulled by a robotic horse. That's some "Diamond Age" shit.

electric golf carts

[Geoffrey.landis]

OK, the car actually seems like a decent idea, and might work well.

A decent idea? They just spent half a million dollars to re-invent the electric golf cart!

There are a dozen of of these things driving around every airport in America.

The obvious, cheaper compromise

[PapayaSF]

Let's have animal rights activists pull the carriages.