Friday, May 4, 2007

0 to 60 in...60 seconds


Since our work facility is out in the country we talked about forming a cooperative and maybe getting a 15 passenger van. If we can get enough folks in our area to pay into it, maybe we could form a collective, get a big van like a Chevy Experess, and have a massive carpool. We could park it in West Knoxville and maybe take it in from 7 to 5. While In-Motion 2-Way satellite transmission wouldn't be an option, we could provide a Datastorm satellite connection with Direcway and provide internet access while we wait from 6 to 7, then drive it in, be at work at 7.30, then head home again at 4.30, which is a shorter day than most of us work but probably still doable. I bet we could get a local church to let us use their parking lot.

Figuring out the monthly fee would be an issue, I guess, it depends on insurance costs, number of participants, etc. If we get a regular car loan, 10 people would probably have to pay about $50 a month for the vehicle & insurance. Gas charges would be high: think about it: 60 miles per day, at 15 mpg requires 4 gallons a day. At $5 per gallon that's $20 a day or 2 per person. At $10 per gallon we're looking at $4 per person. Per week, $10 to $20...per YEAR, $500 to $1000, or $40 to $80 per month. I bet we could charge everyone $125 per month and we'd be fine for the first year.

They have a natural gas conversion-ready engine option available so we could power it with natural gas if we wanted to, although that will probably get more expensive too. I wonder if they have a diesel option? I didn't see it in the options.

This is worth looking into!
Express Van from Edmunds website

Image from
http://www.edmunds.com/new/2007/chevrolet/express/index.html#

1 comment:

Jason DuMars said...

What a great idea!

I'm your state neighbor in Murfreesboro & Nashville. We represent the Heartland. :)