This is called kickdown with a conventional automatic transmission. It was originally a cable that would downshift the transmission only if the pedal was pushed far down. It is probably computer controlled now.

If you are replacing a transmission in 7 to 10 years, you are doing something wrong or got a lemon of a transmission. It's not uncommon to get 250,000 miles on an original transmission. Some hybrids still have transmissions, The Hybrid Synergy Drive cars don't. Brakes are still a thing on hybrid cars, but regenerative braking takes a lot of wear off of them. Every hybrid still has an ICE (generally just smaller ones) so things like oil changes, spark plugs, etc. still need to be taken care of.

If you want to talk about full electric cars, then you have a point about not worrying about many of these issues. As I see it hybrids generally just combine the maintenance requirements of two types of cars together.

No, they aren't. They have a deal with payment processors that allow you to pay for things with it, but the processor takes your bitcoins and gives the major companies US dollars.

Look dude, you don't have to like or have any faith in the US dollar, but calling it " the most corrupt currency on the entire planet" (emphasis added) is a bit of an exaggeration. When you extremely exaggerate and spew hyperbole, people tend to tune you out and label you a nut job.

Cantor is not necessarily out of the race yet. He could always run a write-in campaign. If the cause of his losing this primary was a lot of voter apathy (low turn-out) or Democrats crossing over to vote for who they perceived to be a weaker candidate, there could be a lot of people that would write him in.

See Sen. Lisa Murkowski's last election when she lost the primary to a tea party candidate and successfully won the general election as a write-in candidate.

This wasn't a vote for public office. It was a vote to determine what Republican would run in the general election. Many places with open primaries still make you pick a party ballot. So you could vote on the Republican ballot or the Democrat ballot, but not both.

unless some guys says a propulsion system is faster than "any combustion" engine. That makes this side thread germane.

A Chevy Tahoe is one of the few modern SUVs that don't fit what you are saying. They are still made on a full size truck chassis. So unless you're going to tell me Chevy Silverado Trucks have no off road capabilities, the Tahoe doesn't fit your rant.

The majority of other SUVs don't have the same kind of truck based chassis and are basically minivans.

If you don't like the region coding, encryption, or non-skippable bs on movies. DON"T BUY THEM! It is content created by the film industry and that is how they have decided to distribute it. I don't care if you think they could do so much better with a different business model. That is their product and that is how they are using it. You don't have some kind of inherent right to watch the latest Hollywood movies and TV shows. If you don't like their product distribution, find something else to do.

If people were complaining about copyright laws in regards to old movies like Casblanca, it would be worth discussing and debating the merits of keeping a 70 year old classic film under lock and key for the content creator. The majority of people that bitch about copyright laws are downloading media from the past 5 to 10 years at most. Is there anybody that really thinks a content creator shouldn't be able to profit from their work for at least one decade?

So, your city is 1/15 the size of New York City, but there is more than one murder a day and tens of thousands of burglars? Can you tell us what this shit hole city is?

Are you seriously arguing that the latest copy of "The Lego Movie" or "Non-Stop" are ideas?

I don't know where you came up with this idea. I made a snarky comment about wording. I'm not very knowledgeable about this. I also own firearms so don't get defensive and think I'm pushing to take away all the guns.

I don't see how you can rectify your position with the fact that sales of firearms have been regulated for a very long time now. Background checks, restrictions on types of firearms (fully automatic), even restrictions on age of buyers.

Well, technically it's the right to "bear" arms, not the right to "buy" arms. So regulating sales isn't against the 2nd amendment.

The best advantage to traditional ICE vehicles having regular model year changes as opposed to changes whenever they want, is that it makes it a lot easier to find the right parts for repairs. This mostly applies to mechanical parts, not computer systems. As long as Tesla is not changing suspension parts, brake systems, or systems like this multiple times a year it should be fine. Otherwise have a good time trying to replace suspension components on a 10 to 20 year old Tesla in the future.

Of course Tesla (like all car manufacturers) doesn't really care about you keeping a car for decades. They are in the business of selling new cars. It may be in their best interests to make it difficult to maintain a vehicle once it is out of warranty.

Not all wealthy people remain wealthy.

When a person is wealthy enough, wasting $100,000 will have little to no effect on their wealth.

You can't possibly be suggesting that every expenditure of a wealthy person is a good buy, can you?