677: Asshole

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Asshole

Title text: [Shortly thereafter, at a nearby bakery] ::CRASH:: ::RUMBLE:: ::VRRRRRR:: "... I don't know, officer. It just scooped up an entire rack of scones and drove away!"

Explanation

SUVs are incredibly large personal vehicles with a massive amount of cargo space, and notorious gas-guzzlers. The stereotype is that SUV owners drive such massive cars because they're compensating for something. Upon hearing Cueball call him an asshole for driving an SUV, Beret Guy, hoping to win peoples' approval, trades his SUV in at the dealership for a hybrid subcompact.

Hybrid sedans are vehicles that can be powered by both gasoline and electricity - that is, by plugging them into a wall socket between uses. The stereotype is that people drive them so that they can feel superior to others, and that's exactly what Megan says when Beret Guy drives past them a second time.

Annoyed, Beret Guy trades in his car a second time, this time to get a massive construction vehicle and smack them with it. In the title text, he also uses it to get himself a whole bunch of scones, one of Beret Guy's trademarks.

Transcript

[A couple watches Beret Guy drive by in an SUV.]

Cueball: Look at that asshole in his SUV, thinking he's so badass while he guzzles gas driving around suburbia.

Beret Guy: Oh no! Am I an asshole? I hope not.

[Beret Guy trades in his keys at the dealership.]

[Now he is driving by in a hybrid sedan.]

Megan: Look at that smug asshole thinking he's better than us because he drives a hybrid.

Beret Guy: ...

[He trades in his keys again.]

[The couple is standing.]

Off-panel: RUMBLE

[Beret Guy drives a backhoe in and smacks the couple out of the panel with the digger.]

[He drives off, whistling.]

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Discussion

Hybrids aren't generally plug-in - they run on gas and battery, which recharges itself through braking.MR (talk) 03:50, 1 March 2013 (UTC)MR

...and also directly of the engine. The most sensible way of hybridding, IMO, is to have the engine only generating, so that it can be run at optimal fuel-consumption revs. But it only needs to run whenever the battery needs topping up or the motors can do with more electrical power than the batteries alone can supply. Add in some intelligent stop/start and some road-condition detection in addition to anything the driver can manually switch and that sounds about perfect (short of adding solar panels on top, as well). Don't know why the Hybrid concept initially went off on a tangent with electric-assist taking over for clutch-connected gas(/petrol)-power to the wheels at times. 178.98.207.61 13:17, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

This is not a sedan, it is apparently a subcompact hatch or a Hot Hatch (Coupé). In europe the subcompact class is known as supermini. Not that it matters much but... I found out i can edit the explanation directly so... I just did. -- Gegueure (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I'd always assumed that the engine connected to a generator plan would be the future of hybrids too. But in truth, conversion losses, combined with the extra weight of electrics that can fully propel the vehicle, far outweigh any gains from running the fueled engine at perfect RPMs. There are still places for such designs, especially as auxiliary power in vehicles that require continuous energy, like refrigerated trucks. In retrospect, the gasoline and electric motor sandwich connected to a transmission, was brilliant! Taryn 108.162.238.225 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)