Automobiles are fast.
Only a few days after finalization of the AEG/WP report in May of 2019, in a city in the Midwest Region of the United States, data was collected for a study of automobile performance.
In this study, researchers operated 39 different automobiles for a distance of ten miles one or more times, for a total of 73 “time trials”. The collected data revealed that automobiles can cover ten miles in 172 seconds or less, and in some cases in fewer than 155 seconds. This represents a substantial improvement over the reported results for fast bicycles.
Automobiles are affordable.
A second group of researchers, in the very same month, conducted their own study of automobile pricing. They determined that automobiles cost $36,718 on average, with prices ranging from less than half to more than twice that amount.
Unfortunately, although the two studies were conducted in the same month, the researchers did not coordinate with their work. This makes it difficult to determine from the available data whether there might be a relationship between the performance of particular automobiles and their price. At least a few experienced analysts have proposed that an automobile priced at or below the average may perform less ably than higher priced cars. A special study in which performance data and price data are examined conjointly has been proposed as means to determine whether there is hidden link between performance and price.
DPC Referee 