The Snow

Up in the snow, during a storm with icy roads and unpredictable conditions I witnessed 4 cars unable to ascend a small hill from the cabin I was staying in. All had chains. All got stuck and had to turn around. Part of this was the cars - 2 wheel sedans or small SUVs. Some of it was the drivers obviously didn't know how to drive in the snow (LA-folk).

But boy was I glad for my underpowered, affordable AWD gas powered Subaru in those conditions. I was entirely confident of getting my family out of the mountains and didn't even need chains. I'm not overly enthused about electric cars. Have you seen what freezing cold does to your computer or Iphone battery? Have you been in storm conditions in the mountains? I can see myself still having at least one gas car for a long long time and even buying a brand new one the year before California "bans" them.

75% of the time, I'm lukewarm on Subaru. But 2% of the time - during terrible weather or tough road conditions - they're the next best thing to real rugged 4-wheel drive trucks and jeeps designed for hardcore conditions. That's why you see so many of them in the snow.