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  "description": "Good morning. Shall we jump right in?\n\n\nItem 1: a link\n\nYou probably thought Elon Musk invented electric cars. Meet the 1980 Comuta-Car Electric Runabout, you utter fool:\n\nThe Comuta-Car, and its predecessor the CitiCar, were electric cars designed for limited use in cities. Sharp increases in gasoline prices in the 1970s persuaded some 4,000 people to buy the tiny vehicles. But every time the price of fuel spiked, it always fell again, and demand for specialized urban electrics always fell alon",
  "path": "/friday-february-6-2026/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-06T14:30:43.000Z",
  "site": "https://newsletter.wolmania.com",
  "tags": [
    "the 1980 Comuta-Car Electric Runabout",
    "the long history of electric cars, starting back in the 19th century",
    "rip Jimmy Carter's solar panels off of the White House roof",
    "obvious, inevitable march of progress",
    "bought",
    "sold",
    "remembered",
    "discarded",
    "restored"
  ],
  "textContent": "Good morning. Shall we jump right in?\n\n* * *\n\n## Item 1: a link\n\n\n\nYou probably thought Elon Musk invented electric cars. Meet the 1980 Comuta-Car Electric Runabout, you utter fool:\n\n> The Comuta-Car, and its predecessor the CitiCar, were electric cars designed for limited use in cities. Sharp increases in gasoline prices in the 1970s persuaded some 4,000 people to buy the tiny vehicles. But every time the price of fuel spiked, it always fell again, and demand for specialized urban electrics always fell along with it.\n\n(Also, meet the long history of electric cars, starting back in the 19th century.)\n\nClearly built for city driving and parking (check out those hefty bumpers, which, uh... contained the batteries), the Comuta-Car is like a glimpse into an alternate universe where Ronald Reagan didn't rip Jimmy Carter's solar panels off of the White House roof. Perhaps someday we'll have a federal government that supports the obvious, inevitable march of progress.\n\nAnyway, in researching this adorable vehicle I learned that they're still out there, getting bought, sold, remembered, discarded, and restored (I'm pretty sure I used to walk past this last one parked on the street in my old neighborhood!).\n\n## Item 2: a list\n\n### **Italian Wedding Soup Components, Ranked:**\n\n  1. Meatballs\n  2. Pasta\n  3. Fresh herbs\n  4. Spinach\n  5. Chicken broth\n  6. Carrots\n  7. Celery\n\n\n\n## Item 3: a media recommendation\n\nHerbie Hancock - Rain Dance\n\n## Item 4: word of the week\n\nDemotic\n\n> Stop using all those high-falutin' fancy words and just speak demotically!\n\n## Item 5: an image\n\nJames Sowerby, Oxide of Manganese (Manganesium oxygenizatum) (1802–17)\n\n* * *\n\n## See ya!\n\nThanks for reading. See you again next week.",
  "title": "Friday, February 6, 2026",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-06T14:30:43.000Z"
}