See the Only 14 Models with Better Than 30 MPG
By Dan Shapley
I found this yesterday on thedailygreen. Let's think about this for a moment. The subtitle is "See the Only 14 Models with Better Than 30 MPG". This in the nation that is home base for "The Big 3" auto manufacturers. Also the same nation that endured long gas lines and rationing in the 1970s and perpetual military involvement in the middle east for many years to ensure that we keep getting our fix. The U.S. government is like a battered woman protecting her abuser (pimp?) from the police.
Coming in at #1 on thedailygreen list is the 2009 Toyota Prius. Fuel Economy= City: 48 mpg/ Highway: 45 mpg
The top reply to the article brings up the point of 2 diesel powered cars available in Europe, but not in the U.S. The more interesting of these is the Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI passenger car (pictured), advertised by Volkswagen as “the best mileage production car in the world”. In 2000 it was driven around the globe for over 20,000 road miles with an average fuel efficiency of 118mpg!!! This is almost exactly 2.5 times the efficiency achieved by the much-loved and iconic Toyota Prius. Click here for the U.S. standard to metric conversion calculator. Volkswagen engineers are working on a super-economical motor that could go 300 miles on only one gallon of fuel. The Aptera (pictured below) already achieves this, and provides seating for two, which is double the number of people I typically see commuting together during rush hour drives.
Let's not forget electric cars, compressed air cars, mass transit, bicycles and other methods of getting around when we begin seriously overhauling our transportation system. With the U.S. auto industry looking like it may be going under due to a lack of demand, maybe now is the time to lobby the government to begin demanding that these alternative vehicles be made available in the U.S. This would have the additional benefit of forcing U.S. industry to once again become competitive to keep up.
Let President-elect Obama know your thoughts at change.gov. If enough of us do this, the government and industry may finally begin to get the idea. Remember that you vote for change (or maintaining the status quo) everyday with your dollars, and through how you use your time and energy.
Posts
2 comments:
The hidden evil of many of these cars is production. The so called green prius is horrid for the environment in terms of production. From mining minerals for the battery, to the repeated shipping of components across oceans the "greeness" of this car becomes less than its strictly fuel counterparts.
I agree that we need to consider the cost and impact of all of our systems/components from cradle to grave (preferably cradle to cradle...). I hope to see cities, towns, and villages redesigned for people rather than for automobiles, which would dramatically reduce this impact... Mass transit, bikes, horses (where appropriate), and feet are much easier on the environment and a lot less costly financially. The reduced demand for petroleum has many other obvious benefits as well.
Next time, please sign your comments. :)
Post a Comment