fuel efficiency in automobiles
does anyone have any good thoughts on automobile fuel efficiency?
I see that the "SMART" Mercedes is pretty good, albeit tiny car.
supposed to be selling for abour 25K, but 60-70 mpg.
I'm mis? remembering the Honda CVCC in the 70's that had a fuel efficiency of about 52 mpg
Honda
Then VW is working on even more fuel efficiency, though what will be given up remains to be seen.
I've got a sneaky suspicion that fuel prices will not be going down soon...
4 comments:
According to the U.S. Dept of Energy's website www.fueleconomy.gov the 2007 Toyota Prius gets 61 mpg city, 51 mpg hwy. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml
The Honda CVCC from the 70's was a shoebox.
There seems to be growing interest in Ethanol by the moneychangers http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/weiss/2007/0409.html and by the Bush administration. No doubt there will be Ethanol stations in our future. The cynic in me figures the profiteers will ensure the highest possible profit margin; and I get downright suspicious of “environmentally friendly” claims by corporate interests.
I guess my objection to the battery (hybrid) vehicles is their projected high waste load of battery replacement. (and expensive). there are trade-offs for the higher gas mileage...other, more distant costs.
the reason for my interest in the SMART car, was the fact that it is NOT a hybrid. just a smaller version of the earlier CVCC.
if you can imagine that.
still, when the price of gas hits 4$ or more this summer, there will be a lot more interest in smaller cars.
my pessimistic self says "too little, and too late".
the cynic in me agrees with the cynic in you.
but we may be far more interested in food and water in the future than in automobile fuel.
who knows?
Dad -- looks like the Smart car can be bought for a minimum of $12k. It's more if you want fancy colors or other options.
Just like the mini cooper -- I'll wait until there's a few on the used car market. The problem with buying one of these right now is that you can't bargain with the dealership/distributor until you have other options for purchase.
I'm telecommuting today :)
well, 12K is certainly approachable.
I hope that telecommuting is nowhere near as dangerous as commuting on the highway in a SMART car!
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