ORIGINAL: joeyr
RLSH700, I do agree that ethanol and hybrids are not going to save us from high gas prices but I do feel that it can be a start to be more responsible and aware of our fuel consumption. There are many to blame for gas prices: the EPA for giving misleading high MPG numbers because of their non realistic testing standards, car companies (especially American) for taking the easy way out and not making cars that weren’t more environmentally friendly. The government for being themselves (an opportunistic pack of coyotes that only seem to pull together when facing a national tragedy), gas companies for being bedfellows with government officials, and most importantly ourselves. We have become more industrialized as a species and also more wasteful. How can a small family justify an escalade ESV? How many celebrities can we name that have warehouses full of cars? how many different racing events are held in america annually? We have more cars than people in America and wonder why gas prices are so high. Also I like your argument about butanol and diesel, in fact there was an article in Motor trend recently about turning trash (cars, rotten food, etc) into oil. Sadly, I think it will take even higher gas prices before a real solution is employed. Also I like your argument about cvt and vvt trannies. The mini cooper (one of my favorite cars and perhaps my plan B to a challenger if it is unaffordable) has a cvt (I think) but I am not as familiar with vvt. But there is still hope for us, look even our beloved dodge, a company not known for fuel efficiency is employing MDS in its 5.7 hemi, investing in smart cars, and making a diesel hybrid Durango. Sorry for waiting so long to respond and thanks for your insight, especially about the hybrids electrical problems during accidents.
That's okay I haven't been here very often lately so don't worry. I'll try to explain some of these things. First of all, I agree with your analysis on who is to blame for the high prices for the most part, but I'd like to add another group to the list. I also blame the environmentalist community and here is why. The Liberty CDR, VW Diesels are going to be dropped for 07 because they can't pass the EPA standards. Granted we will have the Grand Cherokee model will replace it; however, it gets 3 mpg lower in both city/highway despite only being .2 liters larger.
Secondly, more environmentally friendly doesn't equal better fuel mileage. A car with a higher compression ratio gets higher fuel economy and produces more emissions as well. Back in the 70s, the car companies had to increase the displacement and lower the compression ratio on cars to get better emissions but the fuel economy got worse. The catalytic converters hurt the fuel economy as well. There are very few things that improve both a once, one is MDS and VVT systems.
Thirdly, a VVT system is a system on an engine. This article should explain the just of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_valve_timing (sorry this source isn't the best but it was the easiest to find)
Fourth, my argument against Ethanol and Hybrids is based on my personal belief that Ethanol and Hybrids are nothing but a distraction from real answers because they don't really solve the problem.
Fifth, I realize we do consume quite a bit more than we maybe should, but the thing that is really driving the prices up is that China and India are getting more cars and consuming more fuel as a result. Yes the Big Three have made some of the biggest fuel guzzlers; however, they have been more dedicated to coming up with alternative fuels than the Japanese have been. They made electric cars, FFV vehicles, DCX even tried to make a Hybrid Intrepid but it failed due to the extreme expense. Here is an article about that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Intrepid_ESX
I read that article in Motor Trend, it was interesting. I'm perfectly fine with that rout