Fuel Economy – Yes
I grew up in Lewisville, TX - so my information comes from a news report that lasted for 30-45 seconds long from Dallas. I currently live in Panama City, FL. Before posting this article, I have tried to look at the news archives for that area but I haven't been able to get a subscription as of yet to do further research. As of right now, here is what I do know : The car manufacturers should NOT have received their bailouts, but that is for a different article. They have brought this upon themselves in two ways : One, Union workers ( No, I am not against Unions, but this article is not about business dynamics - way too much to go into ) . Two, by trying to brainwash the American people into believing that they need a new car every four years - the Lease Program .
The 30-45 second story was about a man that had developed an engine using a new type of carburetor. Not very memorable at that point, but here is what got burned into my memory : it was able to use 99.95 % of the fuel that went into it, which means it was also way ahead of the emission standards. Now, for the all important Miles Per Gallon we are all looking for today. You ready ?
I'll give you low numbers just in case my memory is faulty. 45-50 mpg city, 65-70 mpg highway.
What kind of car could this engine power ? A subcompact ? A car that can only seat one person ?
A regular sized car !
What kind of power could this engine produce ? Will Power Walkers beat you uphill ? Will people on bicycles beat you to the next light ?
No, the same kind of power you have now ( as a side note, who needs a car that can do 120 mph when the max speed limit anywhere is only 75 mph ? ) .
Now, at this point you might have several questions. One of them possibly being : where is this wonderful engine ?
Unfortunately, here is where we insert the conspiracy theories. It's not in the cars that are sitting on the dealership lots. So, where is it then ?
One main conspiracy theory is that the auto makers and the Big Oil companies bought this man out, the Rights to the engine, and buried it.
Why ?
Consider the fact that I never told you when this story aired. I'll give you some time to go back up to the top of the article.
Between 1984 and 1986.
If we already have a car that can get 45-50 mpg, why would we need a newer car every four years ? And, there is your Lease Program - it might three years. I was never interested in it, so did not pay attention to it. The Lease Program...in a nut shell is supposed to be able to put into a newer and better car every time you renew it. If the American people never bought newer and more ' efficient ' cars as often as the Auto makers wanted us to, they would not be as rich as they are now - ( ooops ) or were.
As for the Oil Companies - lets go with 1985. 1985 to now, 24 years. 45-50 mpg versus slowly going up from 10-15 mpg to what we have now ( average car, 19-22 mpg ) . Okay, I won't go into all the computations. You can, even on the low side, imagine their losses.
We have the technology to power our cars and trucks NOW without using oil for fuel. THEY don't want us to know that ( as another side note, go into Lowe's or Home Depot and look at the forklifts that they have INSIDE the store. They are not electric. They are propane powered - which is, granted, derived by refining oil. Point is, propane burns clean - well, clean enough to be inside a store. Cars - and trucks - can also use propane instead of gasoline ) .
There is another guy - more recent, only a few years ago - in the London area that invented a COMBUSTION engine that runs on compressed air - as it runs. it continuously compresses more air. The engine won't be brought over here.
Should the US Government mandate higher requirements for manufacturing vehicles ?
Yes.
The way things have been handled so far might be questionable, but the answer is still yes.
