How 'bout those gas prices?

[Old Goat]

I can remember my cousin and I taking turns driving my uncle's 1925 model T Ford on country roads when I was 12-13 years old. It was during WW 11 and "Unc" was in the navy and busy in the Pacific. Gas was rationed and cost .24 cents a gal. The old Ford had a gravity feed fuel system and an up draft carburetor. It's four banger engine had cast iron pistons and gave an honest 25 miles per gal. That's better than alot of vehicles do today.....What fun it was......

[zamboni]

gave an honest 25 miles per gal.

Sadly, the "good" gas mileage vehicles of yesteryear have given way to "regular" vehicles of today.  In 1997, my 1996 VW Golf did over 33 MPG on the highway.  Now-a-days, an "impressive" vehicle like my coworker's a 2007 Honda Civic gets all of 30 MPG.

Whoa. PATHETIC.

The sad part is, the major US vehicle companies today whine that they need a lower fleet MPG in order to compete.

Why is that???

In 2001, VW introduced their "1-liter-car".  It was a 2-seater vehicle that got "over 100 kilometers per liter".  That translates to...

218 miles per gallon.  Why can't they take 4 of those engines, plug them into an SUV, and get a truck that can do 54 MPG???

Sadly, they had to abandon the vehicle, due to economics: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/04/vw_abandons_its.html

Oh wait - I forgot, the world doesn't yet support good fuel economy vehicles...

[Old Goat]

It"s down to $2.02 here. The price is still not dropping as fast as in other areas close by......

[wavery]

Sadly, the "good" gas mileage vehicles of yesteryear have given way to "regular" vehicles of today.  In 1997, my 1996 VW Golf did over 33 MPG on the highway.  Now-a-days, an "impressive" vehicle like my coworker's a 2007 Honda Civic gets all of 30 MPG.

Whoa. PATHETIC.

The sad part is, the major US vehicle companies today whine that they need a lower fleet MPG in order to compete.

Why is that???
In 2001, VW introduced their "1-liter-car".  It was a 2-seater vehicle that got "over 100 kilometers per liter".  That translates to...

218 miles per gallon.  Why can't they take 4 of those engines, plug them into an SUV, and get a truck that can do 54 MPG???

Sadly, they had to abandon the vehicle, due to economics: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/04/vw_abandons_its.html

Oh wait - I forgot, the world doesn't yet support good fuel economy vehicles...

It's all about "Power to weight" ratio, plus a few other things added in like wind resistance and added accessories that make the alternator and AC draw more power.

Your '96 Golf probably didn't have the gadgets that the 2007 Civic has and certainly wasn't as heavy (all the added safety stuff).

My 2001 Chrysler Concorde gets 30MPG. I think that's pretty impressive. I similar car of yester-year would be lucky to get 20MPG.

The real answer is switching to ALL electric cars. I don't mean those cop-out hybrids either, they're a joke. Until we go all electric, we are at the mercy of oil rich countries.

[GeneF]

My 02 truck gets 14 to 17 not towing.  10 towing

My 05 Scion gets 35

My 1964 Pontiac Tempest got 13 if I was lucky.  During the 60's no one was concerned about gas mileage, everone wanted the muscle cars.  Guess this one was the SUV of the times.   326 engine, stick shift, positraction and I could sit 6 people in it comfortable and this was an intermediate size car in its day.  Still a memory, it was my first new car.

By the way, I paid extra for the padded dash.

[AustinBoston]

The real answer is switching to ALL electric cars. I don't mean those cop-out hybrids either, they're a joke. Until we go all electric, we are at the mercy of oil rich countries.

Actually, it's about a non-oil energy source.  For the most part, an electric car would use more oil, not less, because of inefficiencies in generating and transporting electricity.  Since the biggest chunk of the electricity we use is generated by burning oil, more money, not less, goes to the Middle East.

If we had a reasonable non-oil electric source, it could be used to make a fuel for internal combustion engines.  Until then, any transportation technology will use oil.

Austin

[wavery]

Actually, it's about a non-oil energy source.  For the most part, an electric car would use more oil, not less, because of inefficiencies in generating and transporting electricity.  Since the biggest chunk of the electricity we use is generated by burning oil, more money, not less, goes to the Middle East.

If we had a reasonable non-oil electric source, it could be used to make a fuel for internal combustion engines.  Until then, any transportation technology will use oil.

Austin

You're correct, if we recharge the "Batteries" from an oil fuel burning source.

There are more effective sources for generating electricity. Nuclear is one but that has it's problems too (obviously).

I think that fuel cell technology (or a derivative thereof) may be the wave of the future. The biggest obstacle is the "Batteries" or electrical storage devices. That is why President Bush continually pushes new battery technology (probably the only thing that I agree with him about :p ). The bottom line is still powering from electric motors. Internal combustion engines are terribly inefficient (on several levels).

[zamboni]

Actually, it's about a non-oil energy source.  For the most part, an electric car would use more oil, not less, because of inefficiencies in generating and transporting electricity.  Since the biggest chunk of the electricity we use is generated by burning oil, more money, not less, goes to the Middle East.

If we had a reasonable non-oil electric source, it could be used to make a fuel for internal combustion engines.  Until then, any transportation technology will use oil.

Actually, there is an up-and-coming alternative.  I forgot what state it is in, but I read last week about a man who moved into a new, experimental "zero-energy" house.  It cost about $400,000 (grants, etc), but was designed to have its technology mass-produced for about $100,000.

In short:  Massive solar arrays.  Batteries are inefficient and expensive to upkeep (for large amounts)... so, extra energy is sent to an Electrolytic Converter - which uses the electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen.

The hydrogen is stored in tanks, and when more power is needed (nights, parties, etc), a fuel-cell converts the hydrogen back to electricity.

The house is super-insulated, and the man charged his electric car from his home system.

[JimQPublic]

My first brand new car was a 4 door Mitsubishi Mirage rebadged as a Chrysler Eagle Summit in 1987.  I got 40+ on the open road and low 30's in town.  

It had a 1.5 liter engine & 81 horsepower.  It kept up fine on the freeway but didn't have the sort of acceleration we expect now.  Sizewise it was comparable to the Toyota Corolla of the day, but modern Corollas are much bigger.

I think we have to face the fact that a 250 HP, 4000+ pound minivan or midsized SUV is never going to get better than 25 mpg on the highway and 20 mpg around town.

Basic physics tells me that less weight, less wind resistance, and less power will get better mileage.  Of course driving style plays a major part too.

PS-
Fuel here is somewhere around $2.50/gallon.  I've been riding the train to work 90% of the time.

[eanddrice]

:p Ours is at 1.81 in Loganville (Atlanta).  Wish it would hold through vacation (yeah right)

[wavery]

Actually, there is an up-and-coming alternative.  I forgot what state it is in, but I read last week about a man who moved into a new, experimental "zero-energy" house.  It cost about $400,000 (grants, etc), but was designed to have its technology mass-produced for about $100,000.

In short:  Massive solar arrays.  Batteries are inefficient and expensive to upkeep (for large amounts)... so, extra energy is sent to an Electrolytic Converter - which uses the electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen.

The hydrogen is stored in tanks, and when more power is needed (nights, parties, etc), a fuel-cell converts the hydrogen back to electricity.

The house is super-insulated, and the man charged his electric car from his home system.

It seems to me that a fuel cell car would fit right into this program. The hydrogen collected could be used to fill the fuel cell car. When the car is not in use, it could be used to power the house (and most of the neighbors houses).

A fuel cell is supposedly capable of lasting a lifetime. The concept is to keep the fuel cell and running gear for a lifetime. When you buy a "new car", it would be, literally, the body and interior only. Unsnap the old body, snap on the new one. A person could even have a number of "bodies" for different applications. You could have an SUV body, sport car body and PU truck body that all snap onto the same fuel cell.

[AustinBoston]

A fuel cell is supposedly capable of lasting a lifetime. The concept is to keep the fuel cell and running gear for a lifetime. When you buy a "new car", it would be, literally, the body and interior only. Unsnap the old body, snap on the new one. A person could even have a number of "bodies" for different applications. You could have an SUV body, sport car body and PU truck body that all snap onto the same fuel cell.

I could imagine the market for stolen fuel cells.

I can imagine people thinking they can avoid auto theft by taking the fuel cell with them when they park.

I can imagine thieves always carrying a fuel cell with them in case the owner took theirs.

I can imagine the thieves getting wise and just stealing a fuel cell from another vehicle in order to steal one where the owner took the fuel cell.

I can imagine it becoming a felony to be in posession of a fuel cell (a burglary tool) while trying to steal a car.

It's fun to predict the future when old posts are purged from time to time.

Austin

[wavery]

I could imagine the market for stolen fuel cells.

I can imagine people thinking they can avoid auto theft by taking the fuel cell with them when they park.

I can imagine thieves always carrying a fuel cell with them in case the owner took theirs.

I can imagine the thieves getting wise and just stealing a fuel cell from another vehicle in order to steal one where the owner took the fuel cell.

I can imagine it becoming a felony to be in posession of a fuel cell (a burglary tool) while trying to steal a car.

It's fun to predict the future when old posts are purged from time to time.

Austin

Now there's some "Creative thinking". :eyecrazy:

 :J

[GrizzlyTaco]

I got gas this morning and I paid $2.35 a gallon, its down 18 cents from the last time i got gas....Its a start

[campingcop]

whats with these @#$$#@% gas prices.  Last time I filled up it was $1.75  today it is $2.07 thats a big jump in a week and a half :yikes: