I am a little fired up today. Saw an article yesterday about some "experts" prediction gas prices will be above $3 a gallon this summer across the US. The auto manufacturers (all of them) brag in commercials when they make a car that gets more than 30 mpg highway. This is nuts and we are falling for it. We should be demanding cars that get 100, 200 or even more mpg. We should also be demanding fun cars that get that mpg, not just ugly Prius-type cars. Why can't they develop hybrid or electric engines that are powerful, fast and ultra fuel-efficient? The answer is they can but the collective buying public (i.e. "us") have not forced them to through our buying habits. We are perfectly contect to drive cars that get 20 mpg in city driving.
So I was at a local Chevy dealer the other day looking at the new Camaro. (Full disclosure: I think it is an awesome-looking car and may buy the convertible in a few years.) I asked about when the convertible would be available (answer: 2011) and if hybrid was an option (answer: No). I buy sports cars because I like the way they look and drive, not to go fast. Chevy has a reliable hyrbid engine they use in the Malibu, how hard would it be to develop that for the Camaro?
What do you think?
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Probably because most of the Camaro drivers don't care about gas mileage. I don't think the price of gas has anything to do with the ability to create high mpg cars. It's just another cause to bring to topic to the forefront.
ReplyDeletePS I know it's always difficult to get your first comment so I thought I'd help.
Let me chime in on this one. I have a 2006 dodge charger srt8. It's putting out about 430 hp-ish. It also has 4 doors and 2 car seats out back. I don't care what the price of gas is, as long as it's below 3 bucks a gallon. There is no reason for it to be more since there is tons of oil available (even though our own gov. doesn't let us drill for it). Having said that, I do think there are some factors why we aren't seeing more fuel efficient cars with big hp numbers (though I think we will be seeing more soon). 1) people like the sound of a big V8 engine, which is not the same as a supercharged or turbocharged v6 or 4 banger though hp numbers may be similar. 2) those more fuel efficient big engines with hybrids etc. will be heavier and more expensive. How much are you willing to spend to that camaro vert with a hybrid attached? As with everything price drives the products sold. As these expensive hybrid and electric engines proliferate and come down from the higher end models to the lower end ones you will see their price come down as well. BTW, my next vehicle will need to hold 3 car seats. I'm hoping ford puts that twin turbo v6 into the f150 - 350hp and tunable with a new engine management chip! Fingers crossed! :-)
ReplyDeleteSports cars just need the illusion of fast to be popular. Good looks, tight handling and fast off the line. Fast off the line is more important in the illusion than the quarter mile. Also, fast off the line favors an electric vehicle over a gas vehicle.
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