Why Could It Be That We Cannot Build Fuel-Efficient Vehicles?
Energy economy was regarded as a significant factor in their choice of a new car by a minimum of 1/3 of buyers in America. Because of the preoccupation today with pollution, global warming and America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil, it’s actually shocking to learn that as long ago as 1992 a car that got 100 miles to the gallon was built by General Motors. There was also a car that looked a lot like the Geo Metro and weighed 1000 pounds, which boasted 75 miles per gallon gas mileage. Regrettably, in order to meet American safety regulations, the 3-cylinder vehicle required reinforcement weighing 200 pounds, which led to further development being discarded.
It was not the only protype built by GM which ended up on the scrapheap. The GM Lean Machine of 1982, which could obtain 80 mpg, and the GM Ultralite which achieved a fabulous 100 mpg, were two of these vehicles. GM had been offering cars to the buying public in 1992 that did 20 mpg, while Honda was getting 50 mpg with their Civic VX, but right then GM already covertly had cars doing 100 miles per gallon. In the event that cars that were capable of doing 100 miles per gallon had already been developed way back then, why is it that such cars are not being sold today?
It’s really a strange phenomenon that some companies sell traditional vehicles in the US, but sell different, more efficient cars in other countries. Customers in Japan and Europe have for many years now been able to get cars that do 70 miles per gallon and more. A case in point of a vehicle never sold in the US and capable of 78 mpg, is the Lupo by Volkswagen. An automobile called the Jazz elsewhere in the world was introduced to the States in 2007 as the Fit. The Jazz in Japan has methods to enhance fuel economy and a smaller engine, but for the US, the Fit doesn’t even have a smaller engine as an option.
The automobile companies tell Americans that they love big cars, and that is what they want to make big cars. Needless to say they earn big money on SUVs, and almost nothing on a small two-person commuter. Commercials have convinced the citizens of the US that Tanks on Wheels are an absolute must to have. It is quite apparent where the big companies’ interests lay when you consider that they have never offered options. Leading the way in fuel economy may have been General Motors, but they choose to be the leader in SUVs instead. Americans haven’t been denied merely by GM, but also by all the other manufacturers who have developed fuel-efficient cars.
All of us live in a society that has fought wars over oil, that has been polluted, and car makers have never even given the choice to people in this country of fuel-efficient cars. What number of people would’ve loved having a car that got good gas mileage, and were never given the option? Perhaps it is the perfect time to get those old plans back out and build a vehicle that has already been built before.