Are car manufaturers even considering depletion of fuel resources or are they just milking the cow?

Question

Considering the state of emergency we are in regarding fuel resources, why are there more cars being manufatured now than ever before? Why does everybody seem blind to the fact?

Shouldn't there be more effort focused on alternate means of transport?

Answer 1

Don't worry about Car manufacturers. There is a simple regulatory mechanism in place. It is a mechanism that regulates all commerce and it is called: Supply and Demand. As long as there is demand for SUV's and Gas powered cars. There will be someone producing them. Large production numbers mean that there is demand.
Fossil Energy in form of Oil is not running out any time soon. Oil is only in short supply because of political, global and environmental issues. And short supply is a relative thing as well. For example: No new Refineries have been built in the US since the 70ties and the infrastructure of these plants is old and prone to failure. EPA (Environmental protection agency) and political reasons prohibit the building of new Refineries ( Communities who say "Not in my back yard" prevent new Refineries to be built, Lawyers and law suits make the capital investment of a new Refinery a costly one all those factors (and there are many more ) contribute to Gas shortages and price increases. Just think once how much is involved to get one barrel of oil out of the ground and into your tank: There is exploration, drilling, transportation, refining. There are stiff regulations and fees. Labor unions and specialists need to be paid etc. If you add all this up you start to wonder why gas is not much more expensive. Gasoline is still the cheapest liquid you can buy! Even bottled water is more expensive, Orange juice, Milk, tomato juice, Coca Cola etc. And how much less complicated is the production of these liquids?
Be also aware that Oil is only a percentage of the product that ends up in your tank. There is a part of Ethanol and this stuff is made from corn and such. Ethanol faces shortages due to limited production space and that too contributes to gas prices.

Oil is not running out any time soon. Its distribution and geopolitical location where it is found is another story. Being more independent from off shore and foreign energy sources would be a good thing, but as long as the Dollar has buying power there will be oil and cars that burn gas.

Sorry but that's the way I see it

Answer 2

Simple, because we buy them.There is no state of emergency. Gasoline costs about double what it was 20 years ago. Not bad when factoring tax increases and inflation.

The market and manufacturers build what they feel they can profit from most and what consumers demand. People say, oh yes more public transit, no big highways in my back yard. Lets all develop alternative/clean energy but when the bill comes or cost more they often refuse to pay it.

Same with Organic fruits&veg. We all like the idea of no pesticides etc but very limited number will pay the huge premium for such and when was the last time you picked the most blemished apples in the grocery store because you respected that without gene splicing or chemical treatment thats the way fruit grows in the real world?

We will always need oil and will never run out of it in the forseeable future but only when the price of conventional fuel is higher than alternatives, will they become cost viable

Answer 3

Yours is a two fold question.

First, building new cars does consume a lot of energy. All the metal, glass and plastics have to be processed and shaped to their intended use.
then there is the fuel needed to move them to the factory. Then there is all the energy required to assemble the parts. As well as the fuel the employees burn to get to work.

Secondly, the cars in time wear down to where the average person is reluctant to spend more to maintain a car than it would be worth if totally demolished in an accident. So, that means replacements must be built.

The new cars for the most part, burn less fuel per mile then the cars they are replacing.

Answer 4

There's no shortage of oil in the world, in fact some producers like the Alberta oil sands are just now getting ramped up to pump it out for the next 100 years.