I have invented an SUV that gets 100 miles to the gallon. Why doesn't any automaker show any interest in it?

Question

I'm not joking. I had a volley of correspondence with GM, but that's the most interest I've had.

Would you buy an SUV that gets 100mpg?

If the demand is there, why won't they manufacture it?

Do you think they're getting paid by the oil companies to make gas guzzlers?

It sure looks that way!

Hey, Brewmaster . . .
Obviously initial tooling and setup costs need to be amortized for the first few years, but after that period, it would be more materials efficient to produce (less material overall) and just as labor intensive as the current crop of dinosaurs.

Answer 1

GM might not, but teams going for this might.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=120231

You could enter it yourself!

Here is a link directly to their site:

http://auto.xprize.org/

Good luck! We're all pulling for you!

Answer 2

I wish it was true.. Any one of the big three would jump at the chance to build a 100 mpg SUV if the technology worked, it was cost effective AND it was legal for them to build.

Is your design a plug in Hybrid? Yes I know about them..some guy in california built a plug in hybrid that got 300 mpg... He put extra batteries in an existing hybrid vehicle.. then uses electricity to charge batteries at night and you get great gas mileage for the first 50 miles or so.. because you are actually running on batteries. Then it needs a recharge and mileage goes down to the same as any other hybrid (or less because of the extra weight of the batteries). However, for 100s of thousands of vehicles the extra batteries are not cost effective (in addition to the hybrid costs If I remember right the extra batteries cost $3-4K). Do plug in hybrids solve the global warming crisis? Not really because how do we produce electricity? Coal..

There are many gas saving devises out there but it is not cost effective to put most of them on a new car. In addition to hundreds of millions of dollars in design costs, such devices must pass EPA muster to cause less pollution. Thereafter, the vehicle must pass safety standards, e.g. ,car crash standards. Cars could be a lot lighter and get a lot more mileage if the government did not mandate safety standards. However, do you really want to be driving around in a car that could kill or mame you in a crash? Finally, it has to be cost effective and feasable. Auto manufacturers strive to chop pennies off the cost of a car and most alternatives add hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to the cost of a car. Some technologies cannot be mass manufactured in a feasable way.. can it go on a manufacturing line? does it take exotic materials that auto manufacturers can even get enough of? (Remember catalytic converters.. the early ones used large amounts of rare metals that auto manufacturers had to scour the globe to find adequate supplies...)

Admittedly there is also some "not invented here" bias in any large company. But the auto makers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make cars safe, pollute less, and efficient. But the fact is that the American consumer has not demanded the efficiency .. yet.

Answer 3

You may actually believe that your SUV will get 100 MPG, but I am not as sure of that as you are. Also, there may be intellectual property issues -- like patents not owned by you that your invention violates -- that makes it a vehicle one GM can't produce without legal liability issues. And is yopur SUV a design from the ground up, engine, transmission, brakes, lights, body, heating and cooling system? Does a prototype that actually runs and meets all environmental and safety standards sit in your garage? If yes, I would be surprised.

The car companies are not in big oil's pocket. People who believe that are party to a great conspiracy hoax. Car companies want to sell motor vehicles, they really don't care what makes them run. In fact, if GM believed in your vehicle, they would probably be all over it like a cheap suit since they could probably sell it for more than a gas guzzling SUV.

Domestic car companies are mostly in financial dire straits these days and they probably don't have the extra cash to set up new production lines and factories to build any car that varies much from their current lineup. Do you think that Mercedes gave Chrysler away for $6 billion, when they had paid over $30 billion for it to begin with, if Chrysler could build saleable cars? Surely if it was just a simple matter of changing an engine design, Mercedes would have fixed Chrysler instead of giving it away.

Answer 4

Hundred shmundred ... no one wants a Sport Ute anymore anyway. It is hilarious to recall that the first SUV was the Chevy Blazer which was sold under the advertizing slogan of getting in touch with nature. How ironic.

Any vehicle can get 100 mpg with current technology, you just put a smaller displacement engine in it or you fill it with batteries. Throw solar panels on the roof and hood. There are many ways to get a 100 mpg vehicle.

The problem is no matter what method you use to increase fuel economy, you need to build an infrastructure to support it or no one will buy it.
.

Answer 5

The process to make that SUV may be too complicated and the cost to make it will fall onto the consumer. If the consumer thinks the price is too high then they will not buy it. Take the hybrids of today, the government has to step in to give an upside to higher costing hybrids like carpool access. People would rather pay for a cheep car and higher gas prices than a higher priced car and cheaper gas because people don't keep the car for more than 5 years to make it worth it.

Answer 6

Loan your SUV to magazine editors for a month, and let them see for themselves how cool it is and write an article about it. Pick a green-friendly but well established and trusted magazine. Once they see plain as day that they're getting 100MPG in this SUV, the secret will be out.

Of course, if you haven't actually BUILT one, there's no way to distinguish you from the 10,000 idiots spewing nonsense about 100MPG carburetors.

So build one and get back to us.

Answer 7

that is certainly unbelievable but awesome. i think the auto companies are receiving something from the oil companies because with all of the interest in more fuel efficient cars and they wouldn't jump on a vehicle that can get 100 mpg there has to be something going on. i think that even if they did want to manufacture that vehicle the price on it would be so high that the majority of the population couldn't afford it.

Answer 8

Actually, yes. Automobile companies are bought over by oil companies to keep gas consumption to a certain range (what it is, I'm not sure). However, due to the high demand for an ALTERNATE fuel source, that is why some brands like Honda and BMW are working on Hydrogen-powered cars. But since currently gas companies are making such a large profit and at this point a 100mpg would not be practical for solving the problem, they can buy over the companies. Good MPG is fine, but not TOO good so they automobile makers can still make their profit. (just like the tobacco companies and politics). ;)

Answer 9

Watch the video "Who killed the electric car" which you can see on google video..

We have an administration with direct links to the oil industry.

Conflict of interest number one.. of many..

A fully electric car has already been invented with a good battery life and comparable power rating.. If we don't rely on oil anymore, the oil industry goes out of business.. After watching the movie, you will know why everything isn't being done to supply us with not only vehicles with BETTER gas mileage, but no GAS mileage issues at all....

Answer 10

heavily, multiple older ones don't get lots extra desirable than that. Park it and bike or walk. you are able to save it for short runs. in case you like it, evaluate a 2nd vehicle or carpooling. Get a Vespa or a motorscooter in case you're in a city. in case you're in a city, it extremely is way less complicated to get around. you're able to get extra desirable tires, get a tuneup, in keeping with risk even tweak it slightly, yet till you provide extra info, like the twelve months and the make, not many people can help you.

Answer 11

do you think for one minute they are not being paid off but not buy arabs. The large oil companies right here in the U S are flipping this tab.

Is this invention something that could possibly be added to current motors or made to work. I would like to know more about it. Purhaps we could go into business together and hurt the oil companies trmemdously along with some rich politicians with their hands in the cookie jar.