Do you believe the auto industry has put forth enough effort into making cars more fuel efficient?

Question

Today, as technology advances around the clock, we are finding better products that are automated such as the new Microsoft Sync. Technology is surely advanced as far as optional items that can be purchased for user-friendly devices such as bluetooth technology. With the technology we currently have, do you believe the auto industry is dishing out enough effort to make cars as efficient on gas as they should be?

Answer 1

Yes I think Q.T. make s a good point in saying that it is controlled by a free market IE:supply and demand.That is the beauty of our great land that we have the power to decide what gets produced and what does not.So the next time you hear a news anchor or commentator say that the majority want this or that different remember that if we don't buy it they won't make it.
I am all for alternative fuels as long as we are not forced to take it.I believe that if it benefits our country financially and does not cause us to compromise our lifestyle then we should go for it,I don't however want someone who has their own interests in mind to tell us what we "NEED".

Answer 2

Ah, this is interesting. Go to a newspaper that published ads for cars back in the early 70's and you will be amazed to find ads for cars that got 50 - 60 mpg! What happened? Two things: The Govenment demanded (and got) catalytic converters (it is a Federal law to remove or alter these things). When they first showed up on cars and pickups, some models had them some didn't. Those without them got twice the mileage that those with them got. Do the math; if one car gets twice the mileage and puts out twice the pollution, they are both equally polluting. The other big thing is that consumers demanded, and got, high performance vehicles. Any old cheap car can now go 0 to 60 in 6 seconds or so. My old Ford that I had for more than 20 years would take almost a mile to get up to highway speed! Now, just step on the gas, and VROOM! Also, along with this high performance, have you noticed how big pickups have gotten? To answer your question, the auto industry did make fuel efficient cars, but the public and the Govenment did not want them. The auto industry is there to make money; they will produce what people want.

Answer 3

There are many ways that this can be answered. The answers I see range from the sensible (Q.T.π Reuben) to the non-rational (Richard O). Dana1981 gives the best answer though.

Europe has had better mileage for decades mainly due to the large tax rate on gas. This forces most consumers to purchase very small, light cars or purchase a diesel. Americans like big cars, and they don't like diesel (noisy and smells).

On the auto companies;

There is absolutely no conspiracy of the oil/auto companies that keep the mileage low (assuming an non-hybrid IC engine). The biggest factors on your vehicle's mpg is weight and the limiting factor, thermal efficiency.

The easiest way is to raise mpg is to reduce the weight. This will lower the force to accelerate your car (f=ma), which will lower the engery it consumes per distance (work = fd). The only drawback of this for consumers is that the car will no longer be as robust in an accident.

As far as engine efficiency goes, the main problem with any thermal engine is the same problem that has existed since the second law of thermo was written. The maximum efficiency of any thermal system is 1-Tc/Th (in absolute temperature) where Tc is the temperature of the cold body (exhaust) and Th is the temperature of the hot body (tempature in your cylinder). I must tell you though that you will not see product come close to achieving an efficiency of 1-Tc/Th outside of a lab environment.

To sum up the answer, if you want to buy it, someone will make it. If enough people by the smallest, most efficient car, than they auto companies will produce more of them. Basic physics will limit what they are capable of producing, and consumers will limit what is and is not produced.

Answer 4

In other regions around the world such as Europe, Asia, and some parts of South America......yes, but in the U.S. no for two reasons. The industrial giants (auto companies and the oil industry) have been putting down new technology that could shift the balance of wealth in the transportation industry, and people in America generally see more efficient automobiles as small, slow, underpowered, ugly, and in many cases a toy car. Therefore they are less likely to purchase a vehicle that doesn't appeal to them, thereby inadvertently declaring to the auto industry that there is no need for a more fuel efficient market in America.

Answer 5

No, they have not. What they give is what people are satisfied with. Look at it this way. The auto industry has been around for about 100 years, but they still don't make a truck that gets over 16mpg in city driving (unless you count the new hybrid at approximately 20 mpg).

Parts and auto makers, the oil industry. They are all scared of electric cars. With electric cars there is no need for oil, the thousands of gas stations, engines, mufflers, water pumps and so on. They will all be replaced by a much simpler, much more efficient system and infrastructure. That wealth with shift to others, unless they change.

Answer 6

Technology doesn't just advance on its own! People advance it. The people who advance automotive technology are in the automotive industry.

They haven't made an honest effort in advancing fuel economy. They will do the bare minimum necessary to meet the law. In the late 1990s, you could buy cars like the Geo Metro and Ford Aspire that got 40+ MPG. Why? Because they only made them when they needed super-efficient cars to barely comply with the CAFE law, which requires their fleet average fuel economy be X. Now they don't need em to meet the law, so they're gone!

Why do SUVs even exist? Because in the 70s, when the safety, emissions and fuel economy laws came in, they didn't apply to "trucks". So they put their fully enclosed trucks (Bronco, Suburban, Blazer) up front and convinced people they "needed" them instead of cars.

GM made the EV1 and scrapped it (they admit that was a mistake). But they kept their lead in electric cars. Why? No one else cared! Toyota hasn't evolved hybrids, they don't have to - Priuses sell just fine.

Now that Chevy is making the Volt, Toyota is claiming that the Prius is better because it "doesn't have to" be plugged in. Um, the Volt doesn't have to be plugged in either, it would just save you money if you did. See how they'll just distort the truth? The whole industry is crass and profit driven, plain and simple. They will never do anything unless the government or market *makes them*.

And if the government "makes them", they'll run fancy commercials to convince us that's what we want. And this will work. :(

Answer 7

Here is the gist of it. The car companies will only build what they think they can sell. They have not put anymore effort into making cars more fuel efficient then what they believe the customer will pay for. It's not "if you build it they will come", it's "if they will buy it then build it". At this point in time, people like their cars with the safety and performance and size that they currently have. Until the public buying trends dictate otherwise they will continue to build the cars and trucks that sell best.

Answer 8

They have put energy into making cars more fuel effiient; the technology is now available;
but they have not marketed them. Why are "green" cars styled as nerdy when an electric car can take any shape you like and have far more useable power than infernal combustion?

eg the GM EV1 which they recalled and CRUSHED, despite customer satisfaction and demand http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com

Answer 9

That depends where you're talking about. Cars in Europe get far better gas mileage than cars in the USA. So if you're talking about the auto industry in the USA, clearly the answer is no, they're not putting forth enough effort. Of course, the reason they're not putting forth enough effort is that American consumers aren't demanding better fuel efficiency enough.

For example, hybrids operate exactly the same as regular cars but get better mileage. There's no good reason to choose a non-hybrid over a hybrid. Yet hybrids only make up 1% of new car sales in the US.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/08/22/bc.autos.hybrids.reut/index.html

However, the House of Representatives just passed a bill to require higher mileage efficiency in cars sold in the US, though the Senate will probably delay it and Bush has promised to veto it.

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7461786

It's more the fault of Americans and our government than the auto industries, because they can't sell cars that people won't buy.

Answer 10

Yes. Judging by the huge amount of trucks and SUV's I see on the road every day compared to tiny little cars I would say so. Face it small cars don't sell well. Auto companies are here to make money which means they make what people want.

Wolf - Its a huge expense to design and build a car that nobody will buy. They were money losers and still didn't sell. If the price went up to just allow them to break even even fewer would sell. Don't rip GM for canceling the EV1 and give Toyota a free ride. They built an electric car at the same time and canceled it for the same reason. Oddly enough companies are in business to please customers and profit not to please the government and lose money.