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omshanti
Raw Newbie
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08…
I sent this article to everyone running for president. my immediate thoughts where why isnt this the stop gap measure we use until a more sustainable,affordable and efficient fuel is developed? If govt should subsidize anything it should be something that would create american jobs and be on the road in under three years….biofuels will take a decade at least to develop fully enought to hit the markets and they are already proving to be inefficient resource wasters…..
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Omshanti – I’m so glad you posted this. I relocated to Europe about 7 years ago and have constantly wondered at why there are so many cars over here (both diesel and gas) that get so much more in mileage than US cars. In fact my partner’s car is almost 10 years old and gets 55-60mpg and has done since the day he bought it. Yet the same types of cars in the US (perhaps even the same model though not sure) still get half that and it’s considered acceptable…raise any questions for anybody else??? Certainly does for me, particularly about government integrity or lack thereof and industry lobbyists (a system which I wish we could do away with altogether)...
kellyne, amazing isnt it? what brands do you see there? it kills me this particular model is a ford!!!! and what part of europe do you live? just wondering in case i need to become an expat if a certain party is elected! ;0)
Out of interest.. What is a typical efficiency?
I’m in the UK & I have a MPG option on my dashboard which I leave on and tend to get 55-65 on average, upwards at times.
This is in a TDI golf.
In the UK we have different road tax for different vehicles, depending on CO2 imissions and engine size (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong anyone). I’ve heard some talk about upping that pretty drastically for 4×4 type vehicles. I know alot of people will be against it but if we really want to make a difference I can see people having to adhere or not have a car.
I always wondered why the USA didn’t get those options when I heard about the great gas mileage overseas cars got. We bought our car based on gas mileage (gets 30-32 hwy) and because it is mid-size (Chevy Impala) to get thru the snow in the winter without having to have a SUV. I wonder how heavy that car is. We had a smaller one that got 37 hwy but it didn’t make it thru the snow in the winter. I live out in the country & some of our roads don’t get plowed right away & drive 16 miles to work, so weight is a consideration. You think they could come up with something!
Hmm, yeah, I guess you guys do have much more diverse weather to think about.
As long as we have windscreen wipers on ours we’re ok!!
Omshanti – I currently live in the UK but through my work have also lived in Spain, Bulgaria and spend a great deal of time in Norway so I’ve unfortunately left a fairly large carbon footprint myself…stones in glass houses! However that being said, what strikes me as oh-so-strange is that some of the great mileage cars over here are precisely the same brands you can buy in the US ie toyota, mazda, ford etc. And if you add into that European lines such as fiat, citroen, the smart line (part of BMW I think) you can see that there’s a much wider variety available over here that those living in the US are not offered. I know we’re not supposed to get too political on this forum, but I can’t help saying that it’s these sorts of issues (combined with an abysmal health care system, corrupt politics and a declining education system etc) that really make me appreciate living abroad. And it’s a real shame because I love to come home but I hate to see the general disregard for the environment, the international community and each other that seems so prevalent. This makes me so sad! But I do maintain a bit of hope for change when I come to the goneraw forum and a few other websites where people do seem to care and take into consideration their personal effects on the world around us and each other. It’s heartening to know there are pockets of awareness out there that seem to be growing!:)
dragonfly, we bought our toyota matrix due to fuel economy and cabin space…we both have trucks as our jobs demand but we couldnt afford the mileage so we thought 35 mpg was great compared to 15to 18 in the trucks, but 60 mpg? what i wouldnt give…...
My other half was best man at a wedding in Vegas last week and flew to LA and drove as it was less money than flying direct.
It was cheaper to hire a huge 4×4 gas guzzling thing than something economical.. ??
When we returned from a recent trip to France, we immediately sold our 1990’s Volvo and replaced it with small People scooters (100 MPG)!