A Few Words on Fuel Efficiency

Has anyone read the news lately?  This is really trite.  Apparently the media needs an unfathomable  env. catastrophe to look at fuel efficiency, and somehow a panel of experts (distinguished experts) has been assembled to tell us all how expensive it’s going to be to improve our fuel efficiency particularly with diesel.  Apparently diesel is dirty and beneath the american consumer? Funny I know a few consumers who don’t feel that way……

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/06/cars-can-save-up-to-half-on-fuel-but-study-finds-it-will-be-costly/1

Apparently a panel of distinguished experts ….. blah blah blah has found that fuel consumption in new vehicles can be cut by nearly half without impinging on safety or performance.  Geniuses! Really?

I have one such panel of my own. We’re distinguished,  we’re called consumers.

Father-in-law 05 Mercedes Benz C320CDI 40MPG

Friend  2009 Jetta sport wagon  TDI  45MPG*

Mother 2003 Jetta sport wagon  TDI  45MPG*

Me  2005 Jetta sport wagon  TDI  55MPG*

*About 85% of the Jetta SportWagons sold are diesels.

Don’t know where the article’s authors got their info though:  5900.00 for diesel engine option.  try 1900.00 from VW 2300 from AUDI.

Lets do some basic math:

My car has 70K miles on it.  at 55mpg thats  1272 gallons of fuel I’ve put into it.  at 4 bucks a gallon  $5090.00 to go 70,000 miles (cheaper than flying)

Now lets look at the average american POS auto @ 15mpg.  at 70,000 miles thats 4667 gallons of fuel for a cost of 19000.00 to drive 70,000 miles.  By the time you get to 150,000 miles in the average american automobile you will have spent enough on the added fuel to have purchased a 2nd (hopefully diesel) auto mobile,  or if you bought a diesel to begin with, you could then trade up gilt free.

This doesn’t work with a hybrid,  thanks to the 30-40% upfront expense, and the $5-10,000 battery replacements every 80-100,000 miles.  Oh and you can’t put  100% biofuel in a current us hybrid model

Friends encourage friends to by diesels….

Now if we could just convince the american auto industry to sell them……. guess we’ll have to wait until  2017-2025?  What the…….???

Over two-thirds of total U.S. oil consumption is for transportation, and almost two-thirds of transportation consumption is gasoline used primarily in cars and light trucks.  Thats a scary fact. Esp when we have had the technology to reduce that consumption by 40+% for how many decades?  My folks had a 1977 Diesel rabbit that got 50 miles to gallon…..  30+ years ago…… spooky stuff.

I have one such panel of my own. We’re distinguished,  we’re called consumers! and we want clean diesels now!