But we'd still be "wasting gas" if we drove that fast!!
We need to adopt this type of horse power if we really want to conserve gas!!
Posted on 05/01/2005 6:19:00 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
I don't think that's "on the clearance table." VW sells a decent number of those.
That said, the diesels certainly don't get the attention of the gasoline-hybrids.
Edmunds.com is doing a long-term test of a Toyota Prius. The bottom line: they hate it. It is underpowered, and the steering is awful. They get a little above 40 mpg, which is just about the same as the Jetta TDI, which is a lot more fun to drive.
Diesels got a bad reputation in this country, thanks to GM. But, time and technology has moved on, and the time has come to grant some tax and regulatory breaks to allow these engines to become more prevalent, as they offer greater efficiency and fuel flexibility.
But we'd still be "wasting gas" if we drove that fast!!
We need to adopt this type of horse power if we really want to conserve gas!!
...and only shower once a month! Imagine how much energy France saves on hot water- or, how about retirement apartments with no air conditioning?
Table of various state tax rates including gasoline taxes: http://www.taxfoundation.org/variousrates.html
Add a 18.4 cent per gallon federal gasoline tax. So the total gasoline tax in Ohio is currently 44.4 cents per gallon.
NYMEX wholesale gasoline for May delivery closed at $1.475/gal on Friday.
$1.475 + $ 0.444 = $1.919 per gallon wholesale including Ohio tax. Current retail price near my house is $2.099. That leaves $0.18 / gallon for the delivery truck and the station. The credit card I use gives a 5% rebate on gasoline, giving a net retail price of $1.994 / gallon, or only 7.5 cents / gallon over wholesale.
That said, I do agree with the point that people aren't all that concerned about the current fuel prices; the media have been overplaying them. Adjusted for inflation, they're not even close to the historical highs set around 1980.
Oh yeah. I can see it now, blonde killed while talking on cell phone, shifting gears, fixing makeup and changing DVD--it's the eevil SUV's fault.
Actually, in many respects I'm in favor of going back to noisy, rough riding vehicles with manual steering, manual transmissions, and a bare minimum of modern geegaws. The more aware that a person is that they are travelling down the road, the more they will tend to pay attention to what they are doing.
The more insulated they feel from the outside environment, the less they seem to be aware of what is going on around them.
You're talking about the new autobahn, correct?
I recall a part west of Frankfurt that had one hell of a downgrade, I believe it was in the Spessarts, where my little 65 VW topped 100 mph while filled with parachute equipment and a white knuckled passenger.
The European elites like highly-taxed gas. It keeps all the riff-raff off the autobahns
That won't solve the problem. In fact, that just ends up wasting precious police resources as they'll spend more time trying to chase down speeders. Small wonder why even the California Highway Patrol liked the ending of the 55 mph limit because it freed up their resources to catch the blatant speeders (especially those who go over 75 mph) and speeding trucks.
FYI--You don't drill for LNG, just natural gas. You have to process it and liquefy it at the surface.
NYT belling the cat again, eh?
Installing an aftermarket vacuum gauge on the dash, and learning how to use it would save plenty of gas, and you go just as fast!
I can dream can't I?
Oh, no not again.
Here's an energy plan: have a target to have 80% of US electricity needs met by nuke power within 10 years. The French managed to do it.
With the switch to low-sulfur fuels starting in September 2006, it might be perfect to do this change I suggested at the same time.
Obviously, the people who wrote this piece are North Easterners who don't know what the hell they're talking about!
Red state vs. Blue state.
We could all become Amish, too. That would save a lot of oil, especially in the west where I live, where a short trip to anywhere is 20 miles.
Maybe we could persuade Jimmy Carter to return and lead us in a new, inglorious era of government-induced scarcity and malaise. It's the Democratic way.
One of the few things the French were actually very smart at. They standardized on a single design licensed from Westinghouse and carefully made a whole bunch of improvements common to all plants so 1) safety is very high and 2) a person trained to operate the systems of one plant can operate all the plants in the same country. I wouldn't be surprised that if we start building nuclear plants in the USA again it will be of a standardized design based on highly safe nuclear technologies such as pebble-bed reactors, which are just about meltdown-proof.
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