Why Is It That We All Cannot Build Fuel-Efficient Vehicles?

By Shantelle Chandrasekhar

Fuel economy was viewed as a significant factor in their pick of a new car by a minimum of 1/3 of buyers in America. Given the preoccupation today with pollution, global warming and America's dependence on international sources of oil, it's actually shocking to learn that as long ago as 1992 a car that got 100 miles to the gallon was built by General Motors. There was also a car that looked a lot like the Geo Metro and weighed 1000 pounds, which boasted 75 miles per gallon gas mileage. Unfortunately, in order to meet American safety regulations, the 3-cylinder vehicle required reinforcement weighing 200 pounds, which resulted in further development being discarded.

It's rather shocking that this had not been the only GM prototype that was built, only to be thrown out later. These types of cars include the GM Lean-Machine in 1982 at 80 MPG, along with the GM Ultralite which got 100 MPG. GM was presenting cars to the shopping public in 1992 that did 20 mpg, while Honda was getting 50 mpg with their Civic VX, but right then GM already covertly had cars doing 100 miles per gallon. Undoubtedly this begs the question that explains why these cars that are capable of 100 mpg are not available to the public.

It's a weird phenomenon that some companies market traditional vehicles in the US, but sell different, more efficient cars in other countries. For many years automobiles that get over 70 miles per gallon have been sold in Japan and Europe. For example, the Volswagen Lupo has never been marketed in the united states - this is a car that gets 78 mpg. In 2007, Honda in the united states introduced the FIT, elsewhere known as the Jazz. There are economy-boosting selections with the Jazz in Japan, such as a smaller engine and other ways to reduce consumption, but not so with the Fit in the US.

The auto producers tell Americans that they love big cars, and that is what they want to create big cars. It really is evident that manufacturers don't make a lot of money selling a small 2-person commuter vehicle, but they certainly do selling big SUVs. A Tank on Wheels may be the thing to get - that's the message that the commercials beguile the American public with. The fact that options have never been offered shows where the big companies have their interests. GM could right now have been in the forefront with fuel-efficient vehicles, but they decided, rather, to champion SUVs. Americans haven't been denied only by GM, but also by all of those other manufacturers who have developed fuel-efficient cars.

We all live in a world that has conducted wars over oil, that has been polluted, and car makers have never even given the choice to people in this country of fuel-efficient cars. How many people would have loved having a car that got good gas mileage, and were never given the option? Perhaps it is time to get those old plans back out and build a vehicle that has already been built before.

About the Author:

Are you currently searching for a fantastic deal on lego technik unimog or a comparable product? I discovered an excellent web page on lego city airport review which had really several unbelievable goods. You must undoubtedly have a look.