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28Jan/120

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

When selecting a new vehicle, gas economy was a key point for at least one-third of American car buyers. Because of so many people now very worried about global warming, pollution and reliance on foreign oil, you might be surprised to know that in 1992 General Motors built a car that actually got 100 miles per gallon. The GM TPC was a car that was able to get 75 miles per gallon, weighed about 1000 pounds, and looked like the Geo Metro. The car had a 3-cylinder engine, yet was discontinued when it needed 200 pounds of reinforcement to be added to comply with America's safety laws.

It might be surprising that GM had this car built and left behind, but they had other prototypes that ended the same way. These kinds of cars include the GM Lean-Machine in 1982 at 80 MPG, along with the GM Ultralite which got 100 MPG. In 1992 Honda appeared to be reaching 50 miles per gallon with the Civic VX, and at the same time General Motors had vehicles behind the scenes getting 100 MPG, though selling the public cars that were getting 20 MPG. Given that cars have already been designed that get 100 miles per gallon, then why are they not being marketed to the general public?

Why are traditional vehicles sold in the US, while at the same time, the same companies are selling different vehicles far away in other countries? For quite a while automobiles that get over 70 miles per gallon have been available in Japan and Europe. The Lupo, a Volkswagen, is a perfect example of a car that gets 78 MPG, but has never been sold in the US. Honda introduced to the US market in 2007, a car called the Fit, but known as the Jazz in other parts of the world. The Jazz in Japan has methods to increase fuel economy and a smaller engine, but for the US, the Fit doesn't even use a smaller engine as an option.

The auto manufacturers tell Americans that they love big cars, and that is what they want to make big cars. Of course they make big money on SUVs, and almost nothing on a small two-person commuter. Commercials have convinced the citizens of the US that Tanks on Wheels are an absolute must to have. The reality that options have never been provided demonstrates where the big companies have their interests. The top in fuel economy may have been General Motors, but they prefer to remain the leader in SUVs instead. Several other manufacturers in addition have developed fuel-efficient cars, but they've all practiced the same as GM by not offering them to Americans.

Even with climate change and the incredible pollution of the world environment, US car makers have yet to act in response positively and at least give Americans the option of a fuel-efficient car. The question comes up: how many Americans would've been thankful for the option of acquiring a car with good gas mileage but weren't ever offered it? Maybe the instant has come to restart building those cars that were developed only to be abandoned all those years ago.

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

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