U.S. vehicles rank at bottom in world fuel efficiency

New report comes as Congress debates energy legislation this week; some lawmakers want to tack on language to significantly increase fuel economy.

The story "U.S. vehicles rank at bottom in world fuel efficiency" published July 30, 2007 at 10:45 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[The_Decider]

If American automakers had a clue or ethics

They wouldn't need to wait until forced to raise gas mileage by law.

And they wonder why sales are down.

[GGGlen]

And if you had a clue

You'd realize that the best selling car in America is...
Ford's F series pickup truck.
It seems that most people WANT gas guzzlers (unfortunate as that
is), so you might want to dump that "government good,
automakers bad" mentality.

[Tod Smith]

American Car TAX

I think they should kill the auto luxury tax favor for a GAS efficiency tax.

[virtualdrummer]

Increase Gas Tax

Increasing the tax on fuel is a much more economically efficient way to reduce emissions and dependence on oil. An Expedition that is driven 20 miles a week is much better for the environment than a Civic that commutes 40 miles each way. An increase in the gas tax (coupled with an offsetting reduction in personal and/or corporate tax rates) punishes the actual polluting action. And, it is even more effective, in that it effects all cars already on the road, not just new cars.

Of course, that's a fairly 'inconvenient truth' for those who's real goal is to punish corporations instead of dealing with the problem. Increasing fuel standards is just another 'silent tax' that allows politicians to appear to deal with the problem without causing any real pain to their constituents.

[maverick_nick]

Problem with that is...

Increasing the tax on gas won't solve the problem, because those that drive vehicles that have low gas mileage are generally wealthy people, and would be unhappy, but still willing to pay the price to drive their gas guzzling machines.

On the other hand the less wealthy whom already drive smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles will be the real victims of such a tax.

Oil and the generation of electricity, both emit a large amount of CO2. I believe that our salvation lies in biofuel. We just need to make it profitable for farmers to enter this industry and we'll begin to see some progress.

[mmajewski]

Punish the poor

Yes, increase the gas tax, so poor rural living Americans will bear the most burden. Great idea. And they are trapped, they have no alternative public transport, so this is ideal for me!

I like taxing the poor!

I live in the city and will use the train.

[dondarko]

tax vehicles not gas...

based on their fuel rating...bigger the polluter/guzzler the bigger tax you pay. And you can even use that tax off the guzzlers as incentives for efficient vehicles. It's not rocket science.

That will force companies to innovate and compete.

[amadensor]

Biofuel not an automatic fix

Remember that burning ANYTHING will produce these gases. Many of the byproducts of biofuels are actually worse than fossil fuels. There is also a large amount of energy put into making those fuels.

There may be a day when a biofuel is an answer, but it is not with current technology, and it likely not by making an oil equivalent.

We need to look at agricultural waste products and microorganisms to find truly sustainable fuels.

[mycroft69]

Back to the Stone Age!

I think the governments throughout the world have made it clear: if the U.S. won't willingly become a third-world nation, then it will have to be made so by force.

And they have plenty of collaborators in amongst us and the American media only too willing to help. And to those I say: "Hey, what about Red China?"

mycroft69

[dondarko]

dont worry...

red china is relatively young. They are bound to start pissing people off as they become more energy starved like we are...

[mr3vil]

It seems to me...

That this is more do-little legislation. In any given year the percentage of cars on the road new is something like 10-20% isn't it? (I don't know an exact figure). All the while the new laws will make new vehicles even more difficult to afford for alot of people.

What else needs to happen is some education, I've saved alot of gas by not going through the drive-up window anywhere (I park and go inside). All the time I see soccer moms in their SUVs parked outside the school for a half hour or more with the ENGINE RUNNING.

Problem is though, these wealthy people whose houshold income is in the six figure range don't care about saving $50 a week in gasoline. They'll happily pay it because they want that H2, and they think their kids are too good to ride the school bus.

[marlinmr7]

COMMON SENSE????

I actually find it both kind of funny and kind of ridiculous at the same time that because the price of gas here in the United States has spiked to $3.00+/gallon - now everyone in goverment is concerned to raise the gas mileage standards for the first time since 1985; everyone is all concernced about ethanol and hybrids to "save the day"; our own "big three" are struggling because while the other big three (Toyota/Nissan/Honda) where thinking "long term" by designing and building high quality fuel efficent vehichles - our own big three were only concerned about designing and building larger/more expensive (high profit)/ SUVs and pickups.
Why I find this whole issue both funny and ridiculous is that in the last few years I have owned and driven into the ground a 1989 Mercury Tracer (Mazda 323 in essence) and a 1993 Mazda MX-6 as examples of cars that: get me to and from work/church/Wal-Mart/etc. all the time while getting a minimal of 33MPG between them; I have not been making payments on them; I did not have to run ethanol in them; they wer not hybrids or crossovers; I plan my travels so as to accomplish the most stops and get the most done instead of driving for the sake of it or for "show and tell" as so many people do today; I am using technology from 15+ years ago (our own car manufacturers here in the U.S. forgot how to make a fuel efficent vehichle???); and the worse aspect of all is that I own a 1991 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 4X4 w/V-8 in it but use it for something so radical that most folks of today could not comprehend - I USE IT AS A TRUCK I.E. IT DOES NOT START OR MOVE UNLESS IT IS HAULING OR PULLING SOMETHING - NOT AS DAY TO DAY TRANSPORTATION!!!!!
My point being with is that our current car manufacturers and all the whining they do about raising the CAFE standards - what a crock of crap!!!! They - like the american public - do not wish to give up their high profit/gas guzzling/enviormentally polluting SUVs and pickups - most of the vehichles we drive here in the U.S. could not even be driven anywhere outside of the U.S. because of the size of most of them.
Ethanol and Hybrids (as well as the latest and newest buzz word - crossovers) are a joke!
Ethanol is my favorite one of all - ever drive anything that is running E85 or maybe even where the gas is 10% ethanol??? No power/crappy gas mileage/vehichle runs like crap is what you get along with the fact that it cuts the life expectancy of any motor you run this crap in by about 1/2!!!!! So you pay the same price for it so you can eventually plan on expensive engine repair/replacement; get worse mileage and a lot less power but you are creating less dependence on foreign oil - blah blah blah.
The reason(s) that our overall mileage in the US is the lowest in the world and the reason(s) that we and our vehichles we drive are the biggest polluters is because we do not wish to join the rest of the world in terms of driving fuel efficent cars/driving only when we have to/planning our driving trips to get the most out of them - and this does not mean going backwards and becoming a third world country either. It is more a matter of common sense but add into all this the fact that our current President and all his cronies around him have been/still are/ and will be after 2008 - very heavily tied to the oil industry - they want us to consume!! The more we consume - the richer they get!! Raise the CAFE standards??
How about raise the gasoline taxes to keep the price of gas somewhere between $4.00 & $6.00 per gallon like the rest of the world has to pay - people will then finally have to be forced to buy/drive C-A-R-S again and use their SUVs and pickps only when they need to be used and not as daily transportation. Folks will also learn then how to car pool/plan their travels and use public transportation when available.
Coming to more current w/my own vehichle - my Tracer and more recently my MX-6 have finally both died each with well over 200,000+ miles on them.
I recently purcahsed a 2005 Chrysler Sebring and purposely bought one with the 4 cylinder engine in that is also low emmissions. Sebring gets between 28 and 32 average but has gotten as high as 35 on long trips so far - this car is not a Hybrid/not a CrossOver/I am not and will not run Ethanol in it either.
Here again - I would be considered the oddball out compared to most people in the US as most folks would: never have considered buying a car in the first place;if they did buy a Sebring as example it would have had to have had at least a 6 cylinder in it and not a 4 cylinder because I really need to go faster??; looked at the window sticker/did enough research long enough to notice that it is a low-emmissions vehichle.
Based upon my income and so forth according to the "norms" of today - the least I should have purchased is Ford Expedition where the down payment and payments would have been at least double the dollar amount and double the length of time to pay-off; 1/3 the gas mileage of the Sebring; everywhere I go people should be so impressed (this is extremely important??); I need an SUV because it is safer???; I need all the extra room to haul a lot of junk around every day for no reason?????? Ahh yes - the best of all - then I could whine and complain about the price of gasoline going above $3.00/gallon - after all it is not my fault???
It all comes down to something we have less and less of every day - COMMON SENSE!!!!! Raising the CAFE standards is a start - but getting the American public to "wake up" (this includes the goverment and car manufacturers) that you need to actually think before purchasing and stop worrying about keeping up with the Jones as well as think about your driving habits/travels - no amount of raising CAFE standards is going to do much until people in general start applying some "common sense" to this whole topic.

[TucsonAlexAZ]

Common Sense?

Common Sense is quite uncommon in this country these days. Sheeple are too easily swayed by mass media advterising and the corporate sponsored givernment propoganda machine. No one wants what they are told is bad for them (even when it would benefit them in the long run).

[gwhitham]

35 mpg ??? That's it ?????

There appears to be some U.S. politicians sucking up to someone. Do you politicians really believe that 35 mpg is good? Is this a real target for 2020? There are vehicles that can do that now and then some! The lack of intelligence you display comes through loud and clear. In this day and age, there is absolutely little reason for a typical car not to get 60 to 100 mpg. How could you possibly think that 35 mpg in the year 2020 could be a good number. The whole point of your new legislation is a total waste of time, tax payers money as well as an insult to the intelligence of the public. It is increasingly obvious that the politicians are in bed with someone. You make me sick.

[Penguinisto]

Politics 101

[i]"Do you politicians really believe that 35 mpg is good?"[/i]

They probably don't, but they do know two things:

1) it's an easy target (most new cars coming out nowadays already get 35mpg or are very close to doing so).

2) This means that once those targets are (easily) met, the congresscritters can run for re-election shouting about how they "fought for the environment" and such.

It's a pretty simple scam once you know the mechanics of it :)

/P

[Phillep_H]

Safety

Would the specifics of the US safety requirements have something to do with it? How about the protective tariffs demanded by the unions to protect their jobs?

[Jadefa]

America builds the Worlds Trucks & Heavy Equipment, not mentioned

Another America hating bogus report filled with inconsistencies. It does not take into consideration that the United States is still the leading manufacturer of Trucks & Heavy Equipment used for Commercial & Industrial purposes. Just more anti-American tripe. You can't compare nations that only drive one or two brands of nationalized economy cars and trikes to a nation that is building modern civilization.

[The_Decider]

America Hating?

Another Fake News Disciple

What does your illogical rant have to do with the article?

American cars are substandard in just about every area, including gas mileage. That is fact. American cars are gas guzzlers. What does heavy machinery have to do with that?

Thanks, but I will stick to my "foreign" car made in America, and you can stick to "domestic" garbage made in Mexico.

[open-mind]

Who Killed The Electric Car?

If you haven't seen the "Who Killed The Electric Car?" documentary, I strongly recommend it. It explains a lot of the politics behind today's vehicles and the gas mileage they get.

In a nutshell ... big internal combustion vehicles are very profitable for the oil companies and the auto/service industry.

I predict things are on the verge of changing for the better. For example:

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

It just seems unfortunate we have to wait until 2010. This car could have easily been produced five years ago.

[billdale]

sorry, but GM has fooled you

Do not mistake me for a fan of GM. I have not trusted them since they started crushing EVs a decade ago.

The Chevy Volt is just a red herring. The last thing GM wants is another electric vehicle (EV) (or hybrid, either, for that matter). Their willingness to kill the EV-1 despite a firestorm of protests is proof enough of their intentions.

If GM were serious about selling us an EV it would not take them three years as they say, it could be done virtually overnight. The Volt is powerful and sexy... all it needs is a decent battery, and GM wants us to believe they don't know that the Altair NanoSafe and the A123 Systems M1 batteries exist.

The NanoSafe is arguably the best battery on the market for ANY application... powerful, immune to abuse, super-fast charging and ultra-long lasting... and, yes, Phoenix Motorcars has exclusive rights to the NanoSafe battery for use in EVs, but all GM would have to do is throw enough cash at the problem, and both companies would permit GM non-exclusive rights to the technology (no, Dr Gotcher, Dan Elliott and others at both companies would never sign over all rights-- then GM could simply sit on the patents and not use them.)

And if not the NanoSafe battery, GM could use the A123 Systems M1 battery, which is nearly as good and somewhat cheaper, or the supercapacitors from companies like Maxwell and EEstor. Solutions are out there, GM simply has to have a knife at its throat to use them.

Early last month GM's paranoia over EVs seemed to surface: they suddenly assigned 300 more engineers to the Volt project, but my guess is even if they put together a wonderfully flawless EV package, they will not put it on the market until they see competition from anywhere-- Phoenix Motorcars, Tesla, Zap, etc-- ready to leave GM behind, at which time GM will attempt to steal the spotlight with enormous hype and fanfare.

I predict that the first model GM does release will not really be worth buying... it will deliberately be extremely and unnecessarily complex in the same ways that the Prius and other present-day hybrids are, systems intended to make the car buyer reliant on the manufacturer and the dealer's service department.

One of the problems with such deliberately complex systems is that they needlessly rob the EV of its efficiency, as demonstrated by the Prius that can more than double its mileage with some relatively simple, commonsense changes... indeed, just simplifying the system and putting a charge plug on it yields enormous benefit.

Remember: a true EV does not need complexity-- just batteries, a motor, and a controller... an EV doesn't even need a transmission because electric motors have 100% torque at 0 rpm, nearly flat torque curves, and only need to reverse rotation to back up... no reverse gear. EV motors, in other words, can be direct drive to the wheels-- the entire drive train having only one moving part.

I suspect someone at GM is nervously monitoring activity in the EV market, and as soon as competition seems imminently threatening they'll suddenly get religion, push a panic button, and suddenly a flood of Volts or EV-2s (my designation) will appear as if by magic.

GM may want no part of the EV market, but they have no choice-- should they ignore it, small companies like Phoenix and Tesla will swallow the automotive landscape like Google consumed cyberspace.

GM knows that once they start selling EVs it will initiate a new era of austerity... no longer will they be able to sell us lots of tune-ups, transmission service, valve jobs, radiator flushes, oil changes, mufflers, oxygen sensors and catalytic converters that have no use in an EV.

EVs are notoriously low-maintenance... they may never even need brake jobs due to regenerative braking (or "regen"), which uses the momentum of the car to recharge the battery when slowing or stopping.

We need to stop buying whatever GM wants to sell us, and let them know that we will boycott any company that does not sell sensible EVs. If someone else wants to buy a gas guzzler, fine... make some for the Luddites among us... but give us a choice, or we won't even buy your products.

If someone really wants to take action, they should email the car company of their choice (or ALL the car companies, if that's their inclination), and tell them they aren't going to buy any car again unless it's an EV. I hope you do, I've done exactly that, and will continue to do so until they get the message.

[plkrtn]

Most obvious headline ever winner

Jeez. I think this one was a complete no brainer.

[spothannah]

Most obvious headline ever.

Ditto. There is so much corruption between big oil, big motors and politicians: but then we get what we deserve. Get some balls Bubba: stop beating the wife and dog: find yourself a politician or look in the mirror.

[ReVeLaTeD]

I think

There needs to be a distinction made on the whole MPG argument. There's how many miles a gallon will take you, assuming you did nothing but drive freeway, and then there's how many miles a gallon would take you assuming nothing but city streets. It's the city streets MPG that's the problem, not the freeway MPG. Especially in high traffic areas like the larger metros, the fact your car is stuck in 1st gear (the least fuel efficient gear of the entire shifting routine) is why cars are consuming what they are.

I think if every car got, at MINIMUM, 40MPG assuming city streets, this wouldn't be an issue. Will we ever see that? Of course not. Especially not if people keep buying Titans and Hummers.

[Hoser McMoose]

Cost of gasoline

Almost all of this comes back to economics. There is a VERY direct link between the cost of gasoline (or diesel fuel for that matter) and the fuel consumption of vehicles sold. Since oil is sold on the world market and is pretty standard price, while refining doesn't vary much either, in the end the real place to look is the tax on gasoline.

High tax = low fuel consumption and Low tax = high fuel consumption.

The law makers can legislate things one way or another until they are blue in the face, but the only we're going to see significant change is to increase the cost of gasoline. This will either happen through increase taxes (unlikely) or increased crude oil price (highly probable as demand continues to rise while supply stagnates).

I would guess that crude prices of $100+/barrel are in our immediate (next 5 years) future and gasoline in the $4+/gallon range will soon follow. This will do more to improve fuel economy then any new low proposed in the same time frame.

[dondarko]

oh really?

wow, I did not know that! (!sarcasm!)

morons...it took you two decades to do a comparison on gas mileage. And now we all act surprised b/c we thought we were number 1 in everything. Yeah, as long as we got our heads up our butts (those stomach fumes must be causing us to not think straight or something).

[billdale]

Fuel mileage is the wrong issue

We don't need better fuel mileage, we need to use cars that don't use fuel: electric vehicles (EVs)that are powerful, hyper economical, zero pollution and ultra low maintenance.

Reciprocating engines are nightmares of inefficiency: the pistons alone have hundreds of square inches of surface area that create enormous drag, taking its toll on gas mileage; they have hundreds of moving parts, and there is no way to redesign them to be as efficient as a simple electric motor, spinning quietly and smoothly on its own center of gravity.

A car powered with an engine typically costs 20 cents or so per mile; the Tesla Roadster EV, which can outperform any Porsche, costs less than a penny of electricity per mile to drive; the Phoenix Roadster, which is a powerful, 5-passenger sport truck with a huge cargo capacity, still costs less than three cents per mile. Other EVs perform equally as cheaply.

The car makers do not want to make EVs. When a gas-powered car leaves the showroom, they can expect to continue to make money on the buyer for years in the form of tune-ups, engine flushes, radiator flushes, transmission service, valve jobs, filters, fluids, fan belts, radiator hoses, etc.

If they sell an EV, they know they'll rarely ever see it again-- none of the aforementioned parts and services are needed on a car that runs on an electric motor. EVs are extremely simple and robust: the only expenses you can expect for many years are tires, shocks, and other suspension parts.

EVs are more expensive, but the larger car payments are more than offset by the much cheaper operating expenses-- typically, less than a dollar a day for electricity.

A decade ago, we naively expected GM, Chrysler and others to do the right thing and sell us the cars we really needed and wanted; they betrayed us, lied to us, saying there was no market for EVs.

We no longer need Detroit to give us these vehicles-- Tesla, Phoenix, Zap, Zenn and other new gutsy EV car companies are doing what the old manufacturers would not.

It is to the detriment of Detroit that they ignore our pleas for EVs: Americans no longer trust them as they once did, and Detroit is now in danger of bankruptcy.

[Mister Winky]

Tons of Inaccuracies & Unproven Claims Here

1) EV cars use fuel. Just because the fuel is being burned somewhere else doesn't mean no fuel is used. Or do the power plants all run on electricity, too?

2) The Tesla doesn't "outperform any Porsche" -- that's plain BS. First off, a production Tesla doesn't even exist yet, so the claim is impossible to prove. That said, there are a number of Porsches that would smoke any Tesla (Turbo, GT2, GT3).

3) Claiming that EVs will never require servicing sounds great until you subject them to the demands of day to day nasty freeway commutes en masse. The data simply doesn't exist to substantiate this claim.

4) Detroit's danger of bankruptcy has nothing to do with the failure to provide EVs. Lest you forget, he companies that are crushing the old Big 3 don't sell EVs either. Detroit is being killed by massively overwrought cost structures for health insurance, pensions and excessive wages secured by outmoded union contracts.

5) Ever heard of environmental waste? What about the massive amounts of zinc and copper that are required to build these cars and the loads of chemical batteries that will be cast off when they wear down? EVs have downsides, too, but nobody wants to tak about them.

6) You're right, fuel mileage isn't the only issue. There's also driving enjoyment and the irreplaceable sounds of motoring in a fun car with a free-revving petrol engine and a manual tranmission. Electric motors and CVTs don't match the thrill.

-Mister Winky

[jbjerome]

Duh!

It amazes me when I see the same cars available in other parts of the world with diesel engines, 4-cylinder engines, small displacement 6-cylinders or turbocharged 4s that then come to the US and then automatically get a larger displacement V-6 or greater.

Look at ANY European car and chances are that 1. the typical engine size in a given class is smaller than a US car, 2. is lighter, 3. is more powerful AND 4. more fuel-efficient. Usually they also rank better in terms of value for money, customer satisfaction and safety. In fact, same can be said of Japanese cars too.

Americans have always been of the mindset "bigger is better" and never bothered to independently assess cases on their own merit. They enjoyed wealth and rather than exercise restraint, indulged and bought gas-wasting SUVs. Since they ARE NOT subject to the same fleet efficiency requirements as passenger cars, Detroit, in their greed, were all too happy to provide these huge profit machines! (for themselves and big Oil)

Think about it! When they first struggled and introduced employee pricing incentives, the typical SUV was discounted anywhere from $12k to $25k depending on the model (say GMC vs Cadillac). Now contrast this to the Japanese and European marques who had no need to resort to such tactics because: 1. they built a good product that thinking folks wanted and 2. they only make a couple hundred dollars per car (think, Nissan).

Not only that, someone once developed a car that COULD RELIABLY get over 100 miles/gallon. Guess who suppressed the technology, forced ruination of this industrious person and eventually has bought and kept secret this patent? Big Oil and the large auto manufacturers!

Also, an ingenious engineer, realised that oil never really gets degraded - it collects carbon particles from some of the oil that is naturally burnt plus incomplete fuel combustion and water as a byproduct of combustion. The additives do get depleted though. Well, he developed a system that meant NO MORE OIL CHANGES! One caveat is that it required a service professional to change the filter. All you had to do was top up on oil every so often and replete the additives normally found in new oil. Guess what happened to that! Yup Big Oil in cahoots with Big Auto worked to successfully make changes in laws and technology to render the system obsolete. Wouldn't be surprised if they too hold that patent now!

As for hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles (i.e E85, etc) they're a load of crock. It will take you YEARS to recoup the initial cost and when you de regain it, guess what - time for costly out-of-pocket repairs!

I would like an SUV someday and if I do it will be an Audi Q7 with the 3l V6 TDI, that gets about 30 mpg on the highway and has more than adequate power for shuttling all the kids around and stuff IF/WHEN I need to. For now though I'll stick to my daily 4-banger and cruise at 75mph and still get 30 mpg, or if really pushed, drop to 60 and get about 37mpg. If I really need the extra space - I'll get a station wagon, they're safer and more affordable anyway!