If WE had 50 mpg vehicles that would be the "equivalent" of paying about $1.60 (to $2.00) per gallon when compared on a fuel cost per mile (You will have to figure out your own potential annual savings). This leads to several questions:
1) What is the mpg of vehicles in America?
2) If 50 mpg does not exist in America, does it exist anywhere?
3) Who makes them, if they are availble?
4) How can WE get them, if they are availble?
As an exercise, I listed all 34 vehicles rated to achieve 30 mpg(US) or greater combined average city/highway for 2007 according to
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byMPG.htm Then, their 2008 mpg combined average values were established using
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorSelectYear.jsp to determine their fuel economy ratings under the 2008 methods. The average mpg(US) combined city/highway for these 34 vehicles is 28.7 mpg using the 2008 method.
The 15 Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, and Toyota vehicles yield an average of 32.1 mpg(US) combined city/highway using the 2008 methods.
The remaining 19 “best mpg domestic” vehicles yield an average of 25.9 mpg(US) combined city/highway using the 2008 methods. Not one of these 19 “best mpg domestic” vehicles has a combined average over 30 mpg according to the 2008 criteria!
On the other hand, the auto companies with significant sales in the USA (or their Euro partners) have over 48 vehicles in Europe that achieve over 44 mpg(US) combined average. A majority are diesels meeting Euro Step IV emission (and soon Step V) with CO2 emissions below 140 g/km. By comparison, the "domestics" typically range between 240 and 500 g/km. Here is a list of these high mpg vehicles in Europe
http://www.40mpg.org/pdfs/021407_fuel_efficient_vehicle_gap.xls This can be verified at
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/searchIn other words, the worst of the 48+ vehicles the Det3 and their associates are manufacturing and selling in Europe get 69.8% better gas mileage than the 25.9 mpg average of the 19 “best mpg domestic” vehicles. In fact, some FORDs are over 100% higher combined mpg.
Now we have the answers to questions 1, 2, and 3. What about question 4) How can WE get them?
There are only 2 way from what I can tell.
A - If a large group of buyer could agree on one or two specific vehicle (that were reasonably easy to certify); pool their funds to pay for a "TYPE IMPORT CERTIFICATION" ... then the vehicles could be imported. Caution: Look at the time, effort, and money it has taken to get this for the SMART.
B- IF the Detroit3 can't immediately commit to production volumes of 44 mpg(US) combined average vehicles by 2010 ... THEN Congress should WAIVE ALL IMPORT RESTRICTIONS AND TARIFFS on vehicles that do get 44 mpg or better, CO2 less than 140 g/km, and meet Euro Step IV (or Step V) emissions and Safety standards; Effective IMMEDIATELY for a period of 36 months (OR 300,000 units of each model satisfying the criteria).
IF YOU THINK the WAIVER idea is reasonable after our 30 year wait ... please CALL YOUR ELECTED Representatives in DC and tell them you want "44 mpg by 2010 - WAIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS if that is the only way!".
PLEASE .... PASS IT ON!!