Congress passed a bill this week and President Bush has agreed to sign it, which starts to bring America into alignment with whats right instead of a-lining their pockets with lobbiests. The bill stats that the average mpg of American brand automobiles must be 35 mpg by 2020 along with several other increases in levels of sustainable, renewable energy sources used by the public.
I personally think it should be sooner than 2020 but overall, its a step in the right direction. I recently reviewed a report in a magazine for the mpg's of the most popular auto's sold and doing a comparison by foreign or domestic brand, foreign vehicles average significantly higher than American though not at the 35 mpg standard either. I believe the American standard in the report was 17 mpg with only two non-hybrid vehicles being over 20 mpg.
Detractors claim the boost in mpg will increase the cost of vehicles by about $7,000 and could be the end of the muscle car.
First, anyone who thinks car prices couldn't go up $7,000 naturally between now and 2020 is an idiot. Look at the increase in car prices in just the last ten years. Now project forward a dozen. Plus most people buy cars on what they can afford to pay each month and what gives them status not the overall cost of the item. For example, a Prius, the uber-enviro car can cost up over $50,000 and most hybrids are mid-$30,000.
Second, much like the oil crunch of the 1970's that brought us the Mustang 2, muscles cars will probably take a hit. But the key word in the legislation is 'average'. Dodge could easily push their new vehicles into the 35 mpg zone and then hybrid their current models out and still cover a few 9 mpg hemi's.
Plus, look at what you drive today. Could you possibly imagine driving the same car you did twelve years ago? Of course not. And your car today is probably more reliable with better emission control, its progress. You can't project your today vehicle on 2020 standards either. Heck in 2020 I'll be fifty and would love to have a 'space age' car that does it all for me.
Or a rocket pack. I always wanted to own a rocket pack. Think they'll have those by then?
I personally think it should be sooner than 2020 but overall, its a step in the right direction. I recently reviewed a report in a magazine for the mpg's of the most popular auto's sold and doing a comparison by foreign or domestic brand, foreign vehicles average significantly higher than American though not at the 35 mpg standard either. I believe the American standard in the report was 17 mpg with only two non-hybrid vehicles being over 20 mpg.
Detractors claim the boost in mpg will increase the cost of vehicles by about $7,000 and could be the end of the muscle car.
First, anyone who thinks car prices couldn't go up $7,000 naturally between now and 2020 is an idiot. Look at the increase in car prices in just the last ten years. Now project forward a dozen. Plus most people buy cars on what they can afford to pay each month and what gives them status not the overall cost of the item. For example, a Prius, the uber-enviro car can cost up over $50,000 and most hybrids are mid-$30,000.
Second, much like the oil crunch of the 1970's that brought us the Mustang 2, muscles cars will probably take a hit. But the key word in the legislation is 'average'. Dodge could easily push their new vehicles into the 35 mpg zone and then hybrid their current models out and still cover a few 9 mpg hemi's.
Plus, look at what you drive today. Could you possibly imagine driving the same car you did twelve years ago? Of course not. And your car today is probably more reliable with better emission control, its progress. You can't project your today vehicle on 2020 standards either. Heck in 2020 I'll be fifty and would love to have a 'space age' car that does it all for me.
Or a rocket pack. I always wanted to own a rocket pack. Think they'll have those by then?
No comments:
Post a Comment