[Leica] Re: Small cars

[don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)]

Larry,
I think that there is some cost for transportation that gets people to
change.  In the 70's it was the $1/gallon gas that got all the barges traded
in, diesel Rabbits bid up to funny prices, and the end of the "muscle car".
People say that there has not been a change in fuel economy, but I remember
the 6 mpg 427 cars with 411 gears.  I remember the mighty Lincolns and
Caddys that were lucky to get 13mpg.  Even the gartantuan Navigators are
getting 14/15mpg today.

But with gas hitting $3 in the U.S. people might change.  Possibly try mass
transit.  Buy the smaller engine version instead of maximum HP.  Maybe
accept the minivan to haul the kids to all the stuff at 20 mpg instead of
the SUV at 15mpg.  Who knows, maybe 20,000 more hybrid vehicles sold.  Each
person making small changes in their behavior will make a huge dent
collectively in gasoline consumption.

We were all screaming porkfest at the ethanol requirements ten years ago and
now we all ask why weren't we with Brazil. I will tell you why, oil was
$12-14 a barrel just a few years ago and at that price burning oil made a
lot of economic sense.

Now if we in the U.S. could just convince the rest of us to build a system
of nuclear, solar and wind plants to power a comprehensive rail system like
Europe has then things would be much better fuel wise.  I do envy my friends
in Europe the ability to hop on a train and get somewhere without most of
the security hassles air travel creates.

Don
don.dory@gmail.com


On 4/26/06, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> << Question. Did high gas taxes work in European countries to reduce
> their use of gasoline or did their
> citizens continue their same consumption and cut back on other expenses
> to
> make up for it? >>
>
> Having lived in the UK for some time, I found that the amount of
> driving was about the same as for any comparably congested area in the
> US. But the cars were smaller and much more fuel efficient.
> Recreational boats were less powerful too. I saw few 200 hp outboards,
> mostly 35 and 50 hp models. The car I drove to work every day had only
> a 980 cc engine with just about enough power to pull a greased gumdrop
> out of a baby's mouth. Still it could hit 85 mph on the few roads that
> could handle that speed. The political contingencies were jiggered to
> both reduce fuel consumption and to raise revenue. My car, with it's
> under 1 liter engine was taxed only about half as much as my neighbor's
> not much bigger Volvo.
>
> Interestingly, one neighbor, a professor of economics and a car buff,
> said that UK cars were getting bigger and more powerful after WW2 just
> like in the US. It was not until petrol reached our current equivalent
> of $4 a US gallon that the trend reversed. That's when vehicle design
> changes necessary to curtail consumption began to kick in. It seems
> that we have a way to go yet.
>
> Larry Z
>
>
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