| hfelknor |
I see where the energy bill passed.
Well, it will be painful, but it is a good thing IMO.
All Manufacturers must average 35 MPG across the sold vehicles.
And this will be measured by the new, more realistic EPA standards.
You can't legislate innovation, but OTOH, necessity is the mother of invention, so there may be some good cars come out of this legislation.
But one thing is for sure.
The second golden age of automobiles is coming to an end. The R&D money will be applied to High Mileage vehicles, as it should.
The One Offs, like the new Camaro and Charger and Bullet are doomed......but they will make great collector items in the future.
Enjoy your Gas Guzzling High Performance vehicles while you can, because they have just effectively been banned.
There may be some few performance vehicles in the future, but the thought behind them will be different.
No more ubiquitous performance engines (like the VQ) across the line. There "may" be a model w/the VQ, but the majority will be diesels and/or small gas engines. And they better not sell too many of the VQs....it will drag down the average.........
35 MPG average economy is not easy. Only a very few cars can do it right now and none of them are satisfactory family cruisers or sports cars......and most certainly not CUVs.
But if you can sell a whole passel of econoboxes, you might be able to sell an exclusive high performance vehicle of some sort, to only a few........pricing should handle that.
Of course, in terms of automobile "riches"...the rich get richer.
So it has always been.
So, if you have always wanted a new V8 Belchmobile.......Or a 300HP Caddillac...or Infiniti......or Lexus......you have a few years to get one...........after that, nada.
The king is dead, long live the king.
Homer |
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| jaak |
I enjoy, each and every fill up... Along with it's 420 RWHP. While I can.
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| hfelknor |
Hi jaak!
Yes, I would imagine you do!
That's quite a pix. Photochopped I hope.
Those tires and wheels are ridiculous.
But the sunshade is fun.
Homer |
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| Gonzo |
| Awe Homer.... its not until 2020 and by then the oil copanies will have lobbied heavy to push it up to 2030.... and by then the oil companies...... |
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| hfelknor |
Yeah, that's what they said about emission controls.....and then it was 1970 and things had to cut back.....and then it was 1971 and it was getting serious and then it was 1972 and V8s were down to 150HP and sinking fast.....and then it was a decade of that crap and then ever so slowly..........
Same with this.
It won't be happy days until dec 31 2019, and then click! It will happen as we go along.
And as far as the oil companies, are we talking about the same oil companies that are taking it in the shorts in this bill by having their drilling incentives removed?
And are we talking about the same oil companies that President-to-be Hillary Clinton said she would take their profits from them?
And the dem congress has already passed windfall profits taxes, etc.
The oil companies will get nowhere with the Dems IMO.....And yes, the Dems are heavily favored to take back the white house....
I think this is JUST as serious as the emission controls legislation in the 70s.
And no matter what they may privately think.....the manufacturers have no choice. They can't afford to be unprepared come 2020.
Watch and learn. ;)
Homer |
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| Kris |
Politics and lobbying is one thing, the reality another…..the truth is that China and India are rising and are resource hungry. Imagine 1.3 billion of people in China and moist of them want cars! Same in India. And this is already happening. And the Earth has only limited resources…
We will be forced to rethink the way we live, how we use resources. Ant it does not matter if one is a republican or a democrat. It has noting to do with that. I mean in a long term.
Yes, oil and car companies will be lobbing, successfully? I do not know. What I do know is we need to look for alternatives. Nuclear energy and clean coal are some of the examples. We can get clean electricity from them which leave more gas for powering cars. The car technology will change too. However mostly we need to change our habits. I know, I am guilty too! I admit! I am driving 2 tones monsters with 300 HPS engines! Why? Because I like it. And can afford it.
Still it is not the same as driving a 8,000 lbs truck to the office….or a Hummer for that matter….
As Homer mentioned the car companies will have to channel more money to R&D on alternative propulsion technologies. And this is good.
My dream for this country is to become energy independent….and this bill just may drive it in the right direction. Will we like it? I am not sure about it….only time will tell…. |
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| Stu |
Not to worry - the new law madates all vehicles sold must have a fleet average of 35 MPG, not that ALL vehicles must make 35 MPG. There will still be performance vehicles. They will probably start looking more like Smart Cars with turbo V-4s in them, but they will be there.
In the 70's, the emissions chokes the car engines, but the laws didn't apply to trucks (at the time). This is what spurred the van and truck popularity of the mid to late 70's. My family drove a 3/4 ton Chevy passenger van. We put mags on it, louder exhaust and a factory camshaft from a high performance 327. It burned leaded fuel and was pretty fast for what it was. |
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| Nizmo |
quote:
Originally posted by Gonzo
Awe Homer.... its not until 2020 and by then the oil copanies will have lobbied heavy to push it up to 2030.... and by then the oil companies......
:21:
Hey, anyone has a car that runs on water.
I'll buy one from ya~
NZM |
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| cschmidt |
I think some of the solution depends on the need. And that is different for around town and long highway trips.
I've been a diesel hobbiest as well as a Mo owner. The new Mercedes diesels may be a model for the new mileage goals on the highway. They are relative hotrods around town and get really good mileage on the road.
In a durability test when they came out, they ran 3 new cars for 100,000 miles each in 30 days on a racetrack in Texas ( 130+mph 24x7 average at about 15-18 mpg). Then ran the same cars cross county and they got high 30's mpg at the speed limits.
For around town, some of the fuel / electric hybrids offer good city performance. They would also not do so well on a long trip.
There are a lot of very clever engineers out there. Hopefully multiple fuel choices, multiple technologies, and continuous improvements will get us fun vehicles, not dependant on the Arabs.
Chuck |
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| SIM |
| Water will soon be a world concern as well. The better idea is hydrogen as developed by Ford if we can get it to be cheap enough, stable and to refuel safely. At least, at the end of the day, you'll have sufficient water to drink, wash, bathe and cook... |
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