Why new-car fuel economy numbers are so depressing

mikeavelli

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I wonder if I will actually start to see more vehicles parked in driveways and along the streets in my neighbourhood as people start buying and driving smaller vehicles, and leaving those big trucks they bought as personal vehicles in the driveways.

One family had actually done that long before the gas prices dropped last year (when gas prices were still high). They used to drive big his-and-hers GM SUVs, one BOF model and the other one of the Lambda triplet crossover models (like the previous-generation Chevy Traverse). They sold the Lambda and replace it with 2 (much) smaller cars, leaving the BOF truck in the driveway and only driving it very occasionally (I suspect that the more fuel-efficient crossover was worth more on the used car market than the gas-guzzling truck). So where there used to be 2 vehicles in front of the house, there are now 3.

i had a LX 570 in LA last month and with gas near $5 a gallon it was over $90 to fill up. In GA the highest I saw in the LX was over $70. It made me blink cause $100 a fill up would be close in CA.

Maybe next time I ask for a RX 450h haha
 

NXracer

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I wonder as more and more EVs hit the road if we will start to see an increase in the mpg in gasoline engines? We have the technology.
nah....theres no money to be made in investing in better gasoline tech
 

Razor

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nah....theres no money to be made in investing in better gasoline tech
I just think it's going to be a while before EV's are the predominant choice. In the meantime they can get the most out of a dying tech.
 

NXracer

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I just think it's going to be a while before EV's are the predominant choice. In the meantime they can get the most out of a dying tech.
I agree but the mfgs are preparing for stricter regulations on the horizon across the globe. Sinking in the typical RD budgets for new ICE designs are a recipe for a disaster for their product managers. They'd rather be showcasing their upcoming investments into green tech that probably will never get banned, rather then ICE tech that does severely restricted in the near future
 

Razor

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I agree but the mfgs are preparing for stricter regulations on the horizon across the globe. Sinking in the typical RD budgets for new ICE designs are a recipe for a disaster for their product managers. They'd rather be showcasing their upcoming investments into green tech that probably will never get banned, rather then ICE tech that does severely restricted in the near future
I just think we should be getting a lot higher MPG than we are seeing now.
 

ssun30

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This is one of the examples of regulations with good intentions working in the opposite direction. A similar situation is traffic: any attempt to improve traffic flow only makes congestion worse since it encourages people to use that road.

We see this in China where very strict fuel economy and EV-favoring policies completely fail to reduce CO2 emissions from cars. EV credits and subsidies give manufacturers no incentive to improve their fuel economy and more people are buying SUVs. And the stupid displacement tax resulted in a lot of underpowered designs with undersized engines that have to work extra hard thus reducing real world fuel economy.

What often makes regulations ineffective is government trying to micromanage the industry. This means only very specific solutions lead to maximum benefits from the policy. This kills true innovation and diversity of solutions. The policies should only be based on outcomes instead of telling the industry what to do. As one example the US EV tax credit is extremely poorly designed with its kWh-based calculations because the only way to get max benefit is making the battery pack as large as possible, with no regards to efficiency and sophistication.
 
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mmcartalk

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We see this in China where very strict fuel economy and EV-favoring policies completely fail to reduce CO2 emissions from cars. EV credits and subsidies give manufacturers no incentive to improve their fuel economy and more people are buying SUVs. And the stupid displacement tax resulted in a lot of underpowered designs with undersized engines that have to work extra hard thus reducing real world fuel economy.

The main problem with pollution in China is not necessarily vehicles, but the huge amount of coal that they burn for power plants. Several years ago, the smog was so bad in Beijing that they had to essentially shut the city down for several days beforehand simply so that the athletes there at the Olympics could breathe.

Here in the U.S., Pittsburgh and vicinity used to be like that decades ago (so much smoke in the air that street lights came on during the day) until much of the local steel industry and coal/coke-burning shut down. Los Angeles was also a smog-choked region, but there, unlike Pittsburgh, most of it WAS from vehicles, and a climate that tended to trap smog under an inversion.