The biggest problem with producing a more fuel efficient vehicle is not a lack of technology or skill, but rather, a lack of will. Remember the Geo Metro? I bought one of those in 1993 and consistently got more than 50 MPG on long distance highway driving. Around town I got around 45 MPG. At the time I was also considering a Honda Civic CRX HX (or something to that effect) which was advertised as getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 MPG.

Neither of these vehicles used advanced, hybrid technology. Instead they were small, light and used small, efficient engines.

The vehicles current offered in America are too big, too heavy and way over-powered. I one talked to a gentleman from west Africa who told me that the mini van he drove in the U.S. had twice the horse power of the typical public bus used in his homeland.

Do we really need all of that power?

Mazda recently released the 2008 Mazda Demio in Japan. The 2008 model gets 23km/l which works out to about 54 MPG. How does it achieve this number? A small, fuel-efficient gasoline powered engine in a light-weight, aerodynamic body.

(Wish I could import a Demio to the U.S.!

In contrast, plug-in cars (plug-in hybrids and electrics) DISPLACE gasoline with electricity that both centralizes the generation of conventional emissions and reduces the generation of CO2. The August NRDC-EPRI study confirmed benefits even on our “dirty” national grid, and far greater benefits as we evolve to renewable sources of electricity. (And since electricity doesn’t come from imported oil, increased energy independence, of course, is a secondary benefit.

– Felix Kramer, Calcars.org

Actually now that you mention it, UCS in their “The Diesel Dilemma” report (I’m not sure if this is the source of your “oil equivalents” argument) says that the reason gasoline contains “less oil” is that it contains oxygenates like MTBE and ethanol. I’m not sure how MTBE is produced (it’s being phased out anyway), but most papers I’ve read on the current production method for ethanol suggest that almost as much oil is used in its production than is replaced by the ethanol. So I think UCS analysis is bogus in this regard. At the very least, gasoline requires much more energy to produce than diesel fuel (nearly twice as much per BTU according to UC-Davis).

“Are there really diesels out there that get 70-80 mpg?”

Not currently in production, but there have been diesel HEV prototypes that achieved a “combined” 80 mpg (gasoline equivalent!). Remember the PNGV program of the 1990s? All of the “Big Three” U.S. auto manufacturers produced a working prototype that got at least 72 mpgge (largely funded by the U.S. government). I have to wonder why they were never pursued for full production? It wound up being nothing more than an interesting R&D exercise.

That sounds like hippie bulls**t but in this case it is true.

“with almost double the gas mileage of an equivalent gasoline engine”. My corolla gets 38 mpg. Are there really diesels out there that get 70-80 mpg? I think you need to compare truely equivalent engines.

On another note – No worries Domboy, I’m snotty sometimes too.