When purchasing a new car, fuel economy was an important factor for at least one-third of American car buyers. With so many people now very concerned about global warming, pollution and dependence on foreign oil, you might be surprised to know that in 1992 General Motors built a car that actually got 100 miles per gallon. The GM TPC had been a car that was able to get 75 miles per gallon, weighed about 1000 pounds, not to mention looked like the Geo Metro. The vehicle had a 3-cylinder engine, but was abandoned when it needed 200 pounds of reinforcement to be added to comply with America’s safety laws.
It really is rather shocking that this had not been the only GM prototype that was built, only to be thrown out later. A number of these were the 1982 GM Lean Machine which made 80 miles per gallon, and the GM Ultralite which managed to do 100 mpg. Once Honda in 1992 achieved 50 mpg with the Civic VX, GM was offering cars that got 20 mpg, while in the background they had vehicles capable of 100 mpg. Clearly this begs the question that explains why these cars that are proficient at 100 mpg are not available to the public.
Another puzzling thing is that many companies, while selling fuel-eficient vehicles in foreign countries, are selling traditional gas guzzlers in the US. Cars that achieve more than 70 mpg have been available in Europe and Japan for a lot of years. For example, the Volswagen Lupo has never been sold in the US – this is a car that gets 78 mpg. In 2007, Honda in the US launched the FIT, elsewhere known as the Jazz. Inside Japan the Jazz versions include one with a more compact engine, plus there are ways to improve fuel consumption, but with the Fit in the US not even the option of a smaller engine is offered.
Auto manufacturers in the united states express to their public that they manufacture big autos because they, the public, love big autos. It is apparent that manufacturers don’t generate a lot of money selling a small 2-person commuter vehicle, but they certainly do selling big SUVs. American residents have been brainwashed with ads to believe that they simply must have the latest and largest bundu basher. It really is quite apparent where the giant companies’ interests lay when you consider that they have never offered options. The top in fuel economy may have been General Motors, but they prefer to remain the leader in SUVs instead. The rest of the car makers did the same thing by producing fuel-efficient cars, and then denied them to Americans.
We live in a world that has fought wars over oil, that has been polluted, and car makers have never even given the choice to people in this country of fuel-efficient cars. Just how many people would’ve loved having a car that got good gas mileage, and were never presented with the option? Maybe it is time to get those old plans back out and build a vehicle that has already been built before.
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