The Obama Car

June 30, 2011

By eric

Now Obama’s decided to ban cars outright.
Not in so many words, perhaps – but the end result of his just-announced “proposal” that new cars be required by law to average 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025 will be pretty much exactly that.
Not one car sold in the United States currently gets 56 MPG – not even on the highway, let alone averages 56 MPG. Not even hybrids like the Toyota Prius, the best of the lot – which maxes out at 51 on the highway and 48 in city driving. The maximum highway mileage achieved by a current non-hybrid car (the 2012 Honda Civic HF) is 41 MPG. Its average mileage is 33 MPG.




To achieve an average of 56 MPG, one or more of the following would be necessary:
* Massive reduction in vehicle weight -
It is easier – more efficient – to move a lighter car than a heavier car. A 2,000 lb. car will use less gas, all else being equal, than a 2,800 lb. car because a smaller, more fuel efficient engine can do the equivalent work in terms of accelerating the vehicle and maintaining speed, etc.
The problem is the engineering/economic conflict between weight and safety.

For decades, the federal government has been....

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