$4 Gas is a Good Thing!

Thomas Friedman points out in his op-ed column, that expensive gasoline is the only thing that motivates people to conserve. He points out the things a truth telling Presidential candidate would tell Americans. First thing is there are no quick fixes for gas prices. Rising global demand and poor energy policy in the United States are pushing up oil prices. The way to end our oil problems is to ensure high gas prices. The government should place a price floor on gasoline of $4. If the market price is higher than $4, then nothing needs to be done, but if the market price drops below $4 the gas tax should be raised to make the price $4. There should be tax rebates to offset this gas tax for the middle class and the bottom tax brackets. Gasoline at 4 dollars is the magic point where Americans drive less and buy smaller vehicles. When gas prices drop, as they did in the 1980s and 1990s, Americans buy larger and larger vehicles because they can afford to. The problem comes when gas prices rise and people can no longer afford the fuel for their large inefficient vehicles. The guarantee of $4 gas would cause consumers to avoid gas guzzlers because they would know the price of fuel would not drop. Car companies would need to make more fuel efficient vehicles to meet consumers’ expectations.

Source The New York Times

The GM EV1 was dead on arrival

In 1990, GM showed off an electric car concept called the Impact. GM’s CEO Roger Smith surprised everyone when he announced a production version of the Impact. This move may have had an influence on the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Later that year, CARB mandated that two percent of all cars sold in the state by 1998 needed to be zero emissions vehicles. The main flaw with electric cars is the batteries. The first EV1 used lead acid batteries. A kilogram of lead acid battery contains only 0.4 percent the energy contained in a kilogram of gasoline. Even a lithium ion battery can only store 1.2 percent the energy that gasoline can. This puts electric cars on a huge energy to weight disadvantage to gasoline powered cars. Engineers at GM knew of this disadvantage. They wanted to install a gas turbine engine to charge the batteries. This kind of electric and gas power train is what GM is currently working on with the Chevy Volt. A hybrid setup like that, would overcome the poor energy density of the lead acid batteries. The emissions for the car would be tiny, but the CARB mandate insisted on zero emissions. The downfall of the EV1 was the energy density of its batteries.

More EV1 information

Source Motor Trend

Credit Cards increase gas prices

Credit Card fees are destroying the profits of independent gas stations. This could lead to price increases to cover the costs of the fees. Wide spread gas station closings could happen which would mean less competition and higher gas prices. Retailers add 9 cents a gallon of gas on top of their costs. The problem is that the credit card fees are based on a percentage. Some cards charge the station 3%, which can almost entirely wipe out the stations profits.

Source CNN Money

Drivers slow down as gas prices rise

In a response to high gas prices, some drivers are slowing down to reduce fuel consumption. Cars are most fuel efficient at speeds from 30 to 60 mph. Efficiency drops sharply at speeds above 65 mph as engines work harder to overcome wind resistance which rises exponentially. If everyone drove 60 mph instead of 70 mph, demand for gasoline would drop 2 to 3%. This would result in a 10% reduction in the price of gasoline.

Source USATODAY

Mercedes hybrid electric motors to be manufactured by ZF

Late this year, ZF Friedrichshafen will start building electric motors for the hybrid Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Production of the hybrid S-Class will start in 2009. The hybrid will have a V6 engine with a ZF transmission with an electric motor in place of the torque converter. The hybrid S-Class will only be able to run on electric only power only at slow speeds. During hard acceleration the electric motor will give a boost of power. While braking, the electric motor will act as a generator and send electricity back to the battery pack.

Source AutoWeek