I can't remember if this was the thread where we were debating the oil crisis, but I've found some interesting things since then.
It was.
First off, gas is at an amazing $3.90 around here, where just a few weeks ago it was at $4.25.
The only thing that has happened since then was George Bush's ultimately ineffectual but symbolically powerful revocation of the executive order (instituted by his father) that prohibited drilling on the offshore continental shelf. This matters little to nothing, as Congress hasn't revoked their own law prohibiting drilling there, but the threat of introducing new sources into the pipeline (which could come online in as little as a year in certain areas like the Gulf of Mexico) caused speculation on oil futures to react favorably.
Second off, at a festival, I looked at Saturn's hybrid SUV, the Vue, which has a listed MPG of 25-30. This proves we have the technology to make even large SUVs and trucks at least as economical as your average car, it's just the large car companies aren't investing enough to apply the technology.
For the most part, the same tech used therein has been available since well before the Prius made it's splash...it just hadn't been applied to large trucks and SUVs before the Tahoe and, now, the Vue (my aunt has a regular Vue, and she hates it). I'm not that thrilled about it, though, as I'd privately hoped this oil crunch would spell the end of those ass-ugly gas-guzzling mobile obstacles for car drivers.
I also read an article in an old magazine from 1995 or so about a technology that saved gas by shutting off the engine while the engine idles and while coasting or stopping. The vehicle was a VW Golf Diesel and got about 60 mpg. The article stated that this technology would not be popular in the US unless there was a major gas crisis. Uh, you mean like the one we're having now?
Ah, I remember the days when gas was a bit over a buck per gallon...nobody cared about how much milage their cars got because it just didn't matter. It still wouldn't if there was enough being brought on the market...everything from gas to beanie babies to actual dollars get progressively cheaper when more is made available. DRILL, MOTHERFUCKERS, DRILL!
But diesels have never been very popular in the U.S. for consumer vehicles. Why? Historically speaking, there are several reasons: emissions standards (which aren't abrogated now because of biodiesel...regular old nasty diesel will still drive the majority of vehicles, even though it's less of a CO and CO2 emission than gasoline), its hell to start in cold weather, and they're noisy and inefficient at slower speeds (and you know how the government likes its double nickel speed limits). But new designs are better now, making it a lot more attractive to American drivers.
But given the comparative cost per gallon of diesel in comparison to gasoline, it's still a gamble that it'll be popular enough to be worth the expense of U.S. production. Time will tell.
(The irony is the magazine also announced the invention of plasma tvs and small satellite dishes. "Soon everyone could be watching cable channels from a small dish on the side of their houses, on a thin TV mounted on a wall like a picture frame". ORLY?)
It had to have been well before 1994, because that's the year DirecTV came out (I remember it well...I was one of the first to sign up for it when it was first solicited in 1993, and it cost $700 that I had to earn by cutting grass over two summers).
The technology exists. We just need to apply it.
And it needs to be produced in number conducive to making them affordable to most Americans...something VW has never been too prone to do. But I agree: there are many things that can be done in concert to alleviate the problems we face.
Also, I saw a Subaru hatchback at the mall that got 20 mpg. I think it was a typo. I hope to god it was a typo, the car wasn't much bigger than a Honda Fit.
I don't think so...that all-wheel drive platform is like throwing gas down a well.