Operating costs more important to British drivers than emissions
It should come as a surprise to no one that most British drivers place a higher priority on the cost of operating a vehicle than they do on CO2 emissions. When fuel costs the equivalent of US$6-7 a gallon, fuel economy is generally your top concern which is why higher mileage cars have always been more popular in Europe than in the US, even before concerns about CO2 emissions. In a survey commissioned by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), thirteen percent of respondents called out low CO2 as the most important buying decision while twenty-nine percent said low annual operating cost. A further forty-five percent said both were important. Fortunately fuel economy and CO2 emissions tend to go hand in hand so the end result is largely the same regardless of what you choose.
[Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, via AutoExpress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
A.Brien 8:38PM (6/03/2007)
Everything is important in a car. The majorities of problems are coming from outside regulators namelly goverment subsidies and laws that resulted in a big standardisation of all the automotive business and now we are coping with no competition in car sale( it's all the same technologies ) and in the fuel market. If there was free markets we will be with greater choice of kind of automobiles and fuel. Im sure people will choose fuel cell and it's easy to make hydrogen at home. You cannot make petrol at home
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TX CHL Instructor 9:17PM (6/03/2007)
Well, duh. I looked at the commercial EV conversion for a Scion -- $55,000 plus the cost of the Scion. Even at $4+/gal for gasoline, I could drive two gas-engine Scions 100k miles each for that price. And even if electricity was FREE, I'd still come out way ahead. Batteries need to come down in price. A lot.
To A.Brien: Sure you can make hydrogen at home. At about 8 to 10 times the cost of gasoline, or about 20-30 times the cost of just using electricity -- then you have to figure out how to store it and use it in a horrifically expensive vehicle. You can also make biodiesel at home, MUCH cheaper. A free market will reject hydrogen outright -- the ONLY way hydrogen will even be widely used is if government coercion, and/or massive government subsidies (same thing, really) are used.
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COINTELPRO 10:01PM (6/03/2007)
There is technology available to make hydrogen from water at a comparable price of gas. Hydrogen can also be burned in an ICE type of engine and made onsite at a gas station from natural gas. I believe government subsidies, mandates, and leadership/coordination of the free market is required to encourage the transiition. Being able to fuel your car with multiple options is the right path to take.
The politicians have artificially lowered the price of gas in this country through huge subsidies to oil companies. This artificial price discourages the use of alternative fuels.
Low gas prices equal more votes at election for your polictical party. However, politicians force MPG mandates on auto makers because they will not cost votes since the price of gas will not go up. They don't have the courage to get rid of subsidies that could raise gas prices and mandate alternative fuel production.
A tax at the pump that funds all oil related federal expenditures should be imposed.
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Joseph 1:23AM (6/04/2007)
@ TX CHL Instructor
When you talking about the cost of hydrogen you said it was "20-30 times the cost of just using electricity"
Electricity is cheaper than hydrogen, but not by that much! Don't get too carried away; hydrogen costs about 2 to 3 times as much as electricity, not 20 to 30.
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zunertuner 7:45AM (6/04/2007)
COINTELPRO,
How can Hydrogen be directly used in ICE engine? Wouldn't it be much too dangerous?
Do you have any links? Can you explain it?
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Phil L. 8:58AM (6/04/2007)
zunertuner -
A good place to start on a recent hydrogen-burning effort:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=117647
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