Obama on Leno: plug-in vehicles FTW
Give the man credit, he knows how to take his message to the people. President Obama, during his trip to the west coast to visit Southern California Edison and their plug-in hybrid research center (oh, and to talk about the government money for research like this), he stopped by the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Starting at about minute 19 in the video clip after the jump, Obama and Leno talk cars (before that, it's a lot of AIG bonuses and the financial situation) and the president says:
It's spectacular what is being done new with plug-in hybrids. [...] Potentially, we could see cars that get 150 miles to a gallon of gas. [...] We're going to be investing billions of dollars in research and development around these technologies. [...] That's what's going to create the auto industry of the future, that's where we're going to win back manufacturing.
They also briefly mention hydrogen vehicles. You can watch the video after the jump. The picture above shows the presidential motorcade driving past the Tesla Motors' Los Angeles store.
[Source: Tonight Show, Tesla Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
polo 9:38PM (3/21/2009)
I think he misspoke when he said 150miles to a gallon. He was obviously referring to getting 150mpg EQUIVALENT with EVs on a single charge, which is entirely possible. The Ford Focus EV will get 100miles on a single charge. Imagine where the tech will be by the time 5th generation batteries roll out.
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Sir.Vix 3:57AM (3/22/2009)
HAHAHAHA It's kinda funny and kinda bad PR how at 3:30 Barack refers his 129 bowling score to something that someone would get in the special olympics! hahahha!
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Yikes 9:03AM (3/23/2009)
Sadly, I think he really correlates mental capacity with physical ability.
SteveCT 3:08PM (3/22/2009)
The Aptera gets 130 mpg when the battery is drained, and at a steady 55 mph with a diesel, it got 230 mpg. So 150 mpg is not outside the realm of possibility, but cars will need to change drastically (aero improvements, weight reductions, etc) to achieve that kind of mileage.
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Sir.Vix 12:38AM (3/23/2009)
#3 I think Obama was referring to how MPG is sometimes calculated in FIRST mile per gallon. In the Volt's case it would be the electric range plus the cost of burning one gallon of fuel in the electric car's ICE generator. He didn't mean have an auto that strictly burns fuel to move and burns 1 gallon over 150 miles...yes obvious weight reductions and aero improvements would be needed! But Obama either meant 150 miles for FIRST gallon for PHEV's or with the case of pure electric cars, the electric equavalent of 1 gallon of fuel.
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