Hybrid Vehicles - a car buff seeking automotive redemption

There’s an article over at the National Center for Public Policy Research attacking Democrat hopeful Barack Obama for hypocrisy when it comes to his support for fuel-efficient cars and hybrid vehicles.

Barack was part of a group of Senators who voted in the middle of last year to raise the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard to a minimum 35 miles per gallon.

Sounds great doesn’t it? But the problem according to Kevin Martin is that Obama drives a Chrysler 300C which scrapes through with a meager 17 litres per gallon in the city.

Many of our political representatives have been strong advocates for more fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles. It’s a move that’s to be applauded (even if it has not yet translated into any real action.)

However, the question does have to be asked of politicians who fail to live up to their own high-minded standards. How, as ordinary Americans, can we engage our friends, neighbours and families in this debate - when some of our strongest advocates are guilty of hypocrisy?

As much as I hate to think that I would agree with a conservative anything - does anyone else have a problem with this situation?

I want to start off my saying that I’m proud of America. I believe in its foundations, and I believe in its ability to constructively contribute to the world. It’s just that we sometimes don’t make it easy to be proud of ourselves….

Some latest data from the EPA shows that the 7 least green cars on the international market are American-made.

Topping the list? Ford’s E-Series Van - with a combined score of 0/0 for air pollution and green house gas emissions.

Some caveats:

1. The EPA monitored emissions that aren’t regulated specifically by the Federal Government.

2. Cars over 8500 pounds (larger SUVs and trucks) were excluded from the survey.

Manufacturers (including Ford) responded to the survey by indicating that the sale of these vehicles were driven by consumer demand.

It’s also interesting to note that the data is released at a time in which Congress is debating a bill that would provide a package of support aimed at cutting energy use that includes support for hybrid vehicle production. This has been opposed by American automakers because they believe that it will increase the lead of foreign-owned hybrid car manufacturers like Toyota.

What can we make of this? We need to keep up pressure on the manufacturers - but perhaps most importantly we have to create the demand in the market that will not only make hybrid cars viable - but a commercial necessity for the manufacturers.

technorati tags:hybrid, car, vehicle, autmobile, ford, congress, epa, environment

A film I’m looking forward to with great anticipation is EV Confidential: Who Killed the Electric Car? - it came out June 28th but I still haven’t been able to make the journey to the cinema.

As described on its website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/electric.html

"Filmmaker Chris Paine examines the development and eventual destruction of General Motors’ EV-1, an automobile that required no gas, oil, muffler or brake changes."

Needless to say the film has been controversial - GM has run a sustained publicity campaign trying to manage damage control about some of the allegations in the film.

On their website they claim that:

1. The EV-1 cost 1 billion dollars to develop.

2. There were only 800 leases of the vehicle in a four year period.

3. A waiting list of 5,000 only generated 50 people willing to follow through to a lease.

4. Low demand meant a lack of available parts for repairs.

I remember feeling very angry when GM pulled the vehicles off the road. It had been a development that seemed to signal a significant shift in the policy of one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers.

That anger will make me see the film - but I found GM’s rebuttals of the claims equally interesting.

Has anyone seen the film? Any thoughts? You are encouraged to record them in the comments - or if you want to review the movie I would be more than happy to post it onto the blog.