Guest Post: Travis Unger and the future of MPGs
Want a car that gets better than 50 mpg and isn’t some overpriced hybrid? How about a normal sized BMW that gets nearly 60 mpg without an outrageous price tag? Maybe a new Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, or just about any other small car on the market today that will get between 70 and 85 mpg without the expensive hybrid technology? Well if you live here in the US, don’t hold your breath, but if you lived just about anywhere in europe you would already have these options and more. That’s right, across the pond all of the major automakers are selling cars that get unbelievable fuel economy at a price that rivals and sometimes undercuts what we currently have available here. Fiat offers their new 500 with a 1.3l diesel engine over there that gets 76 mpg, and a gasoline powered version called the twinair that gets 69 mpg. But for whatever reason we do not get these versions, instead we get one that eeks out a measly 38mpg hwy. The diesel gets 72.4 combined avg. Now you may say that these must be a couple of gutless pigs, but they aren’t. While not exactly sporty the 2-cylinder “TwinAir” manages to do 0-60 in about 11 seconds, that’s faster than the ford escort was able to manage in the 80’s and early 90’s while still only returning about half the fuel economy. That’s also not much slower than the Toyota Prius while still getting 20+ mpg better. Plus it’s not a Prius so you won’t feel like a tool as you drive along. WHY, WHY, WHY can’t we get cars like this over here? I wish I could tell you, but there are some people that make way more money than I do that think they know what we want better than we do. Oh and it’s not just Fiat that makes these cars, it’s Ford, GM, Chrysler (well Fiat so ignore that last one,) VW, and many others. I say let’s start a letter writing campaign to the headquarters of all these respective companies and tell them what we want. Will it do any good? I don’t know, but it will make us feel a little better to complain to some suit in a corner office with a massive cuban in his hand and a rolex on his arm. Get ready, get set, WRITE….
For more info on who to complain to about our lack of fuel efficient options check this website out
http://www.nextgreencar.com. There are some cars on there that we will never have chance of seeing by automakers you’ve probably never heard of, but write them too, it feels good to throw a fit.
Travis S. Unger
Travis Unger is an automotive expert with many years experience in the automotive service industry. Comment here to connect or share your opinions with Travis.
delighted to share. 