Why Americans Don’t Have Fuel Efficient Cars

July 14, 2008

According to MSNBC, the US currently has two cars on the market that achieve over 40mpg, down from five in 2005. In Europe, they’re blowing us out of the water with over 113 cars that achieve 40mpg+. To add insult to injury, most of those automakers are either American companies or companies that have a long-standing history of selling cars here, such as Toyota and Nissan. So why do we get the crappy end of the stick, especially in these times of high gas prices when consumers are clamoring for more efficient cars?

Times have changed and the people have spoken: We want more fuel-efficient cars. Waiting lists for the Toyota Prius has now grown to over 6 months in many places. Sales of SUVs and large trucks have dropped 18-24% this year. And more and more people are buying smaller, more compact cars to save money. One would think that automakers would scramble for this opportunity, but why isn’t it happening now?

“These cars sold in Europe meet or exceed U.S. safety standards, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be made available to U.S. consumers,” said CSI President Pam Solo.

“We have to face the unpleasant facts here: America is needlessly losing the race to develop the best fuel-efficient technology and then deliver it to the American consumer,” Solo said. “U.S. consumers say they are willing to buy these cars, so the big U.S. automakers are actually going backwards at a time when it’s possible to make cars that are more fuel efficient.”

A national poll conducted for CSI shows that millions of Americans would welcome the introduction of the fuel-efficient cars now being sold overseas. Nearly nine out of 10 respondents to the survey thought U.S. consumers should have access to these vehicles.

… Most European vehicles cited in the CSI study run on diesel engines, which tend to achieve greater fuel efficiency than gas engines. Selling those cars in the United States is difficult because of emission standards, notes Walter McManus, a fuel economy expert at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

The US has very strict emissions standards for diesel engine cars. In European countries, the law is more lax, allowing most cars to have diesel engines, which are more fuel efficient and generate more torque than gasoline engines. In America, there seems to be a bias against diesel engines — I’ve heard everything from “Diesel engines break down much more often” to “They create black, stinky exhaust that’s unhealthy”. I’ll go over these myths in a future post.

MSNBC goes on to say that another reason why these ultra-efficient European cars are not in the US is because the Big Three Automakers’ (GM, Ford, & Chrysler) labor unions object, in fear of losing their jobs.

“For years they have not been able to bring vehicles here that are going to displace their workers — this is a competitive challenge for the Big Three,” McManus said. “The unions have influence over the Big Three, and they can’t afford not to have the unions with them as they go through their restructuring. It’s hard to get the unions to agree to import vehicles when you are laying workers off. Overseas car companies like Toyota don’t have the same restrictions — they’ve been able to bring vehicles here from Japan to respond to consumers’ growing taste for more fuel-efficient cars.”

McManus, who worked in forecasting and market research for GM from 1989 to 1999, said the Big Three were essentially in denial about consumers’ desire for greater fuel efficiency for years. As recently as 2005, GM maintained that linking slower sales of sport utility vehicles with higher gas prices was the result of poor analysis, he said.

“They’ve had a change of heart, but it’s fairly recent,” he said. “We had data about consumers’ preferences about fuel economy, but we chose to ignore it; we thought it was an anomaly. But it’s by having a bias against fuel economy that we’ve put ourselves in the pickle we’re in now.”

So according to McManus, automakers based outside of the US would be able to sell their efficient cars here if they pass strict US emissions standards, with even stricter standards for diesel. Hmm. That doesn’t seem too hard — at least compared to creating a new vehicle from the ground up or engineering an efficient hybrid engine. I think there’s something they’re not telling us.

Perhaps the automakers really are working furiously now to come out with smaller, more efficient cars in 2009. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read about a car that’ll “change my life”, supposedly to be unveiled in a year or two. I guess we won’t know until the time comes, but here are one of the cars that I believe will be a contender in the ultra-efficient cars game: the Hyundai i30.

The Hyundai i30, available for sale in Europe and Australia, won 2007 Green Car and Car of the Year. The specs are pretty impressive – 73.5 miles per gallon in the 2007 World Solar Challenge run, 1.6 liter turbo diesel, with seating for 4 at a price tag of less than $22,000. At this price, it’s a very affordable, ultra efficient vehicle with standard safety features. If everyone in America drove this car, imagine the billions of gas dollars we’d save! According to their Wiki page, the i30 is scheduled for North American release in 2009 as the Elantra Touring (oh baby sign me up for the waiting list).

In my next post I’ll discuss some more fuel-efficient cars slated to hit the US, as well as more information on diesel engines and the exciting new future of biodiesel.

And in the meantime you can always do your part to use less gas.

Popularity: 11%

You might also be interested in...

1. America’s Foolishness with Cars, Gas, & Diesel
2. Changes in Environmental Action Since Obama Took Office
3. 10 Gas-Saving Tips for Drivers
4. Solar energy cheaper than coal?

Posted in green cars