Why automakers don't sell a car that gets 50mpg.

I have a car that gets over 50mpg.

 

I would not want to take that mileage hit. First year (11 months) of Prius ownership with 15K+ miles MPG=56.3. Since the 5K mile break-even point 58.2 MPG and currently working on my first 60MPG tank of the season.

 

I would cringe if I only got 50mpg.

 

You mean everybody doesn't get 50 miles per gallon? What is their problem?

 

I do.

 

Probably for the same reason Prius drivers do not get 50 MPG ---- They are not using their heads.

I think we should have a motto for any Prius driver who ask us why they are not getting 50+ MPG: That they are driving with their Foot and not their Head!

Russ

 

Or maybe they're mostly driving short trips only because they were stupid enough to take a job a few miles from home instead of having a really long commute.

Or they live in an area with frequent stoplights and stop signs and they actually stop at them.

You really just can't generalize on this. Everyone's situation is different.

 

You hit the nail on the head. I dread weekends... goin from store-to-store kills your mpg. Today it's 59 mpg, by Sunday night I'll be down to 55. But I've got 5 days next week with 23 mile commutes to pull it back up!

 

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Generally your right.
Russ

 

Errr, maybe I don't get the question ... because I don't WANT a car that I can only get 50mpg in

 

you people obviously don't live in s.w. fl. where the traffic light timing IDIOTS make you stop at each and every light and wait for ten minutes for your light to change... just enough time for the gas motor to have to kick on because you have to have the ac on AAARRRRGGGHHH

 

The article actually states that the automakers can make 50 MPG cars right now but states that we, as Americans, would not find the trade-offs worthwhile. The example of the Ford Focus made entirely of aluminum and a lighter engine that would probably get 50 MPG was estimated to cost $50,000. It kind of glossed over a change in driving habits and flat out said Americans wouldn't accept a car that wouldn't accelerate quickly.

 

Ha Ha. That sums up some low mpg problems right there.

 

Indeed. The problem is the people.

 

AC doesn't pull mpg's down that much. Perhaps you can read the thread, "I beat the epa" and if/when you do, you'll finds lots of Floridians who, despite the muggies of summer, manage to do quite well. It's actually those of us who drive hybrids in the deep freeze type winter states who get the mpg's pulled down. As for surface street driving, versus highway/freeway, you'll find that we who are beating the epa estimates (or stomping on the epa, in some cases) are doing it at slower speeds, not high speeds, and by getting in the habbit of anticipating traffic lights (especially easy if you drive the same congested streets ever day) in stead of just driving the Prius as you would a Dodge 440.

BTW, the Ford Focus that guy compared the Prius too? It's a roller skate in comparison to the Prius. His rant states the U.S. won't buy it because it's not packed with luxury. He doesn't get it.

 

That only applies to traditional single engine cars. HSD obviously breaks that trade-off barrier.

 

The Big 3 can’t make a quality car because of two main reasons:

(1) Quality over quantity flies in the face of the most basic philosophy they have lived by since the first car rolled of the assembly line. They simply cannot make that mental leap of faith that investing a little more in quality will reap more financial benefits in the long run than contued mass producing substandard products. They still largely depend on a substantial portion of their profits from revolving sales of short-life span disposable cars, parts, and labor.

(2) The unionized labor force deters quality. The AWU exists for the sole purpose of ensuring that autoworkers do the minimum work for the maximum pay. That consistently produces an expensive mediocre product.

 

I want to take a bit of exception with the article quoted here.

Americans buy what they are told they want... if what was advertised (glamorized) was smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles, if the movies had all the hunks driving Prius and EVs, if product placement was of green technology, then that is exactly what the public would 'demand'...

All the people that whine and complain that they have to drive big-assed trucks/SUVs are just parroting back what they've been brainwashed with... advertising.

Too many years of "Like a truck..." on billboards is what we are seeing happening.