|
|
MORE FUEL ECONOMY SOUGHT
Wednesday, September 28th, 2005 -- 8:39 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
A local car dealership owner believes recent high gas prices and worries about our country’s dependence on foreign oil may push car manufacturers to create vehicles that won’t need any petroleum-based fuel.
Wayne Gross, owner of Gross Automotive Group, says car buyers are concerned about gas prices.
Vehicles range from up to 40-miles-per-gallon for a smaller cars, down to the lower teens for some work-type vehicles, Gross says.
More engines are running on ethanol-based "E85" fuels and more “Hyrbid” vehicles are on the market; hybrids run on a regular fuel and electricity. But Gross says American auto manufacturers don’t believe these are the final answer to fuel concerns. This year, there are more “displacement on demand” engines.
"At highway speeds, which don't need all the horsepower of your engine, it cuts out half the cylinders," Gross explains. "That's supposed to gain 10-12% fuel economy" with no noticeable affects.
But a revolutionary change could come as soon as 2010 when hydrogen-powered fuel cells could hit the mainstream, changing everything.
"The fuel cell cars will not run on fossil fuels, they'll run on hydrogen. They will have no emissions other than water; they're fuel economy will be much greater."
"They have fuel cell cars right now, the problem is getting the fuel cell cars where the public can afford to buy them. The other problem is getting the infrastructure to distribute the hydrogen."
"That's what the future is," Gross says.
|
|
|
VIEW OUR ARCHIVE
|
|
