Air car

My comments follow this short article.

Super Fuel-Efficient Car to Run on Air

A New York-based company plans to produce a car that runs on compressed air and gets up to 106 miles per gallon.

The car's engine would work like a locomotive, but instead of steam, compressed air would move the pistons. When the car hits 35 mph a fuel-powered external combustion system kicks in and heats the air, further increasing its volume.

While experts agree that it's possible to run a small vehicle on compressed air, many are skeptical about whether this system would work for a full-size car. Nevertheless, Zero Pollution Motors is pledging to build the first models in 2010, and sell them for around $18,000.

At first the air would be free, and pumped into the tanks using an on-board compressor. But we're sure someone will eventually figure out how to charge for the air. If you doubt this, take a look at that bottle of water you're drinking.

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I think this is exactly the kind of forward thinking we need to reduce our dependence on oil and our negative impact on the environment.

Sure, this won't replace the occasional need for a larger vehicle that can go for long range. But just imagine if most people drove air cars to and from work, the grocery store, soccer practice, music lessons, and the movie theatre instead of a gasoline powered car that pollutes.

They could rent a van or truck to bring home large purchases from Best Buy or Home Depot. They could rent a large SUV or minivan for that family road trip vacation. Or they could keep the one they have, but they wouldn't need to drive those inefficient polluters around every day.

I'm also not saying anyone should be forced into this type of behavior. This is America; the land of the free (at least for the moment), and we should be allowed to drive whatever we want. But it would certainly be a step in the right direction to have alternatives like this available to those who want to use them.

Think about it: 106 mpg, non-polluting, $18K. Personally, I would buy one of these in a heartbeat.

Crush du Jour: Steven Strait

Ford's decision

Ford has decided NOT to sell its 65-mpg Fiesta in the US because it feels Americans don't like diesel fueled vehicles.

They say only 3% of cars sold in the US are diesels. But did it occur to them that more people would likely buy a diesel if more models were offered? Currently only VW and Mercedes Benz offer a few diesel models.

My guess is that US car buyers wouldn't care if the Fiesta were diesel if they knew they could get 65 miles per gallon.

Americans are slowly adjusting to the reality that we can't rely solely on gasoline powered vehicles if we want to be competitive in the world marketplace and protect the environment. Unfortunately our government seems to feel the answer is simply to drill for more oil. We need a variety of fuel choices, which will make them competitive with each other and reduce unit cost, as well as reduce environmental damage.

Ford Won't Sell 65-MPG Fiesta in US
By DAVID KILEY, BusinessWeek.com

If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor, known widely for lumbering gas hogs.

Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe.

"We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

Automakers such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have predicted for years that a technology called "clean diesel" would overcome many Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly stuff that powers tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the market with pollution-fighting technology are as clean or cleaner than gasoline and at least 30 percent more fuel-efficient.

Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline.

Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3 percent of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."

None of this is stopping European and Japanese automakers, which are betting they can jump-start the U.S. market with new diesel models. Mercedes-Benz by next year will have three cars it markets as "BlueTec." Even Nissan and Honda, which long opposed building diesel cars in Europe, plan to introduce them in the U.S. in 2010. But Ford, whose Fiesta ECOnetic compares favorably with European diesels, can't make a business case for bringing the car to the U.S.

TOO PRICEY TO IMPORT

First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about $24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford doesn't believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic.

Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves. Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines a year to make such a venture profitable. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Fields.

The question, of course, is whether the U.S. ever will embrace diesel fuel and allow automakers to achieve sufficient scale to make money on such vehicles. California certified VW and Mercedes diesel cars earlier this year, after a four-year ban. James N. Hall, of auto researcher 293 Analysts, says that bellwether state and the Northeast remain "hostile to diesel." But the risk to Ford is that the fuel takes off, and the carmaker finds itself playing catch-up -- despite having a serious diesel contender in its arsenal.

Crush du Jour: David Beckham