Why are gasoline prices so high? It’s quite simple, actually. Never mind the unrest happening on the other side of the world. There’s no real competition at the pump right here in America. Big Oil effectively holds a monopoly on transportation fuel – from sea to shining sea. Not a traditional one, mind you, but a monopoly all the same. If you want to pass go, you’ll have to fork over $200 to fill your tank … to one of the usual suspects.
Now that’s not to say there’s a total lack of competition. But you’d be hard-pressed to find an alternative to conventional gasoline sitting across the street from the vast majority of service stations in America today (with some notable exceptions). If you want to drive without gasoline, you’ll need to do a little legwork.
The good news is that there are at least half a dozen viable alternatives that work today. These fuels are readily available across the country, but you might need to do a little digging to find a local source. Some fuels are better suited to certain geographical locations and climates. Some fuels are simply inappropriate in specific locations. But some fuels are remarkably inexpensive for the industrious …
Our Jeep Wrangler gas mileage improvement project is proceeding, albeit slowly. We headed out to SEMA last month to see what the aftermarket options exist to help squeak an extra mile or two out of a gallon of gas. Lo and behold, we quickly tripped into two very cool alternatives that offer a peek into a domestic energy-independent future.
One thing’s for sure. If you’re serious about improving the fuel economy of your Jeep and have serious money to spend the options are out there. The first article in this series mentioned the HPA Motorsports TDI diesel engine swap. We found another cool diesel swap option while scouring the aisles of SEMA’s off-road exhibit hall at the Bruiser Off-Road booth.
Hold onto your hats. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have finally pulled the curtain on their proposed rule for the Obama Administration’s new gas mileage standard. An average of 54.5 miles per gallon (MPG) by 2025 may seem like a huge leap in a short time, but the numbers are not what they appear.
The 54.5 MPG figure is the EPA number for passenger vehicles, not what you’ll see on the window sticker. It’s a fudge factory powered by greenhouse gas emissions. The automakers will be able to use a range of technology incentives in one place to offset their numbers in another, including flex fuel, hybrid, and electric power trains. In real world terms, we might expect a sticker average of 40 MPG for cars that run on liquid fuel. That’s not all that extraordinary, considering all the cars with gas mileage ratings around 40 MPG highway that we can buy today.
And they wonder why so many Americans are so skeptical of what goes on in Washington. Continue reading →
With just a few days until the 2011 SEMA show, a group of our esteemed elected officials have introduced “The Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act” (H.R. 3274) – a bipartisan bill that is intended to enable custom car manufacturers to build and market a range of specialty vehicles on a national level.
The bill was introduced by Congressman John Campbell (R-CA). It directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to “establish a regulatory structure to facilitate the production of these cars.” Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA).
We’re giving away our awesome MPGomatic Stickers for a limited time. Get them now, before we start charging for ‘em. It’s simple, all you have to do is fill out and submit this form:
After you fill out this form and submit it, you will get an email to verify the submission. (We’re using Aweber to store names and addresses for the free stickers.) Once you complete the submission process, your name will be added to the list and I’ll send out your sticker via USPS.
You’ll get the MPGomatic email newsletter, as well as a copy of the MPGomatic Roadmap to Better Gas Mileage ebook (in PDF format). I’ve been sending the newsletter out once a month lately, but I’m hoping to crank out them out a bit more frequently as time permits. I’ll send you the link to download the MPGomatic Roadmap to Better Gas Mileage in a follow up email.
If you live outside of the United States, or have already subscribed to the newsletter, hit me with a PM on YouTube (or respond to the newsletter via email) with your address and I’ll send out a sticker.
Thanks!
PS: Our stickers were printed by our friends at StickerGiant. They did an awesome job. We will be printing a bunch of crazy stickers with them down the road.
