A Politician should mandate better MPG cars?

Question

We put a man on the moon, but can not figure out how to make a car run on 100 MPG? What about a government mandate on this?

How about a contest, a billion dollars to the first American car company who has a car that can do this.

Everyone talks a good game, but this is the action needed.

The main contributors are diesel trucks who tear up our roads and use the most fossil fuels. Why doesn't the government step in and do something about this?...could it be about commerce instead of the envrionment?

Answer 1

Government isn't the answer....  It's the problem.

Who is going to pay for that Billion dollar reward?

About they only thing that congress can do is pass laws to force manufacturers to raise MPG for types of vehicles.  (and they do that)

If a business were to develop a 100MPG car, they would certainly profit from it, make mpg profitable and people will get to work on it.

Right now gas, believe it or not, is still cheap.

I like hybrid cars, I think their applications are great.  I like mass transportation when it works for a large population.  I like innovation, and it's going to take a company or group of individuals to come up with a very innovative solution for the MPG problem.

Once a viable and affordable solution is there, people will flock to it no matter the cost of gas, because if you burn less gas in a week, your wallet becomes heavier with the money you saved.

But government is not the answer, just look at our VA hospitals and that'll give you a reason why the government should not be involved in health care.  (and I know this isn't a health care question)

Answer 2

First Politicians are not Eng. U get them doing the Eng. and it would possible get 6 MPG. Things have a limit and u must not try to make the impossible. About the big trucks without them U woulds starve. The more the load the more fuel they will use.

Answer 3

Let the free market determine a product's viability.

If there is a demand and profit potential exists, there enough incentive to develop the product, any product.

Subsidies create artificial profits that often cause the business to fail once the help is removed.

Our nanny government often acts like a drug pusher. They keep prices of something low long enough to get us hooked. Then they pull out their subsidy and the pain begins.

In reality we pay either way.  

But it's like death-of-a-thousand-cuts when it comes out of our wallets every day.

Answer 4

The government should stay out of this unless they want to pay for it.  The problem isn't making cars that get such high mpg.  Its getting people to buy them.  

People want large powerful vehicles.  That's why we see so many trucks and SUVs on the road.  If you want a large powerful vehicle to get high mileage its going to take expensive technology to do it and people won't pay higher prices to pay for it.

15 years ago you could by several cars capable of 40-50 mpg in the real world without expensive hybrid engines.  Ford, GM, Toyota, and Honda all sold these in the US.  Nobody bought them because they were tiny and slow.  Ford and GM stopped selling them.  Toyota and Honda made the cars bigger and faster which lowered the mileage.

Heavy trucks is what moves products in our country.  Outlawing them would shut down the entire country.

Answer 5

Well...the U.S. federal government regulates meat and food standards that prevent bacteria and other unwanted elements out of our food so...if we feel comfortable with them doing this why would we not want them to create standards for other hazards? I hear the free market argument but I also like intervention to keep toxins out of the food chain.

Answer 6

Come on guy...  Who do you think is making a fortune off the current automotive and petroleum industry. There ARE 100 mpg cars out now. Good luck finding one in the USA.

Answer 7

Politicians should stay out of the market place and allow free consumers to make the choices that are best for them.  If better MPG cars are wanted, they will appear like magic.  All of the major manufacturers and most of the minor ones are perfectly capable of producing cars with high MPG and in fact do so in Europe and Japan where the cost of gasoline is much higher than here in the U.S. and thus, the market demand for high MPG cars is sufficient to make them worth producing.

Government mandates are always a disaster and will result in many more problems than they solve.  Thus it has always been and thus it will always be.

Answer 8

Nope.  The government should get the h**l out of the way of science and engineering development.

When there's a large enough demand for it, the free market will find a way to do it that makes money.  Until then, I say just deal with it.  Unless you want to pay $90,000 for your car.  (Not me)

I think most of us just laugh at the Prius and Hybrid and whatever other environmentally friendly c**p is dreamed up next.

Answer 9

proudpreemieparents - I think I laugh at you every time I see you pay up the you-know-what, while I drive by the gas station. People are starting to "get it" with gas mileage. You see, when you use more than someone else to do the same amount of work, you are increasing demand. Helping raise the price and therefore affecting the other person who might not have as much money as you to buy gas.

Government should should put forth policy to effect change. Most people that don't like government run programs are paranoid that we will become socialists. Most European countries have universal health care that work much better than our private, all for the investor, companies. Are they socialists, no! They even live longer than we do. Open your eyes.