Do you think that the US will be left behind as the demand for greener vehicles in Europe puts them ahead?

Question

technologically speaking

Answer 1

Many of the European cars will not pass our more stringent safety and emissions standards. Also because fuel in the US has been much cheaper than in Europe and Japan for many years, our incentive has been more focused on safety and more emission controls.

I would love to have cars like the VW Polo that gets 60-70 MPG, but by the time it gets altered to meet out standards it will probably only get 30MPG. There are some in the US being tested to see how they come out. Europe also has many other little diesels by Just about all the car companies including Ford and Toyota that are great.

Answer 2

no were starting to build tiny,slow little light weight cars just like the europeans have been driving for 60 years.

Answer 3

Unless we start to invest in alternative technologies, yes, we will be left behind.  By Japan and China in alternative fuel vehicles and by Europe in green energy technology.  Here is a recent article with American CEOs making that exact point:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 4

Exactly what European greener vehicles are you referring too?

Answer 5

Europe automobile technology is dominated by the diesel engine.  You can buy one any time you want...

Answer 6

We are already behind--way behind! Have been for well over a decade. Check out not just autos but other planet and life saving ecological developments that have been being used all over the world, especially in European countries for a very long time now. If I can remember the website I'll post it here --it has links to a lot of eco-friendly developments in the area of transit, water, energy and air. The technology is already there, Americans don't get the benefit of it because big corps won't make it available until they can make a buck off it. Period.

Answer 7

yes america likes to waste money that they could be saving, and bush is retarded and will find a way to say that those cars suck and keep using oil... he likes oil,.,, yah basically CHINA GANA WIN THE ECONOMIC BATTLE! so ya, they both lose! and im not even asian and i no this! ^o^"

Answer 8

The Us is already fully 15 years behind Europe and the rest of the world, all you have to do is look around and see what Europe has been doing for the past 15 years compared to what the US has been talking about for the past fifteen years.

In the US all they do is talk, in Europe it has already happened.

Answer 9

Technologically.... The USA is far more advanced in Automotive Sciences. We just don't spend as much on things like mileage but rather on Automatic Parallel Parking, GPS, and stuff like that.

Answer 10

Wendi, it's not all about green c**p.  Half of the complaining is about the price of gas.  In the Alternative Fuel section some people talk about other fuels to reduce oil consumption with the goal of breaking the oil monopoly and thus reducing the price of gas.  If the green people get on board it helps in the end because breaking the oil monopoly is best thing possible for the economy.

Answer 11

Please refresh my memory. Exactly what 'technological  leaps' have europeans made over us?

Answer 12

Yeah, I hear all of you talking about the US and all that green c**p. You either have to be a hypocrit or a dumb*** to be harping on this s***. Give me a break. I read what one answer said about the US and how much everything sucked, well I don't know if you live in the US or not, but if you admire all the other countries so much...then move.  Also, I seriously doubt you've considered running for president, but if you think you can do a better job, then you try it. Also, to crash, I get what you're saying. Who in the h**l wants to drive that slow*** c**p. Not me. The only ones that do are hippies and well...you know who else.

Let's take Al Gore for instance, one of the biggest earth promoters out there. Wonder how he travels to far away places, he flies in a jet. Wonder how he gets around town, not on a bycicle, at least not most of the time. Wonder how much electricity he uses in his beautiful home.  HMMMM

Also, I just want to state this. I love our planet, but our earth goes through stages whether we allegedly help it or not. Suddenly the term "global warming, is increasingly changing to the term "Climate Change" which mean that this might be more natural than previously thought. Also I don't particularly love what Bush has done for our country, but I can't say I would do any better, and the candidates we have running right now, probably won't either. If these problems bother you, then do something about it. If you don't like the US (assuming you live there) then move, if you are oversympathetic with trees, then live like a primitive, no one is making you use a computer either, that could save energy, and lastly, if you can be a better leader, I will vote for you.

wendi

I have edited my answer to reply:

To Answer Man (below)-

Do you know why the price of fuel prices are up? It might have something to do with how oil is not "green" according to the idiot tree hugging beaurocratic mobs that always preach, and rarely practice. If the environmentalists and the socialist (let’s tax everything) Democrats just stay out of our pockets and leave the energy alone, maybe we could drill in this country and build more refineries. I bet you are one of the people who thinks that the way to make gas less expensive is to tax it more, which will make it more expensive which will in turn somehow make it less expensive? Not even Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore would suggest something that ridiculous.

Blaming the oil companies is just plain silly. People act as if they are taking these big profits and hiding them somewhere. How business works: Those profits go to the ordinary people that own stocks, IRA’s, pension accounts, through stock appreciation and dividends. Democrats create an image of a company as a greedy monster, which is good politics but totally inaccurate and misleading. You want the profits of the oil companies? Buy a few shares of stock. Note, though, that those profits represent a return of less than 10% on investment.

Oil companies and their employees risk their lives and livelihoods to supply the lifeblood of our economy. They go years without significant profit, and now that they have a good year, they are made out as evil. Take away a few of the oil companies, and then see what happens!!

It’s like any other money problem you face in everyday life. Stop blaming someone else, stop looking for someone else to solve a problem for you. Use your head, determine what expenses you can reduce, eliminate, or postpone. Set your priorities, establish a budget, and spend to the budget. Look for alternate transportation. Carpool, ride the bus, work closer to or maybe from home. The big thing is to quit complaining and start taking positive action for a solution.

Answer Man,

I did not mean to tick you off so passionately, but I find rather appealing since I like somewhat of a challenge. I want to clear this up straight away. I apologize for upsetting you so much, but I never aimed my words to you directly, these were general statements for not understanding those of differing outlooks and emotions as mine. I hope you and I can get past the s**t slinging contest and act like adults. Although you called me an idiot and a r****d, you sound like an intelligent individual, just with a different understanding than my own. I did want to correct you on something, though, which I thought was very humorous.

It isn't "your a idiot," it's "your an idiot."

To get to the point, I don't particularly think you and I are that different. We do both agree that gas prices are rediculous. Maybe we need to find some common ground to better understand why we disagree so intensely.  Below are pieces of articles written by CNN and the U.S. Sentate. Tell me if you agree or disagree and what about and which parts. I'm just curious.

Did you know that gas price gouging almost never occurs as prices rise? Rather, it's most often when dealers keep prices artificially high even as their costs fall.

As gas costs rise to $4 a gallon and oil companies earn around $100 billion each year, it's a good time to question what really goes into the price of gas.

The numbers on the gas station sign hide a complex set of transactions. Before gas can power your car, it must be discovered as crude oil, traverse three markets, and be refined from crude into gas.Both oil and gas are traded on three markets: the contract market, the spot market, and the futures market. Each is influenced by different factors and impacts the price of gas at different stages of production. Unlike the futures market, the contract and spot markets are not the kind of markets found on Wall Street; they are informal networks of businesspeople.

Though it seems like oil companies spend most of their time ruining your day by raising the price of gas, their primary business is exploration. Once an oil company finds a field and coaxes it into producing crude, it takes that unrefined oil and sells to refiners. The vast majority of oil is sold by contracts. A veritable orgy of contracts signed between oil companies and dealers, oil companies and refiners, refiners and independent dealers predetermine the fate of most oil and gas.

Refiners plan their purchasing and refining activity to ensure that these contracts are fulfilled. In exchanged for this privileged standing, refiners charge contract customers a premium.

Need some extra oil? Got a spare barrel you need to sell today? The spot market is for you. The spot market fills the gap left by the contracts market. When a refiner needs extra oil to meet its contracts, they find people with surplus oil on the spot market. Unlike the contract and futures markets, which trade pieces of paper, the spot market involves the trade of actual barrels.

The best deals are often found on the spot market. Since neither the buyer or seller is locked into a prearranged deal, the laws of supply, demand, and free market are mostly in effect.

A futures contract might stand for 1,000 barrels of West Texas Intermediate to be delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma. The futures market represents that collective state of the oil market at any particular moment. When you hear reporters talk about the price of oil reaching $100 per barrel, they're talking about the futures market. Because fluctuations on the futures market are driven by information, its prices guide the contract and spot markets.

The people buying and selling futures rarely, if ever, collect on their contracts; a seven year period saw 5 billion barrels traded, of which only 31,000 were ever delivered.

Oil companies do not set wholesale (rack) or retail prices based solely upon the cost to manufacture and sell gasoline; rather wholesale (rack) and retail prices are set on the basis of market conditions, including the prices of competitors.

Most oil companies and gasoline stations try to keep their prices at a constant price difference with respect to one or more competitors. As a result of these interdependent practices, gasoline prices of oil companies tend to go up and

down together.

In Michigan and Ohio, these interdependent and parallel retail pricing practices have led to sharp daily increases in retail prices across the states.

Oil companies use zone pricing to charge different prices for gasoline to different station operators, some of which are in nearby geographic areas, in order to confine price competition to the smallest area possible and to maximize

their prices and revenues at each retail outlet.

And who can blame them, this is America, a free country, a capitalist country, a place where we are free to make money  for ourselves...however if we make too much, then we are evil. This is the real story and the percentages of where the money goes.

This is as of exactly one year ago:

About 52 percent of what you pay for each gallon goes to crude oil suppliers.

Taxes collectively account for 15 percent of the consumer's cost of gas per gallon. Gas prices vary from state to state primarily because of variances in taxes.

The cost of refining crude oil accounts for about 24 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas.

advertising and distribution costs together account for about 9 percent of the price of a gallon of gas.

The above all factor into the price of gasoline, but there are other contributing factors. One is seasonal demand. In warmer months, when families tend to travel more, the price of gasoline usually increases, because there is more of a demand for it. Geography can have an impact on the price of gasoline your family pays versus that your cousin's family pays in another part of the U.S. In general, the further you are from oil refineries, the higher price you'll pay for gasoline due to higher distribution costs. Competition among gas stations often has an impact on price.