Way to go HG!

I also think the MPG guage should be standard. (reaching for my conspiracy hat...) I'll bet you auto makers are pressured not to. That would lead to (gasp) conservation, which leads to less gas being purchased. It's one thing to have a small minority rolling around in high FE cars, but to have 50-70% of the cars on the road get 2-3 MPG better would cost oil companies millions, if not billions. I can't see any logical reason to deny someone that data - other than it also may expose how poorly their car may perform.

 

Or how poorly one drives.

 

That's illogical paranoid thinking, since there is a hefty federal tax credit for hybrids and numerous states allow them in HOV lanes. Doesn't sound like anti-conservation to me.

EDIT: Not to mention that many car makers DO put them in. Audis and BMWs have them, reportedly some GM cars have them... it's the Japanese car makers that don't seem to be putting that information into their cars.

 

Great article!

And we have Hot Georgia back safely!

 

I beg to differ. The fact we get tax credits is politics, and we're not a significant number in terms of sales. You watch - when hybrids sales make up a greater percentage of total sales the credits will disappear. We get them now because it's not really costing the government a lot of money. It's a cheap way to get political mileage - "see, we're friendly to the enviornment because we offer tax credits". We get it because we're not a big enough population to make it painful. Yet.

The fact that oil companies decide how we consume gas is not paranoia. Viable electric and hybrid technology has been around since the 70's. Even high-FE technologies not related to hybrids has been around for decades. What possible reason is there that we haven't seen these cars until now? Oil companies. I'll give you it's a stretch to think that they are behind the absence of FE guages, but it's also naive to think that oil companies are not actively and intentionally behind fighting conservation technologies.

Last point - how many people own Audi and BMW? Small percentage. I have yet to come across and American car with an FE guage. I'm not aware of any GM car that does (I'm sure there are or were, but it's clearly not standard equipment). But it begs the question - why is such a simple and useful instrument not in every car? Seems like a no-brainer, right?

 

My GMC pickup has instanteous FE gauge! And multiple trip meters.

Ron in SoCal

 

I can see how oil companies can influence legislation by lobbying congress, but
what leverage does an American oil company have on a Japanese automaker?

 

Import laws. They also have to build cars to American standards. Also, Japanese oil companies may be in the mix.

I don't want to over-dramatize my point. It is, after all, just my opinion. I couldn't find you court records, laws, legistlation, etc. to substantiate my suspicisions. I just happen to be of the opinion that big oil has a big hand in influencing politics and the laws that govern natural resources. I'm of the belief their influence is more pervasive and sinister than the average person knows about. While it is a little rediculous that big oil would be the ones to keep something like an FE guage out of cars, I would not be surprised in the least if 20 years from now we learned that they did. It's probably just as plausible that they aren't in cars because consumers haven't asked for it.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't doubt that the oil companies would lobby against any law requiring MPG gauges in all cars. I'm guessing that the automakers would also be against it because it would probably generate a lot of complaints from people that they're not getting the advertised EPA numbers (despite the fact that the gauge is telling them that it's their own fault!). It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they should get EPA regardless of how they drive. A gauge would only help those who actually watch it while they drive. Most would probably just look at the average when they fill up and think there's something wrong with their car (now there's a dealer nightmare!)

 

I think the oil industry would encourage gauges in cars. We pay very little for oil. So, it makes sense they would want us to use a little as possible so there would be more available to sell to others that use more and will pay more.