Nothing new here. Cadalliac had an engine that ran on 4, 6, or 8 cylynders 20 years ago. I looked at a new dodge dakota with a 318 when they first came out. The dakota had a feul rating of 25 mpg. I just laughed and walked away. At that time I had a 1984 ford ranger that I put a 345 hp 350 into that got 28 mpg and if I changed gears and went to an overdrive transmission, would probable get over 30 mpg.
The car companies won't let their vehicles get too good of milage and hurt the oil industry. Too many jobs are tied up in oil.There are alot of ways to increase eficiency, but don't look towards the auto industry to do it. Brent >From: Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com >To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com >CC: biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [biofuels-biz] Small steps by GM >Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 02:04:17 +0900 > >General Motors -- last year dubbed "Global Warmer Number One" by >Environmental Defense -- is taking small steps to clean up its >vehicle fleet, not to mention its image. The company has announced >that it will add new gas-saving technology to most of its SUVs and >pickup trucks by 2008, beginning with three SUV models next year. The >"displacement on demand" technology, which can be used with six- or >eight-cylinder engines, automatically turns off some cylinders when >less power is needed, thereby improving fuel economy by about 8 >percent. Enviros are not impressed, arguing that automakers could be >producing SUVs that get 40 miles to the gallon using other existing >technologies. With an eye toward the long range, GM is developing its >Hy-wire car, which runs on hydrogen fuel cells, but that technology >won't hit showrooms for 10 to 20 years. In the meantime, GM last week >shipped three road-ready fuel-cell minivans to Washington, D.C., >where they'll be loaned to members of Congress. > > >http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20776/story.htm > >GM to add fuel-saving device to SUVs, pickups > >USA: May 13, 2003 > >DETROIT - Amid growing criticism of gas-guzzling sport utility >vehicles, General Motors Corp. (GM.N) said it would add new >fuel-saving technology to most of its SUVs and pickup trucks. > >GM, the world's largest automaker, said that starting next year it >will make its new "displacement on demand" technology standard >equipment on three SUVs powered by V8 engines, boosting their fuel >economy by about 8 percent. > >Displacement on demand, or DOD, automatically shuts off half of a >V8's eight cylinders, temporarily turning it into a more efficient >four-cylinder engine, when the vehicles are cruising at a constant >speed or carrying a light load. > >DOD will be rolled out over several years and be added to most SUVs >and pickup trucks by 2008, as well as to many passenger cars with V6 >engines. > >GM next year will add DOD to V8 engine versions of the Chevrolet >TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and GMC Envoy XUV sport utility vehicles. That >will raise their fuel efficiency, currently 15 to 20 miles per >gallon, by about 1 or 2 miles per gallon, said GM spokesman Dave >Roman. > >But that will be far below the 40 miles per gallon that some >environmental groups say is possible. > >Detroit automakers came under fire this week in a new advertising >campaign co-sponsored by a Hollywood group led by syndicated >columnist Arianna Huffington and a New York-based environmental group >headed by Robert Kennedy Jr., son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy. > >The new television and print ads that Detroit could help slash the >U.S. dependence on foreign oil by more than doubling the fuel economy >of cars, trucks and SUVs. But they say automakers refuse to build >vehicles that "take America to work in the morning without sending it >to war in the afternoon." > >GM's Roman said the DOD technology will be added to some mid-size >cars in 2005, and by 2008, it will be fitted on more than 2 million >vehicles on the road. > >The technology, which costs a nominal amount for the automaker to >install, will help GM meet rising fuel economy standards for pickup >trucks, SUVs and vans, Roman said. > >"It's one of many things in our tool box that we're pulling from," he >added. > >REUTERS NEWS SERVICE > > >http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/ >105282701889100.xml > >Hy-wire hits the road, aiming at the future > >05/13/03 >DON STEINBERG > >TRENTON, N.J. -- General Motors' Hy-wire -- a car with no engine, >steering wheel or brake pedal -- swerved between orange cones Monday >in a Trenton parking lot. > >Don't think about trying this stunt at home, because you can't -- and >probably won't be able to for 10 or 20 years, if that. > >The Hy-wire is the car of the future, and it runs on the energy of >tomorrow: hydrogen fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to >produce electricity. Their only emission is water, which steams >harmlessly out the tailpipe. > >President Bush made hydrogen a surprise star of his January State of >the Union speech. He suggested the element could be fueling America's >cars by 2020, reducing environmentally harmful emissions and cutting >the nation's dependence on foreign oil. He has proposed spending $1.7 >billion over five years on research projects patriotically named >FreedomCar and FreedomFuel. > >And so here it is, a glimpse of our freedom. The Hy-wire seats five, >in an entirely flat-floored passenger compartment. Its maximum speed >is about 100 mph, but it can only go about 90 miles between fill-ups. > >"We've probably put over a billion dollars into this technology over >the last several years," said Greg Ruselowski, director of finance >for GM's fuel-cell business. He said that's more than the company >invests in a program to create a traditional new car model, "so this >is a serious effort." > >The Hy-wire is controlled using something called an X-drive that >resembles a video-game controller. Grab its two rubber handgrips and >twist either one forward to make the car move. The whirring electric >motor rises in pitch like a blender as it speeds up. There's no noisy >engine under the hood. > >There's no hood. > >Squeezing either handgrip applies the brakes. Rotating the X-drive >like a steering wheel turns the car, but there's no hand-over-hand >turning and no steering column connecting it to the wheels. It's all >done by wires that run through a computer. > >The drive-by-wire feature and other Space-Age gadgets built into >Hy-wire -- it has video screens instead of mirrors -- really have >nothing to do with hydrogen. They're just to show off what designers >can do when a car doesn't need an engine and mechanical connections. > >"It shows you some of the design freedoms you get with a fuel cell," >said Ruselowski. For example, the X-drive controller can slide from >the left side to the right, so you can change drivers without >switching seats, in case that ever becomes legal. > >The first real hydrogen-powered cars for consumers will look >traditional. GM last week brought four conventional-looking but >fuel-cell-based minivans to Washington, D.C., and will be loaning >them to members of Congress. > >Later this year, DaimlerChrysler plans to deliver 60 Mercedes A-Class >sedans powered by fuel cells, 20 of them going to the United States, >most likely in Washington, said Max Gates, a spokesman. > >In October, Shell Hydrogen will open the first hydrogen refueling >pump at an existing U.S. retail gas station. It'll also be in >Washington, where carmakers are shipping their prototype >hydrogen-guzzlers to impress legislators. > >"The intent is that the car drives up, and the driver goes through >the same procedure they do now for gasoline," said Phil Baxley, Shell >Hydrogen's vice president of business development. > >Still even hydrogen's supporters admit that reaching that fuel-and-go >future on a mass scale is a long ways off. > >Hydrogen may be Earth's most plentiful element and number one on the >periodic table, but it doesn't naturally exist in pure form. You have >to extract it from other substances. Today, more than 90 percent of >the hydrogen produced in the United States comes from natural gas, or >methane, and extracting hydrogen produces carbon emissions. > >You can get hydrogen by applying electricity to water. But the >concern is that "You might move emissions out of the tailpipe, but >you'll still have them," said Gates, because most electricity is >still produced by polluting sources such as coal. > >The hope hydrogen holds for environmentalists is that it at least >opens the door to cleaner energy sources, such as wind or solar >power. "Nuclear power actually is an interesting possibility," Baxley >said. > >Other obstacles include building a national infrastructure for >distributing hydrogen. There are many ways for storing hydrogen in a >car, including as gas or liquid, but no standard. Meanwhile, few >prototype hydrogen cars top 200 miles between fill-ups. > >GM brought the Hy-wire to Trenton as part of the annual Tour de Sol, >an independent event started in 1989 as a road rally for solar-power >cars. The competition will roll into Philadelphia today and then ride >to Washington on Wednesday. > >The Hy-wire isn't competing in the rally, but it'll probably be more >fuel-efficient than the other cars, because it's traveling the way >most hydrogen cars move long distances these days. It's being hauled >to Philadelphia by truck. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get A Free Psychic Reading! 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