Quote:
Originally Posted by ChazInMT
Why?
|
Other than what you mentioned (having an ace up their sleeve to use when the time comes), there are a few other reasons why the US won't see cars with that kind of FE any time soon. First, the problem with diesel - most Americans regard it as fuel for dirty busses and trucks, which have more smoke than acceleration. VW is slowly changing that opinion with its TDIs, but it'll take a generation or two to change the mentality.
Second, emissions. Europe's standards favored low-CO2, allowing high-PM and -NOx diesels to easily thrive, which the EPA's and CARB's standards made much harder. In the '90's only Mercedes had a diesel which was clean enough for all 50 states.
Third, the European fuel consumption test is much stricter than the EPA's, ie cars have better numbers, but it'll take more than +5psi in your tires to beat them. Take a 55mpg car from Europe, run it through EPA's test and it'll get only 40 (someone here had a formula that approximated the comparison), which will be that much harder to sell.
Fourth, fuel prices. The average price of a gallon of gas around here is $6.50. If Americans had to pay twice as much for their fuel, then they would quickly buy out all of the high-mpg cars on the continent. Well, except for the ones who prefer to pray (either for Godly, or military, intervention) for lower gas prices instead of changing their habits.
Fifth, market. Europeans are used to smaller, less powerful cars, they haven't been brainwashed with the bigger, better, faster, more propaganda as much as Americans have since the 1940's. Urban areas are more compact and closer together, so public transport is a viable option, while the car-centered US has a legend about cruising down the road in your monster-engined hot-rod. Yes, huge SUVs and other penile prostheses are present in Europe, but not to the point of "I can't have a smaller car because it is unsafe between SUVs" hysteria.