Is a Nano the Right Car for You?

July 1, 2009 by 10 Comments

Back in March of this year, the Tata Nano — dubbed “The People’s Car” due to it’s affordability — was unveiled in India, causing quite a stir around the globe.  During the booking period, which ran from April 9 through April 25, nearly a quarter million were sold, with actual delivery beginning in July.

While the basic model of the Nano is relatively stripped down, the car has been widely hailed as revolutionary due to it’s most important feature: it’s $2,500 price tag.  This price makes the Nano the cheapest/least expensive production car in the world.

Considering the tough economic times many of us our facing, coupled with the general woes of the U.S. auto industry, the idea of a small, fuel efficient and very cheap vehicle is certainly very appealing to the American consumer.  That being said, would these factors be enough to make it worth it to Tata to sell the Nano in the United States?

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Filed Under: Common Sense, Fuel Efficient Vehicles Tagged With: , , ,

Mother Nature Would Like to Have a Word

March 25, 2009 by 14 Comments

While I certainly can’t speak for everyone, it certainly seems to me that the call to go green, especially with regards to oil, gasoline, driving less, and more fuel efficient vehicles, has sort of been muted as of late.  I also think the explanation why is obvious.

I have long subscribed to the theory that if you want people to pay attention, take action, and make changes, you’ve got to hit them where it counts: in their wallet.  This is why I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the cries for becoming more environmentally friendly grew louder as gasoline prices climbed higher.

On the flip side, I think this is also why many of us seem to not be as concerned about the environment — or at least trying to make immediate changes — as we once were.  After all, the price of gas has fallen about 50% from it’s peak.

But, one opinion does not a fact make, so I thought I’d pose the following question to my Daily Fuel Economy Tip readers: Are you less concerned about environmental issues now that gas prices have fallen over 50 percent?

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Filed Under: Gas Prices Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hybrid Sales Fall Nearly 10% in 2008

January 27, 2009 by 3 Comments

It seems even popular and trendy hybrid vehicles were unable to buck the downward trend experienced in 2008 by the automotive industry.

Despite record high gasoline and diesel fuel prices, sales of hybrid vehicles fell nearly 10% during 2008, according to numbers released by the Automotive News Data Center.  However, in spite of the over-arching bad news, there was some good news for one of the Big 3: General Motors increased their hybrid sales by almost 200 percent.

The “headline news” regarding a 10% decrease in hybrid sales seems pretty bad.  After all, in the first half of 2008 we had both the release of several new hybrid models and saw the U.S. national average gas price climb above $4 per gallon for the first time ever.

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Filed Under: Fuel Efficient Vehicles, Hybrid Cars Tagged With: , , , ,

Will President Obama Get Alternative Energy on Track?

December 16, 2008 by 3 Comments

As part of Barack Obama’s message during his Presidential campaign, he promised to help modernize and green America’s energy and transportation systems.  (Click here and here to see what Obama promised on the trail.)

Now, after the election, President-elect Obama is pushing alternative energy as part of his expected to be many hundreds of billions of dollars stimulus package.  According to the Obama camp, not only will the push towards alternative energy and more fuel efficient vehicles help protect America from unstable oil producing countries, but it will also help to create and save millions of non-exportable jobs within our borders.

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Filed Under: Alternative Fuels, Hybrid Cars Tagged With: , , , , , ,

National Speed Limit to Help Save Gas? Not so Fast!

October 28, 2008 by 43 Comments

Remember the days of $4 gasoline?  Ah, they seem so long ago – even though it was less than three months ago.

Anyway, one of the many proposed ideas to help ease the pain at the pump and help drivers consume less gasoline was to implement a national speed limit, which would reduce the maximum allowable driving speed to top out at 55 miles per hour.

However, with all of the recent Federal intervention and meddling in an effort to revive the economy, one would imagine Congress has much bigger things to worry about.  Besides, do we really want the government to step in and impose even more regulations upon us?

According to a recent poll on GasBuddy.com, a vast majority of drivers are against a government mandated speed limit.

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Filed Under: Driving Habits, Gas Prices Tagged With: , , , , , ,

I Bet You’re Excited About Plug-in Hybrids

October 1, 2008 by 2 Comments

One of the most promising “save the world” vehicles is the plug-in hybrid.  Much of the allure of these cars comes from the fact they’re not borne of some super technology or some untested alternative fuel, but from the fact that at their very core, all they are is essentially a combination of the best features of both electric and gasoline powered cars.

After charging, plug-in hybrids have the ability to run for long periods of time exclusively on batteries, which obviously reduces gasoline consumption and harmful emissions.  They are also able to drive as “regular” fuel efficient gas powered cars, so you don’t have to stop every 200 miles to recharge the car’s batteries.

For as cool as these cars are, will people actually buy them once they hit the market?  After all, there have been a countless number of products that consumers thought were neat, but weren’t really interested in purchasing.

So, is it worth it for the reeling auto industry to invest in infrastructure necessary to mass produce these cars?  According to a recent poll, not only is it worth it for car makers to do so, but it would probably stupid for them not to do so.

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Filed Under: Hybrid Cars Tagged With: , , , , ,

Who Should Pay For Fuel Efficient Car Plants – Big 3 or the Federal Government?

September 15, 2008 by 7 Comments

It’s no secret that higher gas prices have hit America pretty hard.  While higher gas prices have placed quite a financial strain on the American public, at the end of the day, the “group” that might be effected the most might not be Americans in general, rather the Big 3 American car makers – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

After spending years building up the infrastructure to produce profitable trucks and SUVs, higher gas prices have really hurt sales at the Big 3 American car makers.  In an effort to stop the financial bleeding, many truck and SUV plants have been shut down, costing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales.

These current conditions have led the senior management of these car companies to ask the Federal Government for some financial help in the form of low interest loans to help convert truck and SUV plants into facilities which produce smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles.

While this Federal intervention may seem like a good thing – after all, a healthy manufacturing sector has always been good for the American economy – according to a recent poll, Americans appear to be pretty torn over whether or not the Federal Government should help the Big 3.

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Filed Under: Fuel Efficient Vehicles Tagged With: , , , , , ,

High Gas Prices Forcing You to Drive Less?

September 3, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Over the span of the past 18 months, the national average price of gasoline has jumped from a low of $2.13 per gallon (February 2007) to a high of $4.12 (July 2008), back down to today’s current price of $3.69.

While the price decline over the past two months has come as a relief, the 75% price increase between early 2007 and now is clearly unprecedented and has to have made a profound impact on many of our personal finances.

And since money doesn’t grow on trees – especially in this slumping economy – chances are you’ve had to cut back somewhere in order to account for having less money in your pocket. According to a recent poll on GasBuddy.com, nearly 70% of us have reduced the amount of driving we do in order to cope with higher gasoline prices.

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Filed Under: Drive Less Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fuel Economy Tip – Follow the “3 Second Rule”

August 25, 2008 by 50 Comments

Here’s a tip that will not only help you increase your vehicle’s fuel economy, but will also help you become a much safer driver:

Follow the “3 Second Rule”

As you are driving down the road – particularly at highway speeds – make sure that you give keep plenty of space between your car, truck, SUV, etc. and the vehicle in front of you. In most cases, you are giving proper spacing if you are traveling three seconds behind the car in front of you, however, you will likely need to give more time and space if you’re driving in bad weather.

For those of you who don’t know how to tell how close you are traveling to the car in front of you, pick a set object up a head – an exit sign, a light pole, etc. – and once the bumper of the car you’re following crosses the designated object, begin counting and don’t stop until the hood of your car passes the same object.

Following the “3 Second Rule” will help keep you from constantly tapping your brakes and accelerator every time the car in front of you slows down and speeds up. By avoiding tap dancing on your brake and accelerator pedals, you can significantly increase your fuel economy. Here’s why:

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Filed Under: Driving Habits Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Expensive Gas Draining Your Budget?

August 6, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Over the past six or seven months, higher gas prices have come to put a strain on many of our personal financial situations. To what degree the higher fuel costs have affected quality of life will vary from one person to the next, but, at the very least, we’ve all at least noticed that a larger portion of our budgets has gone towards filling up our vehicles.

In order to try and find out how much our bottom lines have been affected, I recently had a poll up on Daily Fuel Economy Tip which asked: What’s the most you’ve had to spend to fill up your primary vehicle?

Here’s now over 150 people responded:

  • 4% said less than $40
  • 21% said between $41 and $50
  • 26% said between $51 and $60
  • 18% said between $61 and $70
  • 31% said more than $70

Considering the price of gasoline has climbed over 35 percent over the last year, it’s easy to see why so many drivers have had to pay more than $70 to fill up. For example, if you’re paying $4 a gallon for gas, all it would take is for you to have a 17.5 gallon gasoline tank to hit the $70 mark. Since tanks this size aren’t just reserved for large trucks or SUVs, many owners of “practical” cars – i.e. mid and full sized sedans – are feeling the pain, too.

Fortunately, over the last month or so, the price of gasoline has eased a bit and has fallen a little more than six percent. While that percentage decline might not appear to be too significant, on that 17.5 gallon tank, you’d end up saving nearly $4.50 on every fill up. Over time, that savings would certainly add up.

If recent trends continue, we should begin to see the decline in gas prices gain even more momentum over the coming weeks and months as demand continues to weaken. In order to cope with higher costs, many drivers have switched to cars with better fuel economy, have reduced the amount of miles they drive, or stopped driving all together.

UPDATE – back on July 6, I stated in a post that I believed the price of oil would never drop below $120 again. Turns out, there’s a first time for everything, because I was wrong. Today, the price of oil closed at $118.58, continuing its recent sharp decline.

Filed Under: Gas Prices, News Tagged With: , , , ,
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