The petroleum-powered automobile—the automobile we know today—will someday have the same fate as horses. The most iconic automobiles are either named after horses or use them as their symbol, be it the Ford Mustang or Ferrari. Even the unit used to measure the power of an automobile is called horsepower. The relationships between petroleum-powered automobiles and horses are abundant, so it is only fitting that these automobiles will have a similar fate.
It was not until the twentieth century that our dependency on horses for transportation was replaced by automobiles and trains. Several factors led to this change, but none greater than Henry Ford’s implementation of the assembly line for the production of the Ford Model T, which created the affordable automobile.
Our dependency on petroleum-powered automobiles will not decrease because a completely different form of transportation will replace it. The cause will be the lack of petroleum. Experts cannot agree on when petroleum reserves will be depleted, but it will happen eventually, which means the end of the automobile as we know it. But how will it share the same fate as horses? Over a century ago the majority owned horses, but today only wealthier individuals own horses because they are expensive to own. As petroleum reserves are depleted the cost to own a petroleum-powered automobile will increase dramatically causing only the wealthy the ability to afford and operate one.
The extinction of petroleum-powered automobiles—the cars we have grown up to know and love—is inevitable, but this does not mean we cannot try to delay its extinction as long as possible.
The federal government has recognized our dependency on oil for transportation and the necessity to improve greenhouse gas emissions for the past few decades, but President Obama has been the most aggressive in reforming the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. The CAFE standards regulate both fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions of automobiles sold in America. The new standards were released on April 1st and require fleet-wide fuel economy to improve to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The current standards only require an average of 27.5 miles per gallon. This would mean the average miles per gallon must increase to 37.8 for cars and 28.8 for trucks.
The new CAFE standards will likely anger automotive enthusiasts. They might think it will kill the petroleum-powered automobiles that we love. However, the new standards are a blessing in disguise. The only way we—the auto enthusiasts—can save the high-horsepower, gas guzzling automobiles that we love to drive is by accepting these new standards and hope auto companies can exceed them. Petroleum will run out and the longer that this can be postponed the more time we will have with the cars we love to drive.
President Obama has implemented some lofty goals. Increasing fleet-wide fuel economy by eight miles per gallon in only six years will not be easy. Automakers can improve fuel economy with increased production of electric or hybrid vehicles. The new CAFE standards also provide incentives for automakers to produce electric or hybrid vehicles. Incentives will be given to automakers for the first 200,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles they produce by 2016. These vehicles either do not use petroleum or use very little, which will improve fleet-wide averages. The new standards are to be the equivalent of taking 58 million cars off the road, which equals a savings of 1.8 billion barrels of oil.
Although the goal of the CAFE standards was not too prolong the life of petroleum-powered autos, it will be a result of the new standards. This is the key positive outcome from the implementation of the CAFE standards for auto enthusiasts.
Even with the drastic increase in production of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, the goal of 35.5 miles per gallon seems impossible when looking at the most popular vehicles sold today. According to Bruce Hall’s blog the overwhelming majority of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in each class do not even meet the 2016 standard of 35.5 miles per gallon. After reading Hall’s blog it’s clear that automakers have a long way to go in order to reach this standard. Automakers will be pushed to work harder than ever to improve fuel economy and meet the government standards.
Most automakers have already produced plug-in hybrids and electric cars, but the most important next-generation automobile is the hydrogen-powered car. Automakers, including the luxurious BMW and the economical Honda, have already produced hydrogen vehicles. Hydrogen is the most abundant resource in the universe so we will never worry about running out. Hydrogen-powered cars are far superior to hybrids and electrics because they never need to be plugged in nor require petroleum in any way. The biggest drawback to hydrogen technology is the overwhelmingly large and necessary overhaul of gas stations to implement enough hydrogen fuel stations to make the technology practical.
The tough CAFE standards implemented by President Obama may be the best thing that has happened to the auto industry. Normally the federal government treads lightly around the subject of improving fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse emissions because it forces automakers to increase spending. The increased costs incurred by automakers from the CAFE standards will surely be passed onto the consumers, but the increased fuel economy will hopefully offset the increase.
Auto enthusiasts must acknowledge the new CAFE standards as a necessary evil. For as much as the standards will cause an abandonment of the current petroleum-powered automobiles that enthusiasts love, it is preferable to their extinction. The number of high-horsepower, petroleum-powered cars produced will continue to decline, but this is the only way petroleum has a chance of remaining affordable and enthusiasts can continue their passion.
Today horses are used for recreation and in the near future petroleum-powered automobiles will share the same fate. It is only with the acceptance of alternative-powered vehicles that we will lengthen our time with the automobiles we—the enthusiasts—love to drive and keep them in the hands of everyone, not just the wealthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment