Today’s post is not so much about Indianapolis or the real estate market. But in a way it is, as all sectors of the economy are tied together, and ultimately we are all in this thing together. I stopped by the Auto Show in the Convention Center a couple days ago. I hadn’t been to one in a few years and thought it might be fun to see all the changes. It didn’t take long to see that there really weren’t a whole lot of substantial changes from a few years ago. Yeah there was more technology and creature comforts and some design changes, but I was hoping that there would be more of an emphasis on fuel consumption. After reading the estimated MPG on the car stickers, I was dismayed at the number of models still offering only 12 to 18 MPG. Forget highway mileage which is a little better. Not many of us do the majority of our driving on the highway. But 12 to 18?… Come on now. I’m not sure why US auto makers especially are betting their very existence on the chances of people still buying something like that these days. Gasoline is surely going to go up in price. There were some hybrids that got 30 MPG or more…even up to 51 for the Prius which was the highest rated car I saw. The hybrid Camry for instance got 33 MPG, which saved about $250/year of fuel cost over the gasoline model Camry. But the sticker price of the hybrid was thousands more, and even if you kept it 12 years, you’d never save enough on fuel to make up for the cost difference of the purchase price. People would like to be greener if they could, but the dollars have to make sense before they will buy the cars. With all the talk about new technologies, I was also hoping to see some all-electric or fuel cell cars, but there were none. It just felt like nothing much has changed.
A car which speaks to this is the 2010 Camaro. It was kind of cool looking…a throwback to the early days. I remember the first Camaros and saw the height of the muscle car era with absolutely incredible horsepower to weight ratio. Amazingly fast and powerful cars. And here we are again with a Camaro with 400 HP. It was rated at 16 city/25 highway?? I guess it would be fun to drive around, but I would feel like I was paying a luxury tax every time I went to the pump. I have this vision in my mind of an oil sheik someplace reading about the new models in Car and Driver Magazine and laughing out loud with their buddies about Americas never changing over-indulgence. American dependence on oil has caused the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, and we are undermining the future of our children and generations to come if we continue down this path. Americans are loosing control of their own destiny. I know that with the right resolve, American ingenuity, creativity and energy could produce vehicles that use only our own fuel, whether that be electric, fuel cell or hybrid-whatever. Keep the money circulating at home instead. It’s not just cars either. This same mindset translates into all other industries and all areas of the economy.
It’s fun to look at cars and consider new car options, and we all need something to get around. Maybe if the numbers make sense, I’ll buy something else in the near future. But I’ve decided not to buy anything unless it gets GREAT gas mileage…and I’d love it if it didn’t use any gas at all. That might not be possible just yet. But the idea is to waste less money, reduce my footprint on the Earth a little…and hopefully wipe at least a small portion of the smile off the face of the oil aristocracy who have had more than their fair share of our money. By just taking small steps, all of us together could make a huge impact.
No, please…unload whenever you want. I love it. Ideas and honesty is what I’m going for here. I was hoping this post would get people riled up. It’s the only one I’ve ever done that hasn’t been about Indy or real estate. But I just couldn’t stay away from this car and oil thing, because it’s just too important. It really irritated me so much to see the gaul they have to produce 400HP cars after just being bailed out of bankruptcy by all of us. Misreading the market again. It’s another car that most people don’t need or want. Just because you CAN make something, should you? Although I agree with you (personally) that the environment is more than worth paying for, I just don’t think most of the population is ready to embrace hybrid cars unless the cost makes sense. Human nature. The bottom line is usually their wallet. They vote the same way…toward their own self interests. The planet is not as much of a priority to most people as just making ends meet every month. I still think though that if they didn’t have to compromise on cost by paying more, they would buy greener cars. From a personal standpoint, why should I spend $40,000+/- to buy a new car if the gas mileage increase is only a few mpg…and why I said the (mpg) numbers have to make sense for me. I would like 50 or even 100mpg. Even better…all-electric cars get infinity mpg. They can make those cars if they just try. Instead they are making 400hp muscle cars?
Richard-
Am very much enjoying your posts about Indianapolis and its real estate, but your post about GREEN muscle cars, or the lack there of, raises a couple of points I must take issue with.
“The hybrid Camry for instance got 33 MPG, which saved about $250/year of fuel cost over the gasoline model Camry. But the sticker price of the hybrid was thousands more, and even if you kept it 12 years, you’d never save enough on fuel to make up for the cost difference of the purchase price.”
First of all, the premium one might pay for a hybrid vehicle should not be measured against the long term return on investment based on the cost of gasoline. There is such a thing as doing the right thing for the sake of the environment on the planet we all inhabit, and that cost, although difficult to quantify, should take priority. I mean really, bread and milk cost more these days too, so why should we compare the cost of transportation with numbers that will never exist again?
“People would like to be greener if they could, but the dollars have to make sense before they will buy the cars.”
What kind of people are we talking about?
“American dependence on oil has caused the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, and we are undermining the future of our children and generations to come if we continue down this path.”
True. Why can’t we as a people apply this to to the choices we make; and can we really blame the American or global automobile manufacturers for selling us what we want to buy?
“Maybe if the numbers make sense, I’ll buy something else…”
Same old, same old.
FULL DISCLOSURE: currently driving an ’09 Ford Escape Hybrid. It only gets 29 miles to the gallon (avg), but it is as close to the vehicle I want to drive that I can afford, and I promise not to complain when I have to buy my first $2000 battery.
Didn’t really mean to unload on you like this, had a stressful day…