Just think of the people following those cars as they drove through the neighborhood, gathering up the "emissions"!
All these energy alternatives appear good on first glance but a little bit of digging seems to show major flaws in the glossy veneer. I still haven't seen a study that compares the amount of energy used to recycle an old car into a new one vs the amount of energy difference between the new car and a "freshened" old one used for daily driving. I do know that $30,000 in fuel will take me a long, long way!
Just for fun: FGF that gets 15 mpg vs new car that gets 42 mpg. Drive both for 200,000 miles with gas costing $3.50 per gallon.
FGF fuel cost: $46,667 New car fuel cost: $16,667 Difference in fuel cost:$30,000 Smile factor in driving a FGF for 200,000 miles - well, you know!
So by refurbishing an old muscle car for $15,000 you can be more energy efficient (if fuel cost is an indicator of energy cost) than a new car for 100,000 miles. I'm hoping that soon someone will make a decent study and prove that keeping old cars is actually better for the environment than constantly remaking them. There could/should be a subsidy program for people with vintage cars, incentives to repair rather than replace, refurbish rather than recycle, and an end to the program to subsidize hybrid vehicles that wastes our tax money!
Why do politicians hate fun cars? Did the hippies finally take over?
