Living Without Oil
As war looms, the search for new energy alternatives is all the more urgent
High hopes. The hybrid's popularity, coupled with mounting criticism of the SUV's gas-guzzling tendency, is forcing the market to respond (box, Page 36). But GM's Burns says that consumers will not pay additional costs that are inevitable with high-efficiency vehicles unless they get greater performance and better value. "Just having a strong preference for fuel economy--we don't think that's going to happen at $1.50 a gallon," says Burns. He may have a point. Statistics show that as fuel economy has grown, the number of miles that Americans drive each year has risen.
That's why many economists say the more efficient way to help Americans give up oil would be to do what the Europeans do--tax gasoline more heavily. "Some would argue that the price of oil ought to include some of the cost of the defense establishment, since we seem periodically to have to send the military over to defend oil producers," says oil economist Philip Verleger of the Council on Foreign Relations. It's an idea, however, that has been a nonstarter among antitax Republicans and populist Democrats alike, since it would hit low-income and rural Americans the hardest. Some creative solutions have been suggested, including an offsetting cut in Social Security taxes for working Americans and an elaborate system of vouchers. But Verleger believes the U.S. government passed up its one chance to enact such a tax. "If George Bush had pointed to the wreck of the World Trade Center, and said, `We must correct this problem,' and the only way is by raising the cost of gasoline on a phased-in basis, it would have worked," he says. "It was the golden opportunity missed."
Redesigning the SUV
SUVs could be more fuel efficient, a National Academy of Sciences study found. Installing all these new technologies, some already in use, could improve gas mileage by 25 percent to 50 percent.
The cost: $1,219 to $2,923.
Smarter cylinders
A system that automatically deactivates some cylinders on easy drives, conserves extra power when it isn't needed.
Fuel-economy gain: 3 percent to 6 percent
Cost: $112 to $252
Enhanced aerodynamics
Sleeker front ends and reduced tire-rolling resistance can cut wind drag.
Fuel-economy gain: 2 percent to 4 percent
Cost: $14 to $196
Lighten up
High-strength, lighter-weight metals can replace some steel.
Fuel-economy gain: 3 percent to 4 percent
Cost: $210 to $350
Better engines
"Variable valve timing," which adjusts the intake of the air that mixes with fuel, along with other systems that reduce friction, can improve efficiency.
Fuel-economy gain: 7 percent to 18 percent
Cost: $253 to $641
Improved transmissions
"Continuously variable transmissions" can keep the engine running in the most efficient range at all times.
Fuel-economy gain: 4 percent to 9 percent
Cost: $140 to $350
End idling
An integrated, 42-volt starter-generator essentially "turns off" the vehicle briefly at traffic lights, conserving fuel.
Fuel-economy gain: 5 percent to 10 percent
Cost: $280 to $630
Source: National Academy of Sciences, 2002
Graphic by Doug Stern--USN≀ (Photograph - Ford)
Growing dependence
The U.S. relies more on foreign oil
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