Today is the day executives from the Big 3 Detroit automakers; Ford, GM and Chrylser go to see Congress, hat in hand, to ask for more money. In exchange for this largess, they’ll be told what kind of cars they need focus on in the future.

What do members of Congress know about the auto business? Well, nada, of course. What qualifies them to dictate to those who presumably have expertise in the business what kind of products will return them to profitably? As with many things Congress meddles in, they have no expertise. Of course, that hasn’t stopped them from meddling in the past, and I seriously doubt it will in the future.

One of the things that has been reported in various locations is that they’ll be strongly encouraged to produce new fuel efficient vehicles. The problem here is that car makers must produce what people actually want to buy. That’s one of the ways Detroit got into so much trouble in the first place. For about 30 years, until relatively recently, they made a fairly inferior product.

Oh, sure, there were exceptions, but on the whole, Detroit was soundly trounced in the product arena by offerings from overseas, such as the fine vehicles from Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Americans responded as consumers always do, by voting with their checkbooks. The votes weren’t kind to Ford, GM, and Chrysler.

In the last decade they began to turn things around. Recently some pretty darned good vehicles have come from Detroit. World class, even. The new Cadillac CTS springs to mind. Other recent offerings from the Big 3 that bear mention in a positive light are the Silverado Pickup, the Corvette, Mustang, Chrysler 300, Pontiac G8, Ford Flex, and Chevy Impala. There’s also the upcoming Chevy Volt to consider, as a cutting-edge, new vehicle.

The problem now is that Congress wants the big three to produce the new, smaller, fuel efficient vehicle of the future. That sounds just great. Why is that a problem? It’s a problem because Americans are loathe to actually buy vehicles like that.

We want larger vehicles for larger families (and many times, smaller ones too), and American drivers have always had a love affair with power. As fuel prices recede from their record breaking spike of the summer, the chance of American drivers demanding cars like the Honda Fit in any kind of quantity will recede along with them. The fact is that the demand for these cars is almost purely economic. When people’s personal economies are impacted by high fuel prices, they turn to relatively fuel efficient vehicles.

Why would any of the big 3 auto makers want to produce smaller, more fuel efficient cars when the car buying public would rather be driving larger, less fuel efficient vehicles? Well the answer is, they wouldn’t.

They wouldn’t unless they could be guaranteed that there would be a demand for higher efficiency vehicles. Who could provide that demand? Why the meddlers we elected to Congress, of course. As incoming White House Chief of Staff Rohm Emanuel stated a couple of weeks ago, a crisis lets you do things you couldn’t get away with otherwise.

Many politicians and others would love to see higher fuel taxes. That would raise fuel prices, and that, in turn, would force American drivers to turn to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Driving smaller vehicles that would consume something closer to “our fair share” of the world’s resources would make some tickled pink. That group would not include the majority of American drivers.

A bit of a back room deal would let so many groups be happy. The politicians would be saving the Big 3 and the environment at the same time. In addition, they can raise taxes on something with a fairly inelastic demand, so revenue will rise even as prices increase. You know they have to finance all these bailouts somehow.

The environmentalists would be thrilled that our resource consumption would be reduced. And the big three would be overjoyed to get their latest handout and the promise of some demand for their new products.

Over the long haul, more fuel efficient vehicles will have to be produced, as at some point in the future, prices will increase. The problem is that the development horizon, especially for advanced technology vehicles, is exceedingly long. That means that there will be a lag between when there is actually enough demand for these vehicles and when they begin rolling off the assembly lines.

There is also the question of cost. Such vehicles are very expensive, as new technologies always are. Does anyone remember the $4,000 PC? 15 years ago they were fairly common, but try to find one today that’s not a hot rodded, customized gaming rig. So it will be with new technology vehicles.

The problem for the average driver and taxpayer is that few drivers want to spring for the additional money it takes to purchase one of these cars. The new Chevy Volt will be about $37,000. That’s pretty steep for a 5 passenger sedan, when equivalents from Chevy, Honda and Toyota can be had for about 30% less than that. Toyota is still losing a bundle on every Prius they sell, even after almost a decade of production.

Why is this a problem for the taxpayer? Because you’ll be helping to pay for every one of these new vehicles that your neighbor parks in their garage, that’s why. There are hefty subsidies, in the form of income tax credits, to encourage their purchase by bringing their cost more in line with traditional vehicles. So, you’ll pay higher taxes to fund the industry bailout, the advanced technology vehicle subsidies, and the sure-to-be-on-the-horizon Federal fuel taxes. Make no mistake, driving will get expensive, even as fuel prices are dropping.

Who gets left out in all of this? Why the average, American driver, of course. Who kissers their ass in all this? Not those who they sent to Congress with their votes. Not the Big 3 execs, who will be glad to escape with a few billion and the promise of economic conditions that will favor the vehicles they’ve been directed to produce. Would someone please look out for the average driver?

]]> http://super-gas-saver.com/Save-Gas-Blog/2008/12/higher-federal-fuel-taxes-for-all/feed/ 5 http://super-gas-saver.com/Save-Gas-Blog/2008/10/why-is-diesel-more-expensive-than-gas/ http://super-gas-saver.com/Save-Gas-Blog/2008/10/why-is-diesel-more-expensive-than-gas/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:45:10 +0000 http://super-gas-saver.com/Save-Gas-Blog/?p=115

Why is diesel more expensive than gas? If you’ve priced diesel fuel recently, you’re well aware of the reason why, while the fuel mileage of diesel vehicles may kick the crap out of a gasoline powered vehicle in most cases, the overall fuel economy, once the higher price of diesel fuel is taken into account,  may not. That’s because the price of diesel fuel is only slightly less than that of Grey Goose vodka. You can expect to pay north of $4.50 a gallon in for this refined black gold.

There are a few reasons that diesel fuel is considerably more expensive than gasoline in the U.S., although as kids we remember it being cheaper, and it’s easier to refine. If you run a fleet of vehicles that burn diesel, I wish I had some good news for you, but unfortunately you can expect the situation to remain the same for some time. Here are 5 key reasons why diesel costs you more per gallon than gasoline, even though many people expect the opposite should be true.

Reason Number 1 for Diesel being More Expensive than Gasoline -
The US government mandated ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) to replace conventional diesel fuel  in 2007. This transition began in 2006. The new variety of diesel fuel  contains 97% less sulfur than conventional diesel—sulfur is reduced from 500 parts per million (ppm) to 15 ppm. While a boon to air quality in the Untied States, this stuff is more expensive to manufacture. It does have the advantage of allowing the clean burning diesel technology that’s available in Europe to come over here. Without the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, diesel power plants could no longer meet U.S. emissions regulations.

Reason Number 2 for Diesel being More Expensive than Gasoline -
U.S. oil refineries are normally optimized to produce about 20% diesel fuel, while those producing fuel for the European market are optimized to turn out more than twice that proportion. This means that as the demand for diesel fuel grows, thanks the recent tremendous improvement in diesel engines that has led it’s adoption for SUVs and many more pickups, U.S. refineries can’t keep pace with the growing demand.

Reason Number 3 for Diesel being More Expensive than Gasoline -
Your federal government in action – the Federal excise tax on diesel fuel is 6 cents higher per gallon (24.4 cents per gallon) than the tax on gasoline. Viola! An instant 6 cent per gallon price disadvantage for diesel. I’m sure the nation’s truckers, farmers, and ranchers appreciate that.

Reason Number 4 for Diesel being More Expensive than Gasoline -
Growing demand for diesel fuel, especially in the growing economies of Asia, such as India and China. Economies are built with diesel burning machines, from road graders and trucks, to railroad locomotives and heavy lifting cranes. As economies in former 3rd world countries emerge from the psuedo-dark ages from whence they’ve come, their appetite for diesel will only continue to increase, even if they slow down once in a while to curb pollution for athletic events.

Reason Number 5 for Diesel Being More Expensive Than Gasoline -
An increased quantity demanded of anything tends to exert upward pressure on prices, and another factor causing more and more gallons of diesel fuel to be demanded is the European drivers wholesale change to diesel powered vehicles (NOTE: This is another effect of increased fuel taxes in Europe, a partial side effect of the Kyoto Treaty, that aims to reduce carbon emissions, which a change to higher fuel economy diesels will help accomplish. Ironically, although much cleaner than in the past, diesels actually emit more air pollution, especially particulate matter, than the latest gasoline engines, which are incredibly clean burning. Be careful what you wish for….. ). According to the 2007 EU Economic report, the percentage of diesel powered cars registered in 2007 is more than 400% higher than it was in 1990. In addition, there are more total cars registered in Europe, so the demand for diesel at European filling stations has skyrocketed.

As you’ve doubtlessly noticed, most of the reasons for the increase are actually behind the real reason; increased demand for diesel fuel. If the demand is increased, the quantity demanded will also increase at every price point. This is a boon for refiners, as their percentage profit on diesel is usually greater than for equivalent quantities of gasoline. For U.S. diesel consumers this is especially troubling, because usually this situation would lead to increased production, eventually causing prices to fall. As mentioned above however, there’s an imbalance between US and overseas production. In the U.S. however more refineries use a gasoline production oriented catalytic cracking process, where European refineries tend to rely more on a process known as hydorcracking and produce a greater percentage of diesel fuel. It is extremely expensive to retask a refinery to significantly change it’s output to favor more of one fuel versus the other, so the refiners are kind of stuck.

That’s why the price of diesel is more expensive than gas, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Until next time……

There a many cars that get great gas mileage. Many are even affordable, fun to drive, and reliable too. The problem is that if you need transportation for a family of 6 or more, many of these vehicles just don’t cut it. A Mini Cooper S may be a great car for the daily commute or running a canyon road, but trying to fit a family of seven in one is akin to practicing for a circus act.

What do you do if gas bills are killing you, but you really can’t drive a Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, or Prius Hybrid? What if your transportation duties run the gamut, from running 3 or 4 kids to school, soccer or swimming, picking up 10 bags of groceries, and running the whole family for weekend trips to Grandma’s? Even a normal sedan, such as an Accord or Taurus just isn’t big enough.

Here are the top vehicles to drive if you have to move more than the average number of people and their gear.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #6

2009 Chrysler Town and Country Minivan – 4.0L V6, 6-sp auto, 17city / 25highway / 20 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $24,195.

The latest from the ones who started the minivan revolution (but didn’t actually invent it, that goes to VW), the latest Town and Country comes in at number 7 on the list. It also demonstrates the importance of an advanced transmission (see my post on technology to increase fuel economy) in the quest for better gas mileage. The 4 liter engine with the 6-speed actually gets better EPA fuel economy ratings than it’s smaller engined counterpart, which is mated to only a 4-speed auto.

The relatively good mileage, coupled with the utility of such innovations as Chrysler’s “Stow-n-Go” seating make this one a winner if you have a large family and need to get them around town.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #5

2009 Ford Flex Crossover SUV, FWD – 3.5L V6, 6-sp auto, 17 city / 25 highway / 19 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $28,295.

One of the main reasons so many drivers eschewed minivans in favor or SUVs in the last decade and a half is that they don’t want to be perceived as dowdy, un-cool, or devoid of style. Well driving the new Ford Flex definitely won’t get them pigeonholed into any of those categories. It drips of style, but still delivers enough room inside to get the whole brood to their little league practice and the swim meet without having to sit atop one another.

The Flex is a (very) modern interpretation of something right out of So Cal in the ‘50s. It’s not a minivan, but replaced on in Ford’s lineup, the never really popular Freestar. In a land of all the same, derivative products, Ford looks to have broken the mold for large family transportation. All that and it has suicide doors and returns very respectable gas mileage for a quasi-large people mover.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #4

2009 Mazda 5 Minivan FWD – 2.3L I4, 5-sp auto, 21city / 27 highway / 23 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $18,665.

The 2009 Mazda 5 has one real ace in the hole; great fuel economy for a vehicle that can hold your entire family. It also looks pretty cool, with little of the boring, me-too styling that so many others in the genre find themselves draped in, and you can get one at a bargain price compared to other vehicles that can hold 6 people. It has two things going against it that kept it from finishing higher in this list of great vehicles for transporting a large family while getting excellent MPG; it really isn’t that large, and it really isn’t that quick. In fact part of the reason it gets such great fuel economy is a result of precisely those two traits.

If you have a family of 6, and 2 of the family members are small kids, this will definitely do the trick. It handles well, a hallmark of most Mazda products, and should be very reliable, if past reliability stats are any indication. If your group includes teenaged twins that happen to play tight end on the high school football team and a few more kids over about 10 years old, you should probably find another mode of transportation however. The Mazda will simply be too tight of a squeeze.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #3

2009 Chevrolet Traverse FWD – 3.6L V6 direct injection, 6-sp auto, 17city / 24 highway / 19 combined MPG, Base Price MSRP: $30,810.

The Chevrolet Traverse is the latest iteration of the GM large SUV platform that’s also spawned the GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook. It’s modern, with a 3.6 liter V6 that includes direct injection fuel delivery, one of the reasons a 288hp vehicle that transports 8 full sized people can get such good gas mileage (for this sized vehicle). The interior is modern as well, proving again that American vehicles can deliver in this department, even if it took 30 years for U.S. automakers to figure it out.

The 2009 Traverse has a great combination of ride and handling for such a large vehicle, and is by most reports, relatively quiet too. All in all it’s a great place to spend time on a long road trip with the entire family, providing you can still afford to take one, with the high price of fuel these days. At least the Traverse burns regular gas, currently the least expensive liquid motivator you can get at the local filling station.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #2

2009 Honda Odessey LX Minivan FWD – 3.5L V6, 5-sp auto, 17 city / 25 highway / 20 combined MPG, Base MSRP (LX version): $26,255.

Honda has wrought a vehicle that consistently finishes at the top of its class with the Odyssey minivan. Honda has always created spectacular power plants, and the 3.5 liter in the Odyssey is another example of one of their sewing machine smooth, internal combustion, creations. The only nits that kept this one from finishing even higher on the list is that it’s a mite noisy on the freeway and could be a bit larger if you’d like to transport 7+ people. It has a cockpit that is a fantastic place to spend time, with everything falling readily to hand, and large, easy-to-read instrumentation that’s been a hallmark of Honda binnacles since the early ‘80s. The Odyssey even handles fairly well for vehicles in the minivan category.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #1

2009 Chevy Tahoe SUV Hybrid 4×2 – 6L V8, CVT, 21 city / 22 highway / 21 combined, Base MSRP: $50,490.

The new hybrid Tahoe is a technological tour de force, enabling a huge, vehicle with a 6 liter V8 engine to return 20mpg. If you have to have a large vehicle to transport 8 people, and all their stuff, on a long trip, while towing a trailer, this is about the only vehicle to be driving. It uses a hybrid power train, combined with advanced transmission technology to wring every last bit of energy from a drop of unleaded regular and use it for getting down the road. About the only downside, and it’s considerable, is the monster MSRP of $50,490. That’s for the 2-wheel drive version; you’ll pay more to deliver power to all the wheels, should you want to.

The new Hybrid Tahoe is really expensive, but if you need the combination of this much size and towing capacity, nothing else makes the list while delivering anywhere close to this kind of fuel economy, especially if you do much of your driving in urban areas. In stop and go driving the hybrid power really comes into it’s own and saves gas. It comes with every option under the sun, and if you check all the boxes, you can rapidly find your bank account depleted by an even larger sum, so exercise some restraint.

Until next time………..

It’s pretty easy to find the cars with the best gas mileage. You only need look at the U.S. government EPA numbers. It’s there in black and white for all to see. What’s not so easy to find are the cars that get good gas mileage that are actually fun to drive. If you’re one of those that view your car as something more than a simple transportation appliance, the act of getting you to work in the morning isn’t the only thing you expect out of your car.

It may not take rocket science to find a car that gets good gas mileage, but it definitely takes a bit more digging to root out those that can do that and keep you entertained while you’re behind the wheel. For those that actually like to drive, especially in a car that goes where you point it, pulls respectable Gs in the corners, stops like you tied it to a tree, and at least tries to pin you back in your seat when you put your foot in it, here is the

1^st Annual Super-Gas-Saver.com Top 12 Best Gas Mileage Cars That are Fun to Drive – 2008 Edition.

What’s important here is gas mileage and fun. The number of seats, cargo capacity, and other niceties of these cars are purely secondary considerations, and are used as tiebreakers only. Why 12, not 10? Well, 11 is better than 10, right? That means 12 must be even better still. In the interest of fun and economy these cars have manual or automated manual transmissions. The only other qualification is that the base MSRP must be less than $50,000. Rankings are independent of price, but factor in the elusive “fun to drive” factor and EPA gas mileage posted by these cars.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 11 -

Mazda 3S – MSRP $18,405 – EPA combined 25, EPA Highway 29 – 156 HP, regular gas

If you have to drive a basic sedan, but want one that won’t set off your insomnia, Mazda can get you behind the wheel of the newly revised Mazda 3. It carves a mean corner for a economy car, has best-in-class binders to keep you out of the ditch, and almost touches 7 seconds flat in a 0-60 sprint. Even better, it’s almost downright cheap and has good resale value to go along with it’s fuel frugality.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 10 -

Infiniti G37 Coupe Sport 6MT – MSRP $36,200 – EPA combined 20, EPA Highway 26 – HP 330, premium gas

Couldn’t afford that 240Z in high school? Want one now, but think the 350Z looks like a soft, warm pile on a hot day? Infinity has wrapped the 3.7 liter V6 from the new 370Z in much sexier bodywork to create the G37 coupe. Get the 6MT model, which is backed by, as the name might suggest, a 6-speed manual transmission. It sits on sports suspension, and has some rather hefty Brembo brakes, although recent brake tests in Car and Driver Magazine suggest they might take a vacation after a few hard, panic stops. In any case, the Infiniti is super fun, has a stout motor, and looks great. It manages to do all this and still return 26 miles to each gallon of premium, if you can stay on the freeway. It would have finished higher, but the gas mileage is nothing to write home about in this crowd.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 9 -

Honda S-2000 – MSRP $34,300 - EPA combined 21, EPA Highway 25 – 237 HP, premium gas

Just hearing one of these things rip to the 8,000rpm (used to be 9,000 rpm) redline is worth the price of admission alone. Slap a performance exhaust on it and it will really sing. Handling is superb, if just a touch understeer oriented, and boy is it fast for a normally aspirated 4 cylinder.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 8 -

Chevy Corvette – MSRP $46,950 – EPA combined 19, EPA Highway 26 – 430 HP, premium gas

The Corvette, icon of American performance, would have finished higher, Lord knows the ‘Vette’s performance warranted it, but it was held back by it’s low (for this crowd) 19mpg combined rating. On the performance front, the Vette cleans everything else’s clock. Fun to drive? The Corvette has it in spades, especially if your qualifications include AA-like acceleration numbers. Of course, you won’t see high gas mileage figures while using the Corvette’s 430hp V8 to rocket you from 0-60, but if you keep your foot out of it on the cruise (actually use the cruise, that’ll help) to work, you’ll actually get pretty respectable gas mileage.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 7 -

Honda Fit Sport – MSRP $15,270 – EPA combined 28, EPA Highway 34 – 115 HP, regular gas

Just as the Corvette was restrained by it’s 19mpg rating, the Fit was held back by it’s 115 HP rating. Although this thing returns fantastic fuel economy figures, and is a blast to drive, the lack of acceleration can only let it climb so high in the list. If your definition of fun to drive includes zippy, go cart like handling, but you really need great gas mileage, this could be your car, especially as the price of entry is so low. As an added bonus, it seats 4 comfortably, and has a door for each. No more folding your seat forward.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 6 -

BMW 335i – MSRP $39,300 – EPA combined 20, EPA Highway 26 – 300 HP, premium gas

The gold standard of sports sedans. If you need a car that holds more than 2, but still want to have a rip roarin’ good time, the 335i is the car for you. It will tickle your funny bone, and if doesn’t, you probably don’t have one. Remember when 300hp was pure sports car territory? Yeah, me too. Now you can get the jewel like response of the 6 cylinder and handling that other manufacturers strive to emulate, in a car that lets you take along the Biffy, Buffy and your wife/husband for the ride to grandma’s.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 5 -

Chevy Cobalt SS – MSRP $22,995 – EPA combined 25, EPA Highway 30 – 260 HP, premium gas

Handles far better than any Chevy save the Corvette and can more than get out of it’s own way, thanks to the force-fed 4 cylinder. It won’t set you back a fortune either. The Cobalt SS is a hot rod for the one who wants to turn and stop too. With an EPA 30mpg on the freeway and 25 in town, you can probably even make it to work more than a couple of times on a tank full of premium. Car and Driver Magazine, typically loathe to say nice things about American cars that aren’t bodied in fiberglass, even called the 260hp version of the Cobalt SS “shockingly good”.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 4 -

Pontiac Solstice GXP – MSRP $28,775 – EPA combined 22, EPA Highway 28 – 260 HP, premium gas

It looks pretty darn good, has a direct injected, turbo motivator that put 260hp at your command, and gets better gas mileage than it’s non-turbo cousin that has 86hp less. How’s that for technology in action? The brakes work great as well, and as Pontiac is proud to point out, will haul the Solstice down in less distance than the Audi TT. In addition, the Poncho gets better mileage than the TT. The upcoming coupe version looks great, even better than you remember the original convertible Solstice looking when it was makin’ the Donald look good on The Aprentice.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 3 -

Mazda MX-5 Miata – MSRP $21,305 – EPA combined 24, EPA Highway 27 – 166 HP, premium gas

The Miata is one of the original “real car” sports cars. You know, a car that starts every morning, illuminates the night with it’s headlights, not flames, and doesn’t leave puddles adorning your driveway. The new version is even better, with a healthy increase in power from the original version’s 116 hp. (There have been several power increases since way back then) It has really tossable handling, uses hardly any gas, and you can get a sunburned dome on a nice Sunday. What could be better? Well, actually…….

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 2 -

Porsche Cayman – MSRP $49,400 – EPA combined 23, EPA Highway 29 – 245 HP, premium gas

If you can’t make this car handle well, you have no business driving. One of the best handling cars Porsche has ever built, and it will get even better next year with the introduction of direct injection for the flat 6 power plant.

Unfortunately there’s a good chance the combination of the falling dollar and increased content will push the ’09 Cayman above the $50,000 ceiling for this list, so next year it may be #2 no longer. It reaches number 2 on the fun to drive gas mileage list this year by the virtue of it’s incredible handling and pretty brisk acceleration, even though it isn’t the fastest car on the list (Corvette, of course), combined with the almost 30mpg highway mileage figure.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 1 -

Mini Cooper S – MSRP $22,600 – EPA combined 29, EPA Highway 34 – 172 HP, premium gas

You want a car that screams “Fun to Drive” so loud Beethoven would be dancing to the beat, and sips gas like a Canary tasting Kentucky Bourbon for the first time? Well you darn well should, if you have half a pulse. Here is your car. It handles like the proverbial go cart, stops from 60 mph in about the length of the Starbucks drive through, and is even pretty darn quick, especially since Mini traded the previous S version’s supercharged engine for a new, direct injection, turbo mill.

As an added bonus it can even seat 4 real adults in relative comfort, it just depends on how big your relatives are. If you can either overlook or embrace the funky dash and instrument design, you can love the Cooper S. I know I sure do!

See, you can have a great time behind the wheel and still save gas. Until next time!

The Chevy electric car, or more properly, the new Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, and the similar cars its’ success is sure to spawn, is the best chance the General has to return to profitability after an especially bleak quarter. Even GM can’t absorb too many -$15 billion quarters and expect to survive. To be fair to GM, some of this can be attributed to non recurring events and write downs, that aren’t likely to be repeated.

As a manufacturer built on the success of relatively fuel inefficient vehicles, such as the Silverado and Tahoe, GM needs alternatives that consumers want to by with the same fervor that they flocked to lots with when gas was $1.80/ gallon and new Tahoes had dealer incentives. With gas hovering at $4.00 per, those days may never return, but GM’s hoping that a new era of profitability returns, driven by $30,000+ plug-in hybrids.

$30,000+? Yes, the initial versions of the Volt promise to carry a fairly robust price tag. Don’t for get that fuel efficient vehicles will continue carry with them some pretty attractive tax incentives. Unfortunately the $30,000 price for the first versions of the Volt likely factors those tax benefits in already. The actual price is closer to $40K! Now, if you’re Leonardo DiCaprio, that’s no big deal. For those of you that get your paychecks from Paramount Sand and Gravel, Paramount Landscape Services, or Paramount Electric, rather than Paramount Pictures, the Volt’s price may be a bit of a stretch.

If Chevy can just get the Volt to have the same cachet among the ultra green set as the Prius enjoys, the same automaker that draws ire and wrath for daring to concoct the Tahoe / Suburban will ironically be lionized for popularizing the plug-in hybrid.

One thing’s for sure, it will take more than $4 or $5 gasoline to make the Volt a success. Chevy’s marketing department had better do a bang-up job. After all Toyota will be hot on their heels with the plug-in Prius. The Volt promises a higher level of technology than the Prius, and will be larger, theoretically appealing to those with larger (Suburban sized?) families.

The Volt will face stiff competition in the marketplace when it arrives however. Besides the aforementioned Prius plug-in, Honda is readying a few possible competitors, such as a hybrid version of the already economical Fit, a “Global Small Hybrid”, and the new CR-Z, being referred to by some as the “CR-X for the 2010’s”. All will feature hybrid power trains and outstanding fuel economy. Nissan also has electric cars just around the corner, having announced them in May of this year.

The question is weather or not Chevy’s “electric car” (it can go up to 40 miles on electric only power), as they like to call it, will rise above the competition and generate sufficient sales and profits to pull GM out of its doldrums. GM may be able to generate substantial licensing revenues from some of the technologies it’s developed for the new car and its E-flex drive train. GM has substantial engineering might, and has developed some of the things we take for granted in cars today, like another electric enhancement to our rides, the electric starter.

It’s already reportedly talking with rival Ford to use some of the power train. How long will the batteries in the Volt last? GM is saying that they expect a 10 year battery life, which is a good thing, considering the initial cost of the advanced lithium ion battery pack. Priced a replacement lithium ion battery for your laptop recently? Now you see what I mean.

So, although the Chevy electric car may be a paragon of modern technology, and may in fact help the General return to profitability, it will not be a cheap car for the masses, which may be okay, since they’ll only build about 10,000 units the first year, and could probably sell them all, even at $40,000. If the price of gas remains above the magic $4.00 per gallon barrier, or people expect it to, the Chevy Volt will be a slam dunk for GM.

If the price of gas should decline to around $3.25, and people expect it to stay there, the less expensive traditional hybrid alternatives will be much more attractive to car buyers, especially given the rising price of electricity.

Until next time, save that gas, you’ll need it.