Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Pain in the Gas

I don't now about you but I am sick and tired of getting gouged at the pump. I put gas in my car today and paid $3.69 a gallon! Gas has been going up about 3 cents every other day. Why don't they just jack it up to four dollars so the price will stay the same for awhile. Why is it that the price goes up instantly but takes so long to long to come down? The oil companies know that there is nothing we can do about it, and that we will continue to buy their gas no matter what the price.


I wish there was an affordable electric car that I could buy. One of the least expensive out there is the GEM vehicles which are distributed through Chrysler. I would buy one of these but they are a total piece of crap. I drive one at work everyday and they are constantly breaking down. My employer has one of the largest fleet of GEMs around so I have seen first hand how bad these vehicles are. The batteries constantly need to be replaced (due to the rough ride), the frames crack (their aluminum), the wheel cylinders leak almost as soon as you replace them, the battery charger has gone out twice, and the main electrical plug outlet (where you plug in the cord) burns up! Let's not forget the clear coat problems and the random cracks that the body has at most of the mounting points. I know that GEM stands for Global Electrical Motorcars but they really should have named it TURD.


Hybrids are another story. Toyota held the crown for top mileage for quite a while until BMW recently unveiled a 5 series that beat it. The BMW 520d with a 2.0-liter diesel engine and regenerative braking posted an impressive 41.9 mpg - about 0.9 mpg better than a full hybrid Prius. Not a huge difference but keep in mind that the BMW is about 500 lbs heavier. Plus, which would you rather drive, a BMW or a Toyota? BMW also built a V-12 concept car that ran on hydrogen. Imagine filling your tank with the water hose! Sound too far fetched? Check out these sites I found for converting your car to run on water:
Click Here!

and here's another one:
Click Here!


I checked out both sites and it looks like the conversion is in addition to gas, so your car is like a hybrid of sorts. It got me curious and made me want to convert one of my older cars, but it sounds a little too good to be true. I will be doing some investigating on this and will post my results when I have them.

1 comment:

  1. I do expect hydrogen engines soon... but you'll see them on more turboprop aircraft first before making the car rounds.

    I think we'll see a "higher-air-mix" gas engine first with excellent mileage... then a more wide distribution of alternatives.

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