Efficient cars key to solving oil crisis - Gore
Date: 31-Mar-00
Country: USA
Author: Sue Pleming
"Energy-efficient cars will dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Right now, millions of Americans are paying higher gas prices," Gore said at a
ceremony to roll out the three new fuel-efficient cars, made by leading
automakers Ford , General Motors and DaimlerChrysler .
The concept cars are the result of an initiative launched seven years ago by Gore
called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which was aimed at
producing by 2004 a family car capable of travelling 80 miles per gallon of
gasoline. That represents up to three times the fuel efficiency of conventional
cars.
The partnership's timetable called for each automaker to roll out
"proof-of-technical-concept" vehicles by 2000, followed by production prototypes
by 2004. All three cars use some form of hybrid technology, combining a
gasoline-or diesel-powered engine with an electric motor to increase fuel economy
and reduce air pollution.
Referring to OPEC's decision on Wednesday to boost oil production in an attempt
to stabilise oil prices, Gore said it was essential that the United States pushed
hard for a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of vehicles.
The United States imports 50 percent of its oil, and its reliance on foreign oil
is expected to grow to 60 percent by 2010, Gore said, adding that producing more
efficient cars could be a long-term solution to the gas crisis.
ENSURING U.S. INDEPENDENCE
"We have to do more to ensure our independence from a source of fuel in the
future that makes us vulnerable to this kind of thing (higher oil prices)," Gore
said. He urged Congress to help make the new cars affordable to the American
public by approving the Clinton administration's proposed tax credit, worth up to
$4,000 to anyone who buys such a car.
He also announced expansion of the partnership's research to include technologies
for greater fuel economy in gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, minivans and
other light-duty trucks. "Now we must lead the world in the emerging market for
more fuel-efficient cars - and vehicles of all kinds," he said.
The partnership programme brings together the three carmakers, federal agencies
and research bodies, and universities to create more efficient cars without
sacrificing safety, affordability or compliance with emission standards.
GM's Vice Chairman Harry Pearce said his company's Precept car, a hybrid electric
car, incorporated 130 innovations, including a more aerodynamic body and
low-energy lights. Side mirrors have been replaced with interior cameras, and the
wheels are the "lightest in the industry," he said.
"The proof of the pudding will be getting these cars into high-volume
production," Pearce said.
Ford Group Vice President John Rintamaki said his company would build a
mass-production hybrid electric vehicle beginning in 2003.
Ford is also making good progress in developing a hydrogen-fuelled car that would
be ready for production by 2004. The vehicle's only emission would be clean, hot
water - which drivers could use to make a cup of tea, Rintamaki quipped.
DaimlerChrysler President James Holden said consumers wanted moonshot technology
at down-to-earth prices and the promised tax credit would help lower the prices
of these cars.