CAR-MAKERS WANT US TO ALL BE "ECODRIVERS" - SO WHAT'S THEIR END OF THE BARGAIN?
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) is a trade (read: lobby) association of 10 car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. For more information, visit the Alliance Never heard of the group? Possibly, but oh, you know it's leader. From 1993 to 1998, Andrew Card (President George W. Bush’s ex-Chief of Staff) was This week, AAM has announced a new program called EcoDriving. What is EcoDriving? “A comprehensive, nationwide effort to save consumers money at the gas pump, reduce fuel use and cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Click below to read the release on EcoDriving ... and our opinions about it.
If you think car-makers, especially the Detroit Three, aren’t interested in life out here in the real world, rest easy. A press release from a car-maker industry group demonstrates that they are indeed paying attention to the rest of us. While saying little to nothing about the future product they’re trying to design, build and market, they do offer some tips for we poor plebeians in a press release, something they’ve dubbed “EcoDriving.” Among their tips to drivers are knowing which oil to use in your car and don’t tailgate. And no, I’m not kidding. More on EcoDriving later.
President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association(AAMA), the Americans-only car-maker lobbying group whose first, and only members, were Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. So to speak with one voice, and under pressure from overseas car-makers, the AAMA dissolved in December, 1998, then quickly reformed and returned to welcome all car-makers as the AAM.
“EcoDriving produces the highest mileage from every single vehicle, regardless of vehicle 
size and age, so it offers an unmatched reach in addressing energy and climate issues by potentially affecting the nation's entire fleet of 245 million automobiles. (A California gas pump tells the sad story of gas and diesel prices).
“Sample EcoDriving practices include:
Not tailgating, knowing the proper way to accelerate and brake, using synchronized traffic lights to a driver's advantage, driving at the optimum highway speed, understanding when to use air conditioning and much more.
Sample maintenance practices include:
Knowing which motor oil to use, understanding the importance of proper tire pressure and what affects tire pressure, understanding aerodynamics and much more.
In conjunction with the unveiling of EcoDriving, the National Automobile Dealers Association announced that September will be free "Green Check-up Month" nationwide.” (end of release)
You have to respect how they were able to plug auto dealerships, and just what is this “free "Green Check-up Month" nationwide?” Many consumers know that a lot of dealerships make only negligible amounts when selling most new cars and trucks; the real money is in their used car sales (and especially “certified used cars”) and their “back of the store” parts and service departments. (Chrysler's Crossfire was made from a combination of Mercedes and Chrysler parts; it's typical of Detroit's constant "one-up-manship" where horsepower is all that matters).
Naturally, this is all about what’s wrong with us, their customers, and not what’s wrong with their industry; no explanation from the “trade” group on why we haven’t been able to buy the high-mileage, low-emissions cars and trucks which should have been available at least a decade ago. The availability of gas/electric hybrids and the coming clean diesels is too small to make any significant dent in the myriad of problems caused by global warming. Seeing the Olympics in China Los Angeles Tokyo
Actually, these ideas have been around forever; they’re good, basic rules which everyone US
can practice. And I bet most
The group suggests we “drive at optimum highway speed.” Actual “speed limits” aren’t mentioned, and the group seems to endorse the California
This appears to be keeping with the industry’s return to the muscle cars of the 1960s and ‘70s, with advertising extolling the virtues of high horsepower, big engines and “mine is bigger than yours.”
Also, I got a kick out of the importance of a driver “understanding aerodynamics.” Huh? There are plenty of men and women with one or more PhD’s in mathematics, aerodynamics and related topics working for the world’s top racing teams. Should we all run out and hire our own aero expert?
Comparisons abound in the complete release. But what does “annual CO2 emissions could be reduced by about 100 million tons, or the equivalent of heating and powering 8.5 million households” really mean in English, so we can all relate? Perhaps that amount is so small it means only negligible improvements. (GM's hydrogen fuel cell-powered Equinox indicates a company trying to go in the right direction; but will it all be too little, too late?).
In the group’s single mention of their own business, making cars, the release says, “Automakers are aggressively developing and introducing new technologies, but it takes 15 years or more for these technologies to become widespread on the road. EcoDriving helps consumers reduce carbon dioxide emissions today."
It's the same story we've been hearing from car-makers for the past 30 years, only updated to now: “Just wait a little longer and you’ll be able to buy new cars and trucks which will help this serious problem. Really, they're just around the corner.”
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