Oil Independence Day 2006

Nice pipe dream but what you have not figured out by now that whitehouse is in bed with big oil and this is a wasted effort. We use the equivelant of 125,000 semi tanker truck loads of the stuff each day in US and it is growing and it is not unlimited in supply. More energy sources and conservation is needed but this is not done by giving consumer $100K breaks on fuel hungry SUV's. Also consider too that Bush pushed to build more big oil freindly oil and natural gas fired power plants when he took office to strain supplies further rather than mandate coal plant (we have a 300 to 500 year suppply of known reserves and more than anywhere else in the world too) Also the same BTU content of oil that is in a ton of coal costs 6 times more today so eeven with expensive scrubbers for emmisions from coal plants it is cheaper to use coal but it is not controled by big oil which control whitehouse. Recently in Motna , the gdemocrating governer is pushing for a 10 billion dollar coal to fuel plant in a area with over

1 billion tons of proven coal reserves but the republican sec of state is trying to block it because it is not part of big oil and threatens their strangle hold. Why do you think Bush talks about hydrogen as fuel of the future? It is because it is something that big oil can make, ship, market and sell whicgh they cannot do with coal based technology or electric cars (one of the main reasons that electric car is not being exploited in markets that it could do well in). I m not a tree hugger but I do regognize that things must change while most ignore it.

----------------- The SnoMan

[Garbage Snipped]

Do not feed the Trolls.

Nobody wants a full-size SUV hybrid. Bubba Joe Sixpack likes a big truck with a powerful engine. NASCAR Dad doesn't want a vehicle that automatically regulates performance for greater fuel efficiency. OTOH, Soccer Mom likes the VUE. For this reason, the VUE Green Line is somewhat promising.

The majority of people in this market want a compact or midsize car. Sorry if the profit margin isn't to GM's liking. Here's a bit of irony: Honda and Toyota hybrids are selling at premium prices.

You know you can get the best frig'n Hybrid made on this planet and it wont save you a damn dime in the short or long run. That is the whole point of a hybrid aint it? To save money by not spending so much? Why does anyone want to pay a premium on a brand new car that will take

100,000 miles before it starts to turn a profit on that price difference?

Do not fall for the Hybrid Hype. Somewhere people got this fallacy that the point of the hybrid is to save gas and forgot the real point was to save MONEY.

irony: People are stupid.

Oh I dunno 'bout there. I suspect there are lots of people out there that don't need to save the money and are doing it simply to burn less gas and "save the environment." Not that I think it will help, but I suspect that's also a strong motivator, not necessarily saving money.

Cheers,

Guess you havent heard of SMUG!

:-)

With cars burning as clean as they are a H2 probably creates less pollution than a room full of hippies. (Especially if you cant afford to drive it...) Personally I dislike both.

It's impossible to know how high the price of gasoline at the pump will be in the years ahead.

The 2007 VUE Green Line will cost $2,000 more than the standard

4-cylinder model.

If hybrids continue to gain in popularity, the sticker price will probably decrease eventually.

Saturn should attract this kind of customer.

But why no Ion Green Line?

Not really, while hybrids will not save you much money at all if you drive on highway a lot but they can do wonders in city traffic because the capture the energy that is normally wasted braking and use it to relaunch the vehicle. The future is going to belong to some sort of hybrid car concept that has not been developed yet.

----------------- The SnoMan

Maybe not exactally but you can forecast a trend. I predict some $4/gallon fuel before end of 2007 and deisel fuel could hit that this winter if it is a cold winter. It would have last winter if it had been a cold winter. If you do not plan on high fuel prices in coming years you will pay the price because like it or not it is coming.

----------------- The SnoMan

The big cost questions that nobody is asking about hybrids are, How long will the batteries last? What is the battery replacement cost? including disposal of the old batteries which will probably be considered hazardous waste?

Good question, Toyota warrants their batteries for a long period of time and they recycle the batteries in them and do not just through them in the trash. Most are going to lithium batteries which can have a long service life and a much higher enery density per pound than is even remotely possible with lead acid.

----------------- The SnoMan

Gasoline has been heavily taxed in some parts of the world for decades.

BTW, check out these pictures of the Saturn PreView concept car, which was on display at the New York Auto Show in April.

It doesn't seem to have much rear or side visibility. It looks as if the front end of an Acura sedan has been welded onto the bumper of a VUE. The rest of it sort of resembles a Nissan Murano--and sort of resembles an Infiniti FX35 or FX45.

Will the "twin-turbo diesel engine" burn biodiesel fuel?

Saturn will replace the Ion with the Opel Astra hatchback in late

2007. So says Edmunds.com.

The idea is to "push up its base price and reduce overall sales numbers." Yes, we wouldn't want to build too many compact economy cars. ;-)

GM doesn't want to spend "money to develop an all-new vehicle specifically for the U.S. market." Why was the SL/Ion sold in the U.S. market only? The wildly popular Ford Focus proved that the SL/Ion could have sold nicely all over the world.

I think that the present management at GM hasn't got the slightest clue why Saturn came into existence.

Cancel my pilgrimage to Spring Hill, Tennessee.

It's just another brand of car.

As far as I am concerned they do not tax it enough because if they had more years ago we would not be in the bind we are in now and people would have used it a bit wiser and everone one pays a fuel tax unlike income taxes that have large loopholes for the wealthy. The rate of fuel tax is constant (it does not change with price of fuel) so the amount that goes to tax on each gallon does not change whether gas is $2 or $4 a gallon That money is going to producers, marketers and future traders. If you want to pick on someone pick on Reagan that opened up oil to futures trading in 80's and this profit taking easily adds 10 to 15% to price of fuel and adds to its price instabilty greatly as they try to drive prices up from time to time for profit.

----------------- The SnoMan

Buy a Honda, it's made in the USA. Don't buy a Saturn, it's made in Germany. ;-)

That's why I bought a VUE. Honda reliability, but made in the USA. :-)

And Honda's are a real pain in a arse to work on when they break too.

----------------- The SnoMan

They're ALL a pain to work on when they break. I'd rather roll the dice on a the Honda 3.5L + 5A drivetrain than anything comparable GM has at this juncture. If the VUE had a GM powerplant/trans I wouldn't have purchased it.

I am not saying the a GM engine is better but I am saying that a Honda engine is not the best either. I had a freind that used to drive Honda for years until he got tired of getting skinned to get it worked on out of warranty. Honda are okay when they are new but you do not want to have one grow too old on you.

----------------- The SnoMan

It could be worse. The unfurled printout of recall notices could be over six feet high. I've had two such cars.

The VUE is a typical "New World Order" vehicle. It's a Frankenstein's Monster made of parts from anywhere and everywhere on Earth. This year the V6 is a Honda engine. A few years down the road Saturn may switch to an Opel diesel engine. Or Volvo. Or SAAB.

Will GM even bother to continue supporting the Green Line when Saturn changes the VUE's style?

You're supposed to buy a new car every 3-5 years.