Off Topic. Ford wants gas tax Options

[dmenche914]

I could not believe what I read on the news (reported on Reuters), Bill Ford Jr. of Ford Motor Co. wants a $.50 gallon gas tax to encourage people to buy more efficent cars, he also wants a tax incentive to assist people buying his complex Hybrid vehicles! You all might want to write Ford about this joker, as his tax will effect all drivers, even those that get near 30 mpg in there 30 year old 914s, which is better milage than most Ford products sold today. Just venting today on a statement from a true idiot. What a self serving proposal, that would cost many of us hundereds of dollars per year.

dave

[lapuwali]

The CAFE standards are and have been gotten around for years. They've pretty much proven themselves ineffective.

My opinions on gas prices are likely to be unpopular, but here they are, anyway.

First, if you think gas prices are high here, take the wife on a trip to Europe and rent a car while you're there. Drive a few hundred miles. Your opinion will change. If you really want to see something, take a trip to Norway. A lovely, clean, OPEC country (yes, Norway is a member of OPEC), with basically empty roads in excellent condition, which has the highest gas prices of anywhere in the world. Last time I was there, about 5 years ago, gas was roughly $5US per US gallon. $50US to fill the tank on a 1 liter Nissan Micra. However, I drove that awful car (handled terribly) from one side of the country to the other, several hundred kilometers, and only filled the tank twice.

Raw gas doesn't cost any more in Europe (esp. in Norway) than it does anywhere else. The difference is taxes. As a result, the vast majority of cars on the roads in Europe have engines under 2 liters, and most have engines smaller than 1.5 liters. Mass transit is much more commonly used in Europe. This is how the market forces work.

If the US taxed gasoline more, the roads would have fewer applicances on it driven by people on it that didn't want to be there. They'd take the train, or the bus, or move closer to work. Granted, higher gas taxes would be very regressive, forcing poorer folks to pay dispropotionately more until they can rearrange their lives accordingly. I don't have a good answer for that. Perhaps a tax credit for lower-income people (paid for with all of the extra tax revenue). With more tax revenue, the emptier roads could also be better maintained (and would require less maintinance, anyway). Sounds like a win for those of us who use cars for entertainment as much as transportation.

So, I don't consider Bill Ford's approach to be "stupid". It's a sensible market-driven approach to solving a problem. I'd certainly question how much more the problem really needs to be solved (current ULEV cars are so clean you can barely measure the emissions, and these aren't even hybrids). As (if) hybrid technology improves, it will get cheaper, so the subsidy that Toyota appears to pay to keep the Prius reasonably priced should vanish. Ford has a PZEV Focus out that's not a hybrid, and is cleaner than a pure electric (measured against power plant emissions). From all reports, it's even fun to drive.