I keep seeing car companies bragging about their cars getting 31mpg or a hybrid getting 40mpg and I just roll my eyes. These seem lame to me because my first car, a 1996 Honda Civic HX routinely achieved between 40-50mpg. It was NOT a hybrid, yet it was more “green” than just about any car on the market today – hybrids included. GM used to manufacture the Geo Metro, a (also non-hybrid) small car that was capable of achieving nearly 60mpg. You would think with today’s gas prices and a greater interest in being “green” these types of cars would be flying off the lots… but they’re not. Because they aren’t even being manufactured. Not anymore. Coincidentally, as gas prices started soaring, the Geo Metro was discontinued in 2001, and not long after, the Civic HX was replaced with the much more expensive Civic Hybrid.


Back in 1996 no one (except geeky me) cared about fuel efficiency. Gas was cheap (about $0.75/gal) and high MPG wasn’t something that would command a higher price tag like it might now. The cars above weren’t necessarily made with the goal of efficiency…they were made to be affordable and this was accomplished by eliminating features and using smaller engines; ultra efficiency was simply a by-product.


When MPG became all the rage, car manufacturers started touting their “efficient” models, arbitrarily setting 30mpg as the gold standard for fuel efficiency. Hybrids were available for those really wanting to make a statement. Unlike their slimmed down economy brethren, hybrids achieve higher mpg by ADDING technology and cost, rather than reducing it, thus aligning the hot ticket item (high MPG) with their most expensive price tags. But there was a problem…those pesky economy models. How is a car manufacturer supposed to sell expensive hybrid technology when there are options within their own lineup that cost significantly less, and strictly in terms of mpg, perform just as well or better? Easy – get rid of the economy models. Since they weren’t big sellers back in the day, most people probably don’t realize these types of cars ever existed.


The Civic Hybrid actually gets less MPG than my old HX model and costs a staggering $8,000 more. Today’s non-hybrid Civic gets 26 city /34 highway, compared to my Civic of the mid 1990s that was 37/52…so basically the civic of 15 years ago on it’s WORST day still outperformed today’s civic on it’s best day. And on the open highway it could literally double the mileage of today’s Civic. Double!!! Today, the closest thing GM makes to the Metro is the Aveo, which peaks at only 35mpg. Their most efficient model is the Cobalt which tops out at a radical 38mpg. If you want the fuel efficient version of VW’s Jetta… it’s their most expensive model and it’s nothing short of groundbreaking at 30/42mpg. Ha.


My question is – if car manufacturers could make cars 15-20 years ago that just about anyone could afford and got 40-60mpg… why can’t they now that MPG is actually what people are asking for? I’m sure they can… they just want to charge a premium for what people are wanting, and right now hybrids are a way to do that.

I cringe every time I drive past a gas station and see how high prices are going. Especially when you see a staggering jump, such was the case week or two ago when I saw it jump 28 cents in just 2 days. It makes me wonder, as prices keep going higher and higher with no foreseeable relief in sight, at what point will it be enough that something actually changes?

When gas prices topped $3/gal a couple years ago, I thought we would start seeing radical changes in habits and technology. But so far it’s been a little bit of changing and a lot of talking and complaining. I wonder if $4/gal will be the point at which we start seeing ideas, solutions and changes. Potential economic devastation aside, I think there are some good things that could potentially result from high gas prices. However, the way in which gas guzzling is woven into the fabric of our society is going to make for a very painful time indeed.

One thing is for sure, government doesn’t have the answers. Hillary Clinton is proposing a temporary gas tax holiday which will accomplish absolutely nothing. I’m not sure what McCain’s proposal is, but it’s probably whatever President Bush does, which is to visit Saudi Arabia to try and coax them into boosting production… a near sighted band-aid at best. To me, the only real solution is the to drastically cut consumption. Be it new types of fuel, higher mpg cars, re-thinking how we develop cities and infrastructure…probably all of the above.

What changes come about from high gas prices? I would expect the first thing we see in days ahead is more efficient cars on the road, and less large SUVs. Simply because many people won’t be able to afford them anymore. And I’m hopeful that we will not be so stubborn to think the only solution is to spend ourselves into oblivion. Having been to the Middle East, I have seen first hand what astounding things our oil dollars buy. I wish that money was staying here and supporting our people and business.