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Fuel Efficient Cars

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The development of fuel-efficient cars was primarily in response to the OPEC oil crisis of the nineteen-seventies and the dramatic rise in gasoline prices for American motorists. Up until the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Americans drove high-powered, gas guzzling cars. Gasoline was cheap and consumers were not interested in purchasing fuel-efficient cars. As a result, the Detroit automakers did not design or produce fuel-efficient cars. Within a few years, the market demand changed with skyrocketing oil prices. Fuel-efficient cars became a necessity, in the eyes of the consumer and in the eyes of the auto industry and the American government.
For nearly a century, vehicles have been powered by internal combustion engines, which operate by …show more content…

Fuel/Maker plans to develop a $1,500 refueling station over the next three years in the United States. The pump will be able to be mounted on doors on the garage wall. Despite the initial increase in price of the car, the fuel cost will be 40 cents per liter compared to 70 cents per liter for gasoline. Fuel cell vehicles face the job in finding room to store hydrogen in the car and getting it to the consumer. Safety is an issue because hydrogen is highly flammable and volatile. Chrysler is pursuing this idea now. The cost of a fuel cell is only ten times the cost of an internal combustion engine today and the size has been reduced greatly.
Electrical cars are another option, but the present models are not an ideal solution. The batteries they use do not hold the same amount of energy as a car powered by fuel injection, there are few recharging stations, and they have a relatively high cost. Lower maintenance costs than gas powered vehicles is the positive feature.
Battery replacement every two or three years for several thousand dollars and checking brake and power steering levels, is the only required servicing. The driver must stop and recharge the battery every few miles for several hours. Advantages are a quiet smooth ride, and better than expressed acceleration.
The 1975 Corporate Average Fuel Economy program

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