Shell introduced a 107 MPG car but are they moving forward or backward?
Not that long ago, they developed this, which you can see in the following video:
Their focus is on how much emissions are reduced over the lifetime of the car or at least that is what they want the public to focus on. This is like Elon Musk’s solar panel roof tiles that gets a pay back over decades. If you want an extremely long-term return on investment, it seems like a good idea, but in the modern rush-rush world, it seems unlikely that the average person wants to wait that long or can afford to wait that long!
That isn’t the only issue with this new Shell concept car that gets 107 MPG. ROI is one thing, but MPG is another and is more immediate. 107 seems impressive although small diesel Volkswagens in Europe have been developed with MPG capability that is close but they never make it here to the states because of the excuse is that there is no demand for that kind of car in the American market. Really???
If you can look past Shell’s nonsense about how much emissions are reduced over the lifetime of the car, here is what Shell developed back in 1973 – an Opal that achieved 376 MPG!!
That is 3.5 times or 350% MORE MPG than the new 107 MPG concept car.
Here is a video shoot of the car intended for Dutch television:
Although this Opel had a very small carburetor and the engine bay was modified to contain all the heat as well as many other considerations, it proves the point that the bottom line is that 45 year ago, they achieved nearly 400 MPG!!
In the book Fuel Economy of the Gasoline Engine, on page 223, this 376 MPG Open is described: Fuel Economy of the Gasoline Engine
So, are we making progress? Are we there yet? 107 MPG in the last few years or let’s go back to 1973 where they already achieved 376 MPG – it’s up to you to figure out if we’re moving forward or we’re simply the butt of a joke.
And what does this page say? https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-energy-future/future-transport/shell-concept-car.html
“Shell is not intending to take this car into commercial production. Instead, we alongside our partners, see it as a conversation starter: a way to accelerate the dialogue about how we make road vehicles more energy efficient and less carbon-intensive. ” – SHELL
So not only is Shell willing to tease us with a 107 MPG car that gets a bit more than 1/4 the MPG than what they achieved in 1973 – nearly half a century ago, they have no intention of allowing you to have it since the only thing it is supposed to do is accelerate the dialogue. With that trend, in another 46 years, they’ll be convincing you that 25 MPG is a really big deal!
To be fair, Shell isn’t the only one playing games – years ago, Chevy had a commercial talking about the revolutionary 35 MPG breakthrough technology, which is years after many other cars far surpassed that level.
And look at Honda – in the early or mid 1990’s, they had a Honda Civic VX that could get 50-55 MPG – every model since then has achieved about 20 MPG LESS than what they were getting nearly 30 years ago!
In the late 70’s and early 80’s Volkswagon had the Golf and Rabbit diesels that were also getting 50-55 MPG and those went by the wayside as well.
Who knows what it will take to get forward progress rather than 2 steps forward and 3 steps back – but in any case, the oil and auto companies have proven themselves to be consistent in one thing and one thing only – and that is the fact that the technology has nothing to do with advancement because if it did, we’d all be driving cars getting hundreds of miles per gallon. It is obviously political and financial and whatever mile per gallon you achieve in your vehicle is made possible only because they dial in exactly what mileage they allow you to have rather than giving you what they are capable of providing.
Some may be skeptical in thinking that this is just some conspiracy theory but whether my reasoning is accurate or not is irrelevant – the historical facts speak for themselves so you must come to your own conclusion as to why it’s taken over 40 years for Shell to demonstrate a car that gets a bit more than 25% of the mileage they achieved back in the early 1970s. Mileage is increased then decreased and increased and decreased and this pattern has remained for many, many decades.
Please share this story with your friends and ask them to do the same. We deserve better than this and everyone deserves to know the truth. One thing is for sure, they invented a new definition for the term Shell Game!
