Gas mileage is no longer just an environmental issue, its also a financial issue. People are strapped for cash and are looking for ways to improve their gas mileage mainly in an effort to save on gasoline costs. But increasing mpg will also help the economy. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, nearly 20% of US greenhouse gases come from gas emissions relating to transportation. In simple terms, our driving habits and use of gasoline are responsible for one fifth of the green house gases that are currently destroying the atmosphere. There is no doubt that something needs to be done, but what? The government has realized

this issue and set standards for car manufacturers that are established to help increase mpg. To put this whole issue into perspective, lets look at the the mpg of a Pontiac GTO back in 1970. The GTO on average got 10 miles to a single gallon. For most Americans that’s their commute to work daily. Congress recognized this problem and established standards as early as 1973 by requiring that cars must get at least 27.5 mpg. Auto manufacturers were able to accomplish this by decreasing the weight of the vehicles. By the end of 2000, we were introduced to the Prius which got a whopping 50 mpg. That of course is mainly attributed to the fact that it is a hybrid which can run on electricity as well as gasoline. Just last year, manufacturers reached a major milestone by agreeing to much more stringent standards for cars made between 2017 and 2025. According to the new standards, manufacturers must begin making progress to achieve an agreed-upon goal of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. But there is much work to be done in order to reach this goal. Again auto makers will look at reducing the weight of cars, by removing unnecessary accessories like the rarely-used CD players. This is, however, challenging as the government continues to add more safety requirements which often add weight to cars. Another way to help increase mpg is by experimenting with new engine technologies such as Direct Injection (DI).Other technologies include increasing the number of speed gearboxes being used. For example seven and eight speed are becoming very popular. It is also highly likely that new cars will see 9 speed gearboxes. Finally, another area of the car being tampered with to increase mpg is the transmission, something that Nissan has pioneered especially in the Altima. But automakers are not the only people who can improve mpg. Drivers can work to increase gas mileage by performing some simple tasks. Firstly, regularly performing air filter changes. This can improve your mpg by nearly 10%. This simple tasks helps keep damaging particles out of the engine and allows the engine to run properly. Another very simple technique is driving the speed limit! With these simple steps, automakers and consumers can work together to meet federal standards and hopefully reach the goal of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. is used in the Porsche 911 which was able to increase gas mileage by nearly 16%.

Sources

1) http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2012/08/how-automakers-will-get-to-54-5-mpg/

2) http://www.edf.org/transportation/cars-and-environment?s_src=ggad&gclid=CP7G6t3347ICFQqZ4Aod20wAAA

3) http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/22/cars-mpg-gas-forbeslife-cx_jm_0422cars.html