What cost Fuel Efficiency?
I noticed an article on Linkedin by Greenbiz.com extolling the virtues of the new 2013 model GM Malibu. Greenbiz says the Malibu is the first US production medium saloon to feature Stop Start technology.
This got me interested and thinking about the differences in perceptions of what fuel efficiency actually is. Three questions sprang to mind.
1 – Why has it taken a US manufacturer so long to bring to market a technology which in Europe is commonplace,
2 – Why should 29mpg be considered good?
3 – Is this an indicator that North America which has for generations been the worlds dominant motor industry force, in danger of declining into the same ugly malaise that befell the British car industry in the 1970s & 80s?
In Europe Stop Start technology is now last generation and considered old hat and fuel consumption between 40mpg and 50mpg is strictly average. In fact the thought of getting less than 40mpg would horrify most European drivers and 29mpg would send most to the garage for a rant and to find out what was wrong with their car.
My over simplified answer to the first two questions is that primarily it’s the dramatically different attitudes of consumers to fuel efficiency in North America & Europe that has manufacturers building vehicles that satisfy their own domestic markets.
In Europe fuel price & government initiatives have driven forward consumer demand for both fuel economy & eco technology over the last decade. I believe this has pushed European manufacturers some way ahead of comparable products offered by manufacturers in the US. Fuel efficiency in a European context has not been a priority for the Federal Government and the consequential lack of consumer demand has curtailed investment in new products. The exceptions of course are the extraordinary Tesla which is the EV pace setter and the environmentally conscious state of California.
To demonstrate how big the difference has become between the continents compare the GM Malibu in the article with GM Europe’s same sized Vauxhall / Opel Insignia 2.0CDTi EcoFLEX Turbo Diesel. The Insignia has had Stop Start for a number of years & the latest variant produces 130PS power output returning in excess of 75mpg. (Using the official published figures based on the European Union EU fuel efficiency test).
It seems that the North American consumer has fallen out of step with the realities faced by the rest of the world and the products on offer no longer reflect the priorities of consumers worldwide.
Why should this be so important now and how big is the gap?
European manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes and PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) are already moving on from Stop Start to more radical Hybrid & EV technologies. An example of the latest generation of product on sale now is the new Mercedes Benz E Class Hybrid the E300h offering a combined MPG of 68.9. The Lexus & Toyota Hybrids have of course been around both in America and Europe for some time as has the Nissan Leaf EV but now they are becoming close enough in price to almost be considered mainstream rather than niche.
This week competition has heated up and the pace of development in Europe & the Far East will accelerate even more. At the Frankfurt Motor Show VW Audi Group (VAG) launched Volkswagen’s eUP and eGolf and for the first time VAG publicly stated its aim to be the number one for new technologies by 2018. PSA and Renault are already heavily involved for the French, BMW have recently launched the i35 electric hatchback as the first of a range of i-electric and hybrid models and even Volvo has a range plug in cars in production. Japanese manufacturers have been in the game for a long time now and Lexus / Toyota offer the worlds most comprehensive range of Hybrids and Nissan in conjunction with Renault are heavily investing in Electric Vehicles like the Leaf.
To try and answer to the third question – North America of course produces the Chevrolet Ampera and the previously mentioned Tesla which is in my view is the best alternative drive train vehicle available. But the State of Texas is reported to be making strong efforts to block Tesla from even selling its vehicles in that state. The fact that this kind of short sighted protectionism is being considered never mind tolerated does not bode well for US technological innovation. In my view this illustrates what I said before, North American attitude to Fuel Efficiency has fallen out of step with the rest of the global market.
But why has ultra low emission technology suddenly become so important & why have the giant European & Japanese manufacturers become so interested that they are pouring huge investment into R&D and production?
In my opinion it is neither North American nor the Europe the manufacturers are trying to entice, they have their eyes set on the world’s biggest market, China. China has a pollution problem and is beginning to recognise it, in my view some time in the next decade the Chinese government will take steps to bring pollution under control and vehicle emissions are likely to be a big target. As things stand European & Japanese manufacturers working alongside their Chinese partners are in pole position to take first blood tapping this massive market.
Whatever happens in the next decade the long term result is Chinese manufacturers working with European partners will make huge gains in technology, materials and production techniques. These Chinese manufacturers will then start to produce their own technologically advanced vehicles, there is a good chance they will start to export these vehicles just when the big US manufacturers are at their most vulnerable. If this happens there will be only one result and this years Detroit collapse could be just a taste of things to come.
As I said at the beginning it is interesting to compare perceptions of fuel efficiency but in my opinion the long term effect could very well be catastrophic. We are in the midst of a global technology race fuelled by the desires of consumers around the world. The stakes are potentially very high and unless the basic attitude of North American customer changes and changes fast the current US manufacturers & production plants could find themselves so far behind they may never recover.
Iain Ross
