Government Regulation on Automobile MPG

First of all, most people don’t know, but Ford’s Model T, the first mass produced automobile, had a mileage of 25 per gallon. While this remains unsure, this is the guess accepted at the time by society. This is actually better than today’s Ford Explorer SUV which only manages 16 per gallon! This was reported in Detroit News 6/4/03. His Model T was back in 1908, and the average for automobiles that year was actually around 21-22 mpg. The average for 08 vehicles, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency was around 20.8 mpg, a slight rise from ‘07’s 20.6 mpg. In my opinion, this is just way too low. True, the Model T had many problems, and not as many features as our cars today, but with the new features and weight put onto cars, should the car industry not have come out with better engines and ways to achieve higher mpg?

When we consider the electronics and technology out way back when this car was invented and produces, we find things were what we would consider extremely lacking. Half the things we have today, where not even fathomed at that time. Computers have gone from bulking boxes only performing medial mathematics to small compact laptops that can take us anywhere anytime. Phones the same, no longer needing a cord, and being able to do amazing things. So then why does the car industry not help us out with better cars than were produced then? They add more and more features, forgetting the most important feature of all, gas mileage! Why you ask? No one knows for sure, some say it’s all a big scandal, others say they just can’t. This is exactly why the government should regulate mileage. If Ford was able to produce a car that got at least 20 miles per, and we have made so many technological advances since that time, why then can we not make cars with 30-40 miles per? And with gas prices still rising, even after coming down for the election, who can afford only 20 mpg?

If however, the government were to regulate this, and say this certain type of car should get this much gas mileage, wouldn’t we the people be much better off? Some people say this will eventually happen, what with Honda already leading and being the most fuel efficient. Sadly, the best mileage cars are hybrids, and require recharging and other maintenance, where as, if the government where to regulate gas mileage, there may not be a need for many hybrids. After all, I haven’t seen any battery recharging stations near where I live. All this adds to the hassle of hybrids.