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If only there were some way to compare the efficiency of transportation systems! For one thing, it is really hard to figure out whether trains are really better than airplanes, and it is essentially impossible to compare diesel cars to gasoline cars to electric cars to sugar-cane powered cars. For another thing, even if you can figure out which one is better, the retail pricing of the energy sources is all over the map so you can't make sense of what's going on.

For example, a few months ago gasoline in the U.S. was well over $3 pre gallon. (Blah, blah, it's $8 in Europe, blah.) Now it's dropped below $2, but diesel is still in the $3 range. So everybody that thought they were going to beat the system by getting a diesel car or truck is now getting hosed.

Meanwhile, GM is arguing (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/automobiles/16STICKER.html) that the Volt should be classified as a 150 mpg car because it can get through the EPA test cycle using its gasoline engine hardly at all. It is a mess.

by asdf on Sat Nov 15th, 2008 at 11:30:54 AM EST

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