Do you think the Government should give tax discount on fuel economy cars?

[niky]

If the law were meant to encourage alternative-energy vehicles, it should also give exemptions to the CNG-powered Civic and E85-powered vehicles. It's only given to hybrids. And if they were to give it to alternative-powered vehicles, they should also recognize "normal" vehicles which save gas and lessen the US's dependency on oil.

But a carpool lane is a carpool lane. It should be used to encourage people to share vehicles, period. A 40 mpg Prius with one passenger is still not as efficient as a 25 mpg MPV with seven.

Actually, innovations with regards to the internal combustion engine keep happening. Electronic throttle control, continuously variable timing, direct (high pressure) injection, etcetera... keep pushing the envelope forward.

Steam engines fell out of favor because Diesel was (relatively) cleaner and easier to run... yet steam itself isn't bad... the steam speed record is being challenged, again, actually, by a group building a modern steam engine.

The one big hope, at this point, is in the Red Lion project: which seeks to make Lithium-Ion (Li-ion... Lion, get it? ) batteries cheaper to make and manufacture, or in the NanoSafe batteries that are premiering this year.

For those who've been waiting for news on Nanosafe, check this out:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007...m-ion-ele.html

Once these battery techs become commonplace, the traditional dual-mode hybrid will become obsolete, and projects such as GM's Chevy Volt, the charge-depleting hybrid, will come to the fore.

A charge-depleting hybrid only uses gasoline to charge the batteries. Using a small gas engine as a battery charger (ten minute charging only, with Nanosafe), means the engine only has to rev for a few minutes at a set speed... by maintaining steady rpms, the engine works at peak efficiency... which is hard to achieve when it is used for motive force, except with a CVT (and even then, it's not perfect).

And even then, the nano-safe battery pack makes the gasoline-powered charger redundant except for long-distance haulers... as a ten-minute recharge time, while not yet ideal, is short enough for most motorists to put up with on their daily commute. It's about the length of a cigarette and coffee break, which also recharges the driver. ;)

And best of all, by making the gasoline/LPG/CNG/biodiesel/whatever recharger engine an optional feature instead of standard, the electric car can be made at the same price as a comparable gasoline car, instead of more expensive, as in the case of dual-powerplant hybrids.