250 Million Cars in America and that is a Lot of Gasoline Demand
By: Lance Winslow
Many Americans cannot understand the supply and demand issues with oil companies or why the price of gasoline has gone up so drastically. They do not seem to want to accept the fact that there is a finite supply and any one time in the pipeline both literally and figuratively. And we have 250 million cars in America and in this year alone the latest survey from the North American dealers association states that they expect 16.5 million new cars to be sold. Although 16.5 million only a handful will be hybrids.
However, there is good news on the horizon and that is that America will be growing more and more of their fuel each year and automakers such as General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler group together plan on making at least 4 million cars next year, which are flex fuel enabled. This means they can run on E85 Ethanol, which is 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol. Or they can run on straight gasoline with a sensor inside, which determines how the engine will be set to run.
Of course all that is being planned in conjunction with U.S. automakers and the Bush administration, with plenty of the new initiatives for cleaner fuel and less dependency on foreign oil. The goal is to help America to the habit on Middle Eastern oil, as we have been addicted to long. Of course, if you consider only 16.5 million cars being built each year it will take quite a while to replace the over 250 million cars already on the highway. Such a plan is a long-term plan and will not be accomplished overnight. However, as new technological breakthroughs, come forth, we will see a faster run towards our goals. I hope you will consider this in 2006.
Lance Winslow