As of Friday Jun 19, 2009 5:00pm, the controversial Cash for Clunkers has just passed Congress and is now heading to President Barack Obama for signature as a piece of legislation meant to help get gas guzzlers off U.S. roads and replace them with new, more efficient vehicles. Many say the act is too lenient and is merely being pushed through as a measure to help get Detroit’s unsold inventory off dealer lots.

Called the “Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009″, or more commonly, “Cash for Clunkers,” the $1 billion program will provide a voucher of up to $4,500 (effectively just knocking that much off the price tag — dealers will get electronic payments from the feds) to help offset the cost of new car purchases or leases over the next five months. The cars that you’re limited to must cost no more than $45,000. So that means I can’t trade in my old 1998 Dodge Caravan (MPG rating of 18) for a 2009 Lotus Elise (MPG rating of 26) because the MSRP is too high ($47,500). However, that awesome new 208HP 2009 Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works (MSRP of $29,200) would not only get me the basic $3,500, but it’s combined cycle of 28 MPG (10 more than my current car) will get me an additional $1,000 for a total of $4,500 off the price of the car! Not a bad deal, in my humble opinion. This rebate also works with other rebates from the manufacturer or hybrid car rebates offered from the Federal Government.

So what is going to happen to all these old cars now that they are off the road? Most will have their engines taken out and destroyed (to ensure these “high polution” drivetrains stay off the road). However, miscellaneous parts like doors, bumpers and other non-drivetrain parts will still be around to make sure those cars that are running can be repairs and made roadworthy.

The House bill would go into effect within 30 days of enactment but it is not retroactive for new purchases made earlier this year. For a more complete description of all the applicable situations, see the chart below:

Passenger Car		Light-Duty Truck		Large Light-Duty Truck (6,000-8,500 lbs.)		Work Truck (8,500-15,000 lbs.)
Minimum fuel economy for new vehicle		22 mpg (EPA combined)		18 mpg (EPA combined)		15 mpg (EPA combined)		Not applicable
$3,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 4 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 1 mpg or trade-in of a work truck.		Trade-in must be at least pre-2002.
$4,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 10 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 5 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		NA
Source: House Committee on Energy and Commerce

A friend of EasyAutoSales, Lance Weatherby, recently wrote an article on his blog about the Wheego Whip plug-in electric vehicle. EasyAutoSales would love to share his insights with you! Check out what Lance thinks below…

This past weekend while the North American International Auto Show kicked off in Detroit I had my own little personal auto show.  I spend the weekend tooling around in a prototype of the Wheego Whip by RTEV.  It was a fun experience.  When I brought it home both of my kids exclained “cool.”  And boy did it generate a lot of attention and spark several a conversation over the course of 72 hours.

Nearly everyone that looks at the Whip says “Is that a Smart Fortwo?”  The answer is no.  The car’s platform and body is manufactured by Shuanghuan Automobile in China and then shipped to the US for final assembly at the RTEV manufacturing facility in South Carolina.  While the production car will eventually be capable of speeds of up to 60 mph, it will be launched as a Low Speed Vechicle (LSV).  LSVs are generally capable of speed up to 35 mph and allowed to travel on streets with that same speed limit.  The prototype I tested was an LSV.

The Whip is a “plug-in” all electric vehicle.  To charge it you literally plug the car into a normal 110 or 220 volt electrical outlet.  A single charge was getting me about 20 miles in the prototype.  The production vehicle is expected to get 60 on a single.

In place of the fuel input there is a male electrical receptacle.  It is so easy to charge that a fifth grader is capable of doing it.

The dash on the Wheego is straightforward.

Almost as straightforward as putting the car in forward or reverse.

Before the weekend was over we were using the Wheego as our main vehicle to run errands or ferry the kids to sports practices and sleepovers.  It’s fun to drive in a way that is a lot different from my power laden and gas loving 540.  I was mostly just hanging out in the right lane of four way streets while cars buzzed around me (in Atlanta a posted 35 mph means go 50).  But what I began to notice was that I was pulling right up to these cars at the next traffic light, pretty much making my way at the same pace.  And I spent not a penny in gas.

The Wheego Whip is expected to be available in May of 2009 at a price in the $20k range.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has investigated 5,471 injury crashes that took place between July 3, 2005 and December 31, 2007. Unlike previous studies automatically generated from computerized data found in police reports, researchers in this effort were dispatched to accident scenes before they were cleared. This allowed a first-hand comparison of physical evidence with direct interviews of witnesses and others involved in the incident. NHTSA evaluated the data to determine the factors most responsible for the collision.

Overall, vehicles “traveling too fast for conditions” accounted for only 5% of the critical pre-crash events (page 23). More significant factors included driving off the edge of a road (22%), or people who drifted over the center dividing line (11%)

When driver error was the primary cause of a crash, researchers went further to identify the “critical reason” behind that error. Distraction and not paying attention to the road accounted for 41 percent of the errors. Ten percent of errors were attributed to drivers lacking proper driving skills and either freezing up or overcompensating behind the wheel. Eight percent were asleep, having a heart attack or otherwise incapacitated. A similar eight percent of errors were attributed to driving too fast for conditions and five percent driving too fast for a curve (page 25).

More Information:

You can clearly see the statistics give the story plain and simple. Showing this to a cop isn’t going to save you from a speeding ticket anytime soon, but these statistics, and similar studies from other state sources, can only go to help raise the speed limits on our streets and highways. As someone who travels long distances relatively regularly, this would be a welcome addition to my travels and save some time for sure. So, who’s going to be brave enough to start talking about state Autobahns in America?

Source: http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2008/us-crashcause.pdf

On more than a few occasions, numerous people recently have accused Detroit of building cars Americans don’t want. People are blaming Detroit’s choice in car production for their desperate position.

Bullocks!

There are many reasons the Detroit Big-Three are failing. However, they have build exactly what Americans WANT. Note the word choice. WANT. Americans have a love affair with large trucks and fast cars. Cars like the Ford F-150, the Ford Mustang, Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Corvette are the American cars people WANT. They are stylish, reliable, fast and are enjoyable cars to be in. In the past 15 years the American car companies have realized they need to compete on a reliability level with Japanese automakers becuase that’s what American’s started to value in a way they never had before. However, as gas prices started to rise and the economy started to take a nose-dive, Ford, Chevy and Dodge started to build cars like the Chevy Cobalt and Ford Fusion hybrid get over 30MPH and are as reliable as their Japanese counterparts. Even their styling is starting to come along. So, why is GM, Ford and Chrysler are in such dire straits?

The simple answer is labor unions and the huge liability of unions and their pensioning system. Almost $1500 from every car goes to pay for liabilities for employees that no longer produce cars. The complex answer has to do with generally poor judgement about labor contracts and leveraging credit beyond what was reasonable for an auto manufacturer. Poor mangement decisions from a group of people who thought the car business could continue this unlimited growth have put the companies in a bad position. So, what do you think? Do American car companies make cars people want? Am I totally wrong?

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In a few short months, 2009 will be upon us. So, EasyAutoSales.com thought it would be nice to prepare those of you looking to purchase a new car at the beginning of the year with the most fuel efficient vehicles sold in the United States (since fuel efficiency and saving money seems to be American’s primary automotive goals currently). To help come up with our list, The Environmental Protection Agency just released their 2009 EPA Fuel Economy Guide (Click here for the 2008 version). This guide only gives a list of fuel mileage but gas guzzler taxes on cars, annual estimated fuel costs and information about topics like alternative fuel tax credits, biodiesel, ethanol, environmental protection and numerous other helpful topics when you’re looking to buy a car and care about annual fuel costs. Interestingly, cars like the Tesla and the Honda Clarity FCX are in the report, though their ranges are missing, oddly enough. As for regular petrol cars, the top 10 list is as follows:

1. Toyota Prius (Hybrid) 48/45

2. Honda Civic (Hybrid) 40/45

3. Nissan Altima (Hybrid) 35/33

4. Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute / Mercury Mariner FWD (Hybrid) 34/31

5. Smart ForTwo Coupe/ Convertible 33/41

6. Toyota Camry (Hybrid) 33/34

7. Volkswagen Jetta / Sportwagon (manual, diesel) 30/41

8. Volkswagen Jetta / Sportwagon (automatic, diesel) 29/40

9. Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36

10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) 29/35

With the list above in mind, what car would you take? There’s quite a few Toyotas in there so you know you’ll get super reliable cars there. The Volkswagon’s are amazing highway cars that have dead reliable oil burners. What can we say about the Smart cars, with their quirky looks and super small foot print should get you around the city with ease. With gas pricing coming back down to reasonable levels, gas mileage has become less important that is was when we were all paying $4.00-5.00 a gallon. Check the answer you’d go with?

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Lastly, if you’re looking for a specific class of car (you need that pickup for work or you have a family that needs a 4-door sedan) then check the following list:

Two Seater – Smart Fortwo Coupe / Convertible 33/41

Minicompact – Mini Cooper (manual) 28/37

Subcompact – Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36

Compact – Honda Civic (Hybrid) 40/45

Midsize – Toyota Prius 48/45

Large – Hyundai Sonata (automatic) 22/32

Small Station Wagon – Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen (manual, diesel) 30/41

Midsize Station Wagon – Kia Rondo (2.4 L engine) 20/27

Sport Utility Vehicle – Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute / Mercury Mariner FWD (Hybrid) 34/31

Minivan – Mazda 5 (manual) 22/28

Small Pickup Truck – Ford Ranger / Mazda B2300 2WD (manual, 2.3 L engine) 21/26

Standard Pickup Truck – Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra 2WD Hybrid (automatic) 21/22