black gooooooold!

From The Beeb:

"If you could take 10% off the weight of every car on the planet overnight, it would make so much more difference than all the new engine technologies and fuel technologies that people are talking about," [Prof. Gordon Murray] says.

Racing principles' role in cutting emissions

It will be interesting to see how this spike in fuel costs will affect my car ownership. When I bought my Civic in 2005, fuel efficiency was one of my primary factors (along with safety, reliability, and longevity). I briefly considered a Civic Hybrid, but couldn't justify the higher price compared to the fuel cost savings.

Compare it to the Thunderbird my parents bought in 1994, which was my main car until 2005: Gas doubled in cost during those 11 years, from about $1.10 to $2.20. Between 2005 and this September (my third anniversary), gas may have doubled again.

I originally intended to keep the Civic for at least ten years, as I'm not a flashy high-maintenance guy when it comes to vehicles; I'd rather own it as long as possible and enjoy loan-payment-free bliss.

One thing I have in my favor is that the Civic fits my lifestyle well. I don't do a lot of hauling except for the digital piano, which just fits so long as I have no passengers. And I rarely have passengers. I don't have any kids to cart around, and by extension no safety seats, strollers, diaper bags, or toys. It would be nice to have a bigger vehicle a few times a year on the occasion that I have a lot to haul, but on the whole I like driving a small car. I like the ease of parking and being low to the ground.

But depending what happens with the cost of gas, I may reconsider my ten-year ownership plan. It will depend where I'm living, where I'm working, what my income is, and what new fuel/vehicle options are out there. Mind you, I average 33 mpg between highway and city in the Civic, so I'm doing pretty good (yeah yeah, you can shoot me now), but knowing that some Prius is getting 50 mpg still makes me envious.