[antimathman]

One headline made me do a double-take at the annual Geneva Car Show early in March.

"Geneva 2008: Bentley to go 120 G/km by 2012"

Let me try and explain some of that gobbledygook. "G/km" is short for grammes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre. That's European shorthand for how much a car apparently threatens the climate with its emissions of CO2. This formula is simply a more opaque way of expressing a more familiar measurement of miles per gallon. After quickly consulting my conversion table I can tell you that 120 g/km is really 46 miles per U.S. gallon.

Perhaps my astonishment is becoming clearer.

Bentley, which every year makes about 10,000 massive, pricey, gas-guzzling limousines, and slightly smaller high performance gas-guzzling sports cars like the Continental Speed GT W12 Coupe, with a 600 bhp 6-litre twin-turbocharged engine, was claiming that its fleet could average 46 mpg in four years time.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/OPINION03/803280302/1148/AUTO01

I was rather surprised to hear this bit of news. Though I thought that g/km of carbon emission wasn't as closely linked to mileage as the author tells us... Anyone got the straight info?

 

[igotzzoom]

46 mpg Bentley? Easy. Plug-in Diesel Hybrid. The only reason you haven't seen that convergence of technology on cheaper cars is there's no profit on it under six-figures. When you're talking $300-400k, it's a lot easier to swallow the cost.

A diesel Bentley may sound like an oxymoron, but after having driven an E 320 Bluetec Mercedes, I'm a believer in the power and refinement of the new diesels.

 

[Lunden]

"We are seeing a complete divergence of purpose. The manufacturers are all rushing into the SUV while the public mood is for more green vehicles. They are talking green now, but still acting out all the old product plans. It is going to end in tears," he said.

Just more proof the enviros are just out to not only kill the upper crust automakers but make it as humilating and painful as possible.

 

[tholland]

Just more proof the enviros are just out to not only kill the upper crust automakers but make it as humilating and painful as possible.

:yup:

Cars are enemy #1... make no mistake about it.

I think rating cars by CO2 output is completely ridiculous... yet one more way to push GW theory in your face.

 

[member12]

These are lucrative markets and everyone wants a piece.

With more real competitors, the existing players will lose a little bit of their share. It doesn't mean that they make bad cars are people are not interested. It just means that some people are going for fuel economy and dropping out of the lux car market, and some Bentley buyers are also choosing some of the newer competitors like the higher end Mercedes, Maybachs, Audi, and other high end products.

 

[member12]

46 mpg Bentley? Easy. Plug-in Diesel Hybrid. The only reason you haven't seen that convergence of technology on cheaper cars is there's no profit on it under six-figures. When you're talking $300-400k, it's a lot easier to swallow the cost.

A diesel Bentley may sound like an oxymoron, but after having driven an E 320 Bluetec Mercedes, I'm a believer in the power and refinement of the new diesels.

Those friendly Brits are much better at making curiously strong mints than they are at engineering...you know...cars.

I'd leave it to us, the Germans, or the Japanese to lead the fuel economy advances and the Brits can keep doing whatever it is that they do. Who buys a Bentley and demands great mileage? Who buys a Bentley and actually fills up their own car?

 

[tgagneguam]

..."We are seeing a complete divergence of purpose. The manufacturers are all rushing into the SUV while the public mood is for more green vehicles. They are talking green now, but still acting out all the old product plans. It is going to end in tears," he said...

So, Wormald-interesting name, by the by-if consumers want green vehicles, then who's buying all the SUV's? Is there some grand conspiracy that explains it? Or are consumers gladly buying all these vehicles that automakers are forcing down their throats (ahem) and that they allegedly don't want?

 

[solman98]

After quickly consulting my conversion table I can tell you that 120 g/km is really 46 miles per U.S. gallon.

Maybe they meant 4-6 miles per gallon.......

46mpg in a Bentley? :lmao:

 

[t-rex]

Given the relatively tiny number of über-luxury cars sold by these makers, there should be some sort of exemption for hand-built cars.

It reminds me of Tom Cruise in Rain Man who complained about the world choking on smog and the EPA acting as though keeping his three or four Lamborghinis off the road would solve the problem.

 

[mgescuro]

Why not 46 mpg in a Bentley???
VW can implement a 4-8-16 DOD system in their W16, much the way the Cadillac Sixteen did.
THey can use diesels.
They can construct the entire car out of lightweight aluminum, like Jaguar and Land Rover.
They can add hybrid powertrains too.

If VW wants to make that a goal for Bentley, more power to them.
It won't be easy or cheap... but when you're paying $170,000 for a base Bentley, chances are, you can hide the additional cost in there.

 

[mgescuro]

Sure they can do it, but I have to wonder why? How many uber-rich people are determined to get a luxo-boat that gets 46 mpg? It's not like they're offering one car that gets great mileage, they're indicating their whole fleet will be hyper-efficient, and I don't think billionaires will flock to brand just because it offers impressive mileage. Maybe this is just part of VW's widespread plan to offer efficient cars in all of it's brands.

Oh I agree. but VW can absolutely spin this. If anyone can get the uber-rich to start thinking "green," it would be an uber-brand -- Bentley, Rolls, Maybach.

They don't care about "green." They care about prestige. So if they can get prestige and be green, why not??

THey can get it through their heads that "I don't need a Prius to be Green... I can buy a Continental GT Hybrid... and still do 190mph if I wanted to."

Suddenly, that becomes a pretty compelling argument.

 

[Ultra Magnus]

I think there will have to be some blurring of the rules. The last thing the EU would want is for all their big automakers say we cant make the deadline so we are going out of buisness. Now I know thats an extreme situation but as the automaker do you make A) cars that meet the regulations that no one wants to buy due to style, or performance, etc; or B) cars that some people truly want but cant pay for because the taxes/fines for owning or driving them are just too steep.

Granted with the Hyper Rich, its not as big of a deal, but for the rest of the people, car prices and mpg are a big deciding factor. Finding the trade off is going to be hard.

 

[maxaccel]

heck why dont those cars go full electric
I doubt the customers would mind as long as the performance is there
400km/hr electric car
www.eliica.com

 

[minnfang]

Those friendly Brits are much better at making curiously strong mints than they are at engineering...you know...cars.

I'd leave it to us, the Germans, or the Japanese to lead the fuel economy advances and the Brits can keep doing whatever it is that they do. Who buys a Bentley and demands great mileage? Who buys a Bentley and actually fills up their own car?

Cute reference to Altoids, but aren't Bentleys already engineered by Germans?

Just checked the Altoids on my desk - they were made in Italy...

 

[Kennyboy]

In all honesty, these upper class cars will likely be driven by people that couldn't give a rats butts about high gas prices.

 

[eaton53]

In all honesty, these upper class cars will likely be driven by people that couldn't give a rats butts about high gas prices.

Or they'll tell you that you need to go green, then take off in their private jet.

 

[MisterMe]

.... This formula is simply a more opaque way of expressing a more familiar measurement of miles per gallon. After quickly consulting my conversion table I can tell you that 120 g/km is really 46 miles per U.S. gallon.

....

Yes, if you assume that your fuel is gasoline. If it is diesel, the 120 g/km carbon emission rate will result in fuel economy greater than 46 mpg. If your fuel is a lighter hydrocarbon such as methane (natural gas) or propane or an alcohol such as ethanol, then it will be less than 46 mpg. An electric car's effective hydrogen emissions are totally dependent on the fule used to generate the electricity. A hydrogen fueled car will emit zero (0) grams/km of carbon irrespective of its fuel economy.

If Bentley makes good on this promise to reduce its carbon emissions to that of a car getting 46 mpg on gasoline, that is a good thing. It is to be commended. Let us hope that other manufacturers do as well or better.

 

[davidlane]

All of this market upset and manufacturing expense to fix a "problem" that only exists in computer models of the future climate. Global temperature peeked in 1998 and has dropped enough in the last two years to offset nearly all of the increase over the last century. Add to this the fact that cars are not the major source of CO2 emissions. All of this type of regulation, including California's, is being forced down the throats of the buying public by an anti capitalist group of enviroweenies.

 

[MisterMe]

... Global temperature peeked in 1998 and has dropped enough in the last two years to offset nearly all of the increase over the last century. ...

Please take an earth science course when you enroll in college--even if its just community college.

 

[eaton53]

Please take a earth science course when you enroll in college--even if its just community college.

Maybe he'd be interested if they didn't ignore the facts.
Taking a class where all you'll hear is questionable theories or outright lies is rather a waste...

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=8c21e2dd-1945-43be-b04d-217c415f5a6b&p=2