Four things your customers need to know

CO₂ production is a natural part of burning gasoline or diesel; it’s not a pollutant. The only way to reduce CO₂ output is to burn less fuel.

With the dominance of climate change as the major environmental issue of the decade, the concept of emission control is changing. Compared to rising temperatures and sea levels, NOx, CO and HC are pretty lame stuff, at least from a consumer perspective. Unfortunately, those same consumers still believe that there’s a way to curb CO₂ emissions the way NOx, CO and HC were conquered in the Seventies and Eighties with computer engine control and catalyst technology. As we know, or should know for CO₂, it just isn’t going to happen. And the more you as an industry professional can get this message across to the motoring public, the faster we can get past the insane politics that are emerging around the climate change issue. Here’s what they need to know:

A new car won’t reduce greenhouse gases. CO₂ production is a natural part of burning gasoline or diesel; it’s not a pollutant. The only way to reduce CO₂ output is to burn less fuel. Replace a ten year old 35 MPG four-cylinder car with a 2008 35 MPG car and the amount of CO₂ output is the same. From a greenhouse gas perspective it’s actually greener to keep driving the old vehicle, since CO₂ is produced in the car manufacturing process.

Alternate fuels won’t reduce CO₂ emissions. Lots of new cars and light trucks are wearing “flex fuel” logos these days, meaning they’ll burn ethanol blends of up to 85 per cent “alky.” The trouble is, when you factor in all the energy used to produce the ethanol, you’re no better off from an environmental standpoint. It’s great if you’re a corn farmer, but for the rest of us, ethanol, at least until we can make it from cellulosic feed stocks, is an environmental loser.

Hybrids save you money. At current gasoline prices, most motorists will never save enough money in fuel burn to recoup the price premium they’ll pay for a hybrid car. The fact is, small displacement four-cylinder gas and diesel engines can offer fuel mileage so close to hybrid levels that the difference just isn’t worth it, from a strictly economic point of view. For urban delivery vehicles and taxicabs, it’s probably well worth it.

Electric cars will change everything. Chevy-Volt-hype notwithstanding, most serious electric cars of the near future will carry on-board internal combustion engines for range extension, so don’t sell your tools just yet. That admittedly smaller gasoline or diesel engine will still need service and maintenance and the normal wear items in the suspension, electrical system and driveline will still be there. Your customer can stay with you and will still need you for regular maintenance and routine repairs.

Overall, my point is that vehicle technology is changing rapidly, but the need for motorists to buy maintenance or service from shops they trust isn’t going to change, whether the engine is powered by gasoline, electricity, alcohol or hydrogen. Anybody old enough to remember the early 60s will have read in this very magazine how the newfangled alternator and “transistorized” ignition meant the end of points, condensers and replacement brushes. SSGM predicted dire consequences for the industry and we were, frankly, wrong. Nobody knows how to polarize a generator anymore, but the industry survives … as it will when cars fly and drive themselves like the Jetsons. The machines change — but the customer’s needs will always be there.

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Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know! letterstotheeditor@ssgm.com