Cause of the problem

The problem is the competition of selling cars. The cause for this is the high gas prices, emissions, and a capped clean vehicle tax credit.

Who is this an issue for?

The fight for a car that is better on gas is an issue for everyone all over the world. Some french scientists said, " They worry that the misinformed craze for hybrid vehicles especially in the U.S. and increasingly in Japan and Europe and potentially in China, could represent a red light for more innovative technologies" (cleantech.com). This means that French scientists want to go forward and find something that relies even less on gas then the hybrid vehicles that we have today do. As well as that most of the other Asian and European countries are getting on the band wagon because it saves them money in gas.

Description of the situation

"HYBRIDS HAVE THE HYPE, but diesels have the history. As the battle to develop a more Earth-friendly automobile heats up, both technologies offer strengths and weaknesses" (Stewart, Ben).
The difference between a diesel and a hybrid is that a diesel will keep running it's engine in stop and go traffic while a hybrid turns off it's engine and runs mostly on electricity. This causes the hybrid cars to get better gas millage. This is shown through studies about traffic congestion and its rise. A paper written in 2005 said,“One day commuters might face low traffic volumes, no traffic incidents, and good weather; the next day traffic might be heavier than normal, it might be raining, and a severe crash may occur that blocks lanes on the roadway”(ops.fhwa.dot.gov). This implies that you can never know what will happen to cause traffic. Researchers have pin pointed seven sources of congestion that are growing, as you can see in the pie graph below.

The impact

The impact of clean diesel vehicle companies being rewarded with tax credits in the US would be to stall the most promising technologies in fuel efficiency. This causes our country to be more dependent on the foreign oil. Which is the opposite of why congress even created the clean vehicle tax credits.

The impact that hybrid vehicles would have is not even fully tapped into yet. French researchers said, "Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) that run on both gasoline and stored electricity should be no more than a stop gap until more sustainable technology is developed" (cleantech.com). This means that there is a possibility of having cars in the future that aren't dependent on gas at all through the technology that is yet to be explored by perfecting the hybrid vehicle.

Predicted if the issue isn't solved

"In congested traffic, hybrid vehicles achieve their best fuel efficiency and, in such conditions the Toyota Prius, contrary to its many critics, can achieve the EPA estimated 60 mpg, or even higher. On the contrary, conventional vehicles perform their worst in these conditions, and that is the problem with clean diesel"(soultek.com). From this we can assume that if congress doesn't take action our economy will more then likely continue to fall and we will become more and more dependent on other countries for our resources.

My solution

"While I agree that diesel technology offers important gains in fuel efficiency and can be a good buy today, diesel technology simply doesn't compare to the potential of hybrid technology. With a limited number of tax credits available, and a Congress that refuses to address fuel efficiency - even in the midst of oil wars in Iraq and oil-driven terrorism - technology offers the only hope for change"(soultek.com). Because of this situation my solution for this problem is to only give the clean vehicle tax credit to advanced technologies that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil.