Jul 24, 2008 11:17 pm US/Central
Good Question: What's The Future For Trucks, SUVs?
(WCCO)
Ford Motor Company threw the St. Paul assembly plant a lifeline because it builds smaller trucks. Size matters because these days it costs more to fill up big SUVs and pickups.
That got Good Question's Jason DeRusha wondering what's ahead down the road, so in the future how will we roll?
Small is big, and all the American carmakers are shifting gears. Ford's F-Series of trucks, the F-150, 250, 350, saw sales drop 31 percent last quarter.
"This is a new combustion mode that allows diesel engines to operate more cleanly and still maintain high efficiency," said Dr. David Kittleson, who runs the Center for Diesel Research at the University of Minnesota.
The U of M's department of Mechanical Engineering is testing new engines. So the future of driving might be right here.
"I think we're going to see more comfortable and luxurious smaller cars. We're going to see the introduction of more hybrid vehicles, the introduction of more diesel vehicles, and new advanced combustion concepts like what we're working on here," said Kittleson.
"If you just put a diesel engine in an ordinary car, you will get a 30 percent fuel economy gain, and a 20 percent CO2 reduction with no other changes, the same performance level," he explained.
Kittleson expects SUVs to go hybrid and use clean diesel.
"If you want a large car, you want decent fuel economy, it's going to be fairly expensive but the choice will be there," he said.
As for the flying cars of the future that we remember from the Jetson's, vehicles might resemble them but they won't be seen in the air anytime soon.
"I guess they'll look like some of those, except they're not going to be levitating and flying. But they're gonna be very quiet, mainly electric for around town," said Kittleson.
European cars are already getting almost double our gas mileage; they're smaller and run on more efficient diesel. On Thursday, Ford announced it's bringing four of the company's European cars to the U.S. within the next few years.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
IRS Looks To Return $1.3M To Minnesotans
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
