Nexus - 0401 - New Times Magazine-pages

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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE 1900, this book was reprinted by Lindsay in 1986 (ISBN 0- 917914-46-5). Should We Go? (ISBN 0-309-04530-4), was used by the staff of Congressman George Allen to refute documentation proving that an automobile had exceeded 376 mpg. Nowhere in this ‘fuel econ- omy study’ is there any reference to the work of Shell Oil Co. or any other reference that could refute the conclusion of this report. The report, published in April 1992, concluded that a sub-compact car might achieve between 39 and 44 mpg by model year 2006. Patents for Vaporising Gasoline Many US patents have been granted for vaporising gasoline: NASA Patent #3,640,256; General Electric Co. Patent #3,926,150; Robinson Patent #4,003,969; Harpman Patent #4,023,538; Butler Patent #4,068,636; Totten Patent #4,106,457. Government Aims for 80 Miles Per Gallon by 2002 An article titled "Automakers Move Toward New Generation of Greener Vehicles" was published in Chemical & Engineering News on | August 1994. This article is about "The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles"—a partnership between the US Government and the auto industry that has a goal of an 80-mpg automobile by 2002. Don Novak During the mid-1970s, physicist Don Novak travelled all over the US lecturing and teaching in his seminars how to achieve 100 mpg. He also testified, on 15 October 1979, before a Wichita, Kansas, Congressional Committee on "Reinventing the Automobile". [Comment: I have known Don for many years. Once, in the late '70s, he brought to my home two carburettors: one got more than 200 mpg and the other more than 100 mpg. I contacted a local politician who lives in my town and was on the Virginia Energy Subcommittee. I tried to have this politician meet Don and see the carburettors. The politician was not interested.] Has 200 Miles Per Gallon Already Been Achieved? On the subject of hybrid Diesel/electric automobiles (a Diesel/electric locomotive uses the same principle), the Manassas Journal Messenger of 4 April 1981 has an article about an MG sports car converted by San Diego State University. The car gets 110 mpg. The Steven R. Reed Automobile Manufacturing Corp. of Newport Beach, California, issued a press release, dated 14 February 1983, announcing the 23 February 1983 showing of the 200-mpg, two-passenger, II Millennium Cruiser at the Ambassador Hotel. The press release also states that the company will file "...a major class-action lawsuit involving a considerable number of giant American corporations within the automotive and petroleum industries, plus numerous branches and agencies of the US Government responsible for regulating these companies." Diesel Miles Per Gallon In the London Daily Telegraph of 20 October 1983, on page 9 there is an advertisement for a production Peugeot Diesel that achieves 52.3 mpg in urban driving. In the Washington Post of 19 September 1983, on page 37 is the 1983 US EPA fuel economy list of various vehicles. The US model Peugeot Diesel gets between 22 and 27 mpg. The Washington Times of 9 August 1991 pub- lished an article, "Gas-saving engines hit streets in fall". This arti- cle is about two engines, the Mitsubishi MVV, and the Honda VTEC-E. According to the company spokesmen, the Mitsubishi will get up to 50 mpg; the Honda, up to 88 mpg. Vincent Carman Mother Earth News, November/December 1977, has an article, "Can This Transmission Really Double Your Car's Mileage?". This article is about a Ford Granada modified by Vincent Carman of Portland, Oregon. In simplification, Mr Carman removed the transmission and drive shaft from the car and bolted an hydraulic motor to the differential. He then bolted an hydraulic pump to the engine to pressurise a storage tank. The storage tank is also pres- surised when the car brakes or slows down. The article states that the US Post Office is interested in a whole fleet of vehicles using this principle. In 1990, after reading an article in Federal Times, I contacted Mr Robert St Francis, US Postal Service, who was searching for alternative fuels for use by the Post Office. Mr St Francis said that he had never heard of Mr Carman. I wrote two letters, 18 and 21 October 1990, to Mr St Francis concerning Mr Carman's vehicle, but I received no response. Another article in Mother Earth News, March/April 1976 (or '78?), titled "This Car Travels 75 Miles on a Single Gallon of Gas", is about a project by the Minneapolis, Minnesota's Hennepin Vocational Technical Center that converted a Volkswagen to a system similar to that of Mr Carman. The idea for the conversion came from a 1920 magazine article. The car, with a Bradley GT body and a 16-horsepower Tecumseh engine (the original VW engine was too powerful), achieved more than 75 mpg at 70 mph. US Government Fuel Study The US Government supported a study (Grant No. DTNH22-91- Z-06014) of automobile fuel economy by the National Academy of Sciences. This study, Automotive Fuel Economy: How Far More Suppression? The St Paul Pioneer News, 22 August 1990, has an article about a group that 11 years previously modified a Dodge half-ton pickup furnished by a local dealer. This modified truck got more than 35 52 ¢ NEXUS DECEMBER 1996 - JANUARY 1997