Catching Up to Speed: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

Recycling exhaust

Biodiesel? Yawn. Reusing that waste is old news. Researchers at General Motors Corp. and at other companies are perfecting a plan to use car exhaust to save gas. This is all in response to an Energy Department challenge to improve fuel economy by 10%. This would save more than 100 million gallons of fuel per year in GM vehicles in the U.S., according to a story by the Associated Press.

Car production news

Chrysler unveils the 2009 PT Dream Cruiser Series 5 and revs up production of the 2009 Dodge Challenger. Plus, Toyota's new Highlander will be ready six months earlier than planned. Back over at General Motors, Cadillac considers replacing the DTS and STS with one model or just skipping out on large luxury cars altogether.

Getting the most from your mileage

Still worried about pain at the pump? CNN Money answers 11 questions of the mileage-obsessed.

— Whitney Friedlander

Photo (top): 2008 Chevrolet Suburban. Credit: General Motors

Photo (bottom): 2009 PT Cruiser. Credit: Chrysler

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The buck stops here: Chrysler sneezes, Dollar Thrifty gets the flu

Chrysler's woes are dragging down Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental.

These are brutal times for Chrysler, which has seen its sales decline nearly 23% through July from a year earlier and this week failed to get the full $30 billion in financing it has been seeking. Last month, it was forced to cancel its leasing program because the values of its vehicles (read: behemoth Durango SUVs and Dodge Ram pickups) are falling too fast to make residual values predictable, and that spells huge losses on every leased vehicle.

Turns out what's bad for Chrysler is bad for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group too.

The reason: Dollar Thrifty's rental fleet is composed of about 85% Chrysler vehicles, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs. And though Dollar Thrifty, along with other rental companies, has been taking steps to diversify its rental fleets, as discussed in this recent L.A. Times article, it clearly can't get away from Chrysler fast enough.

MPGs, meet GPMs

If you're looking to save gas, upgrading from a 28 mpg Ford Focus to a 46 mpg Toyota Prius is certainly a better choice than upgrading from a 15 mpg Dodge Durango to a 20 mpg Nissan Murano, right? Wrong. Over 10,000 miles, choosing the Murano-Dodge swap will save you 26 more gallons than the Prius-Focus switch.

The detailed answer as to why the Durango-to-Murano switch is a bigger gas saver puts this forum right at the heart of a fuel-efficiency labeling polemic that, if not at full, raging debate status yet, perhaps ought to be.

Nissan’s Eco pedal can improve fuel efficiency by up to 10%

Got a heavy right foot? Nissan might have the cure. Japan's third-largest automaker is working on an Eco pedal system. If onboard sensors detect what they think is too much pressure on the accelerator, leading to inefficient fuel use, then a servo-actuated system pushes back on the gas pedal.

 

The company's own research has shown that such a system, combined with an immediate fuel consumption readout in the dash, can improve efficiency by 5% to 10%, depending on driving conditions. In a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Nissan not only is improving the technology in its cars, but it is also working on the nut behind the wheel: trying to change driver behavior.

The Eco pedal system could start finding its way into Nissans as early as next year, though particular models and markets have yet to be determined. However, there's a good chance that it could come Stateside. For all those drivers who insist on throttle pedal autonomy, the system can be switched on and off.

— Colin Ryan

Photo: Nissan