re: #693 Dustoff-507

So Obama wants today cars to get the same MPG as a Model T Ford.

Is our Prez really that dumb?

Yes, Dustoff, I’m afraid he really is that dumb. The Detroit Free Press took him to task for it:

Obama repeats inaccurate jab on Model T’s mileage

“The 1908 Model T — think about this — the 1908 Model T earned better gas mileage than the typical SUV in 2008,” Obama told the crowd. “Think about that — a hundred years later and we’re getting less gas mileage, not better, on SUVs.”

That line about the Model T, a version of which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used during her presidential bid, can be traced to a 2003 Sierra Club ad campaign that said the Model T could go 25 miles on a gallon of gasoline. Earlier references put the Model T’s mileage at 20 to 25 m.p.g.

That’s certainly better than the 18.7 m.p.g. real-world average of SUVs sold in 2008, according to federal statistics.

But according to Ford the first Model Ts built in 1908 could go 13 to 21 miles on a gallon, depending on the particular variation. The automaker and Model T clubs say typical Tin Lizzies averaged 15 m.p.g.

What remains unclear is how it makes sense to compare a fabric-roofed, four-seat car to a seven-passenger truck stuffed with high-tech accoutrements.

Those first Model Ts weighed about 1,200 pounds, lacked windows, rode on wood wheels and could ease up to a top speed of 45 miles per hour. A modern SUV tips the scales at 4,600 pounds, hits a top speed of 140 m.p.h. and has to meet a bevy of laws for crashworthiness.

When adjusted for their massive differences in weight using the government’s formulas, today’s typical SUV is about five times more efficient than the Model T.