Just_me

With the European Union cracking down on carbon-dioxide emissions from cars, several proposals have been put forward including limiting the levels of CO2 emissions from new cars to 130g/km and more recently, imposing a speed limit on Germany’s autobahn. You’d think that most Germans would be against any such proposal, but a recent poll has found that nearly two in three of its citizens are in favor of the limits.

Reuters reports that the poll, which was run by ZDF television, found 54% of Germans prefer a speed limit of 130km/h, while another 10% would like the limit set even lower. Only about 35% wanted to keep the highways without any limits. According to the EU’s environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, driving at very high speeds wastes a lot of energy. Fortunately, German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee is opposed to the idea.

Most German carmakers pride themselves on producing vehicles capable of reaching speeds in excess of 200km/h, and a new limit could potentially threaten the marketing attraction of their cars.

cawimmer430

That's odd. I heard a Bayern 3 poll yesterday and the vast majority of people didn't want a speed limit.

Also, a speed limited Autobahn won't do wonders for global warming. These politicians should crack down on the real polluters: industrial factories, especially in Europe, North America and Asia (China, India and Japan). These are the main contributers to global warming according to some of the environmental experts here.

Either way, terrible news. I am going to get really mad when this happens. My mom for instance is totally for a speed limit of a patheticly slow 130 km/h.

Kowalski

Last time I heard, it was some Swiss comissioner who proposed a Speed Limit of 80 Mph for all the EU countries and Angela Merkel from Germany was against this idea.

Kowalski

It's funny that, mighty Toyota claims to be an eco-friendly car brand, when their overrated Prius causes more damage to the environment than any Bugatti Veyron.

Hybrid cars like the Prius for instance, carry heavy battery packs with heavy metals and noxious chemicals; There have been various reports on the environmental damage around the factories where these batteries are produced.

The manufacturing process is significantly more energy intensive than that of a "conventional" petrol or diesel car, and a hybrid car puts significantly more CO2 into the atmosphere before the car even touches the road.

At the end of the vehicle's life cycle, the batteries, materials, etc from a Toyota Prius are arguably worse for the environment than a traditional vehicle. Once a traditional vehicle is scrapped, you can strip it down and melt it down and reuse much of the scrap metal, etc. You are arguably can't do that with a Prius, especially the batteries, etc since it would be hazardous for the water table. If those things get burried, it could lead to other environmental factors that legislators didn't forsee.

And if they do come up with proceedures to dispose of them, it could cause problems for scrapyards and recyclers who may choose either not to accept them when they're trashed or increase the cost of disposal making them less likely to be recycled properly, getting a law passed and enacted and then actually enforcing it are two different things.

Then you have China, India and the entire third world.

It's all very nice to know, that they are expanding their motoring industry, but a vast majority of the car produced by a vast majority of the manufacturers of China, India and other Third World countries, arguably don't meet the emission laws of the richer countries.

Put it simple, it's not Volkswagen's fault for putting the Bugatti Veyron, that the earth temperature will raise, but it's because the poor countries are churning out underpowered, unsafe cheap cars, which produces carbon dioxides bigger than the power their puny engines make and the manufacturers hiding the nasty and inconvenient truth about the hybrid cars.