Bending the Third Rail

Because We Should, We Can, We Do

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

More on Oil

Mr. Damasceno created a cheaper device by programming a standard car computer to constantly calculate the mixture of ethanol versus gasoline in the tank and adjust the engine accordingly. In 2002, the team sold the device to Volkswagen, which introduced its flex-fuel Gol the next year. Mr. Damasceno's black box is now sold by five major car makers in Brazil. Even Ford's Brazil unit uses the Damasceno device.

In Ford's newest ad in Brazil, an indecisive young boy can't decide between a pair of brown and red shoes. As a teenager, he can't pick between a blonde and a brunette at a party. The ad ends with the young man pulling up to a gas station in his Ford Ecosport. The attendant asks: "Alcohol or gasoline?" The man, happy he doesn't have to choose, raises two fingers, signifying both.

Even Ford, when it has to, can learn to deal with the oil problem. If anything is going to change in this country, it will have to be because the people demand it. So far, all I hear is bitching about the high price of gas... while continuing to purchase SUVs. Until people change their purchasing patterns, nothing will change.

Written at 12:42 PM by Lynne.

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