ReformAutos

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Comment by younkin on February 14, 2009 at 5:25pm

Thousands of Safe CNG Vehicles

In 2008, more CNG vehicles were sold or converted in the state of Utah than in the rest of the nation. This influx of CNG Vehicles onto Utah’s highways increased the need to ensure that CNG vehicles are safe and running clean.

Anticipating the need for trained CNG Technicians, approximately 120 CNG Technicians in the state of Utah were Trained and Certified as CNG System Inspectors and installers in 2008. There are now more Certified CNG Inspectors and installers in the State of Utah than any other State. These technicians have the repair facilities, experience and training necessary to carry out the CNG Inspections for both Safety and Emissions.

In an attempt to address public concern over the safety of CNG vehicles, in January of 2009 the Utah Highway Patrol ruled that if a CNG system was not “EPA approved” it was “unsafe” and not qualified for licensing, while a CNG system with a sticker of EPA approval was “safe”. This misguided ruling threw the fledgling but promising CNG industry in the state of Utah into death throws. It suddenly put thousands of conscientious citizens outside the law if they wanted to continue driving their clean running, safely converted CNG vehicles.

The proposed UHP 2009 inspections did not take into account the fact that all CNG systems, whether EPA approved or not, need to be verified safe and clean running by people trained and qualified to make that evaluation.

Who are CCATS and where did they come from?

CCATS (Certified CNG Automotive Technicians for Safety) was officially organized on January 13, 2009. It was formed in response to the UHP ruling that non EPA Certified CNG Installs were automatically unsafe and illegal to drive in Utah. CCATS members contend that ALL CNG INSTALLS whether EPA or not need to be tested for Safety and Emissions. If an install is safe and clean it should be legal.

CCATS currently has 8 members on its Governing Board and is open to any number of supporting members, contributing members and specialists.

Our Governing Board has in excess of 250 combined years of automotive experience. There are members on the Governing Board who have been doing safety and emission testing for the state of Utah since the inception of these programs. All voting members are certified or qualified in testing and repair of CNG systems, ASE certified A1, A6, A8, F1 and are certified CSA Inspectors for High Pressure Cylinder systems.

Our goal here at CCATS is to put thousands of safe, clean running CNG vehicles on the road and have Utah take the lead in demonstrating a viable, efficient system of certifying these vehicles on a regular basis. CCATS feels that education is the key to accomplishing this goal; educating the UHP, working with and educating various state agencies as well as educating the general public are all vital to our overall goal. CCATS will provide this education through our website, informational seminars, technical training, brochures and videos. (For more information about CCATS email: safecng@gmail.com or contact any board member)


Certified Automotive Technicians for Safety (CCATS) Proposes:

1- Providing CNG informational materials to share with the general public.

2- Creating Safety and Emission inspection procedures for CNG vehicles.

3- Providing CCATS training programs for UHP Inspectors, CNG Mechanics and CNG repair shops.

The implementation of these programs will:

1- Encourage more people to safely convert to CNG.

2- Contribute to safer highways and better air quality.


We all want clean air and safe vehicles. This proposal provides a way to encourage more CNG vehicles on the road, not less. Implementing this program can set an example to the United States and the rest of the world. Our CNG training, testing, certification and informational materials can be shared with others to promote clean, economical, safe fuel alternatives, and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.



Sincerely,

Jim Younkin
Secretary CCATS
younkin@gmail.com
801-427-2284

For more information email safeCNG@gmail.com

Comment by Richard Barnard on January 2, 2009 at 11:21am

I agree - Ford is the only one that said they didn't need it.

Ford is doing better. They just introduced the Ford Fusion HEV (hybrid electric vehicle). It will be available 2010 probably late 2009. It combines a 156-horsepower 2.5-lieter four-cylinder engine with a 106-horse-power electric motor for a net output of 191 horses. It can travel up to 47 mph on battery power alone. It will travel up to 700 miles on a single 17 gallon fill-up, or the equivalent of 41 mpg city/36 mpg highway. It will sell for $28,000. 200 miles or more on a single 17 gallon fill-up is doable!!

Things will get better because of the free market. Isn’t competition great? It’s just a matter of time before all automobile manufacturers adhere to alternative energies and start building plug in, flex fuel, NG, etc. The HEV can be built better and it will.

Speed kills and Ford is helping to slow us down. Like the HEV (hopefully) it’s just a matter of time before automobiles will be reduced to an acceptable speed that will save lives. Speed governors are good!!!!

Comment by Alan Radford on January 2, 2009 at 7:02am

The American automotive industry should NOT be bailed-out. It has refused to innovate… refused to up-date… has refused to listen to consumers (instead they use intensive advertizing to tell us what we want). For once let the market rule, let the market decide who should stay in business and who should go UNDER!!!

Comment by KENN DRESCHER on December 21, 2008 at 10:26am

I've been depressed apparently most of my Life. I wanted to do something REAL for the Planet. Gave it much thought and concluded it's AUTOS, and all the related destruction they've caused.
I Thought, than I drilled into what aspect of Automotive Design was the most outrageous, ubsurd, + EASILY CORRECTABLE. Answer = TOP SPEED! Simple right? Instead of attempting to force Drivers to observe a Sign with a Top Legal Speed Limit, LIMIT TOP SPEED AT THE POINT OF MANUFACTURE! Hey! Why hadn't any1 else thought of this?!! Well, as my Grampaw, Gus Faugust always said, "When things don't make sense... There's a Con in the Works!!!" Boy, Grampaw Gus, were U right, Big Time. Lotz Cons, and Corruption. Our Government is rotten to the Core.
I suggested this to these "Leaders", (they ain't Leaders by no streach -). Was told, it's not that simple. WRONG!!! It is PRECISELY that SIMPLE. And, when some1 tells me it's not, I KNOW THEY'RE A CON!!!
TOP SPEED can be limited, at the point of manufacture to the = SINGLE R.P.S. (Revolution Per Second) of the Drive Shaft. IN FACT, Ford has stolden my idea: "STAY ALIVE = 75 m.p.h.", and will incorporate into 2009 Vehicles under the Trade Name of: "Smart Key". The most recently manufactured vehicles can be retrofitted to obtain a pre determined = Top Speed, via easily installed Retro Fit.
Why is this important? Mass X Velocity = Energy (required). This is the 1 variant lowest common denominator which MUST be set in order to force Automotive manufactures to build the vehicles we need!!!
EX: Saw a 2008 Dodge Charger, Rammed Hemi. 425 HP! That's a legal lethal weapon Man Slaughter on Wheels - MUST BE BARRED from the Street. That vehicle, with a set target Top Speed = 80 m.p.h., with Road Command, and viable torque to withstand gusting headwinds, could easily be built with an engine producing no more than 80 HP!!! Do the math... Up fuel economy by 500%. I'll add more later.
IF ANY1 tells You that it's too complicated, or not possible to limit Top Speed, tell them right to their face that they are: LYING...
It is. It's just that SIMPLE. More on the Corruption which is preventing Common Sense solutions in future comments!

PS: Ur up against an organized, instituionalized judicial corruption machine. From the Top Courts, to the patrolman on the street.

Comment by KENN DRESCHER on December 18, 2008 at 8:59am

Demand Reformation NOW:

I've been promoting Automotive reform for over 5 years now. It's NOW, or NEVER!!! The vehicles of the future, 4th generation Hybrids, and all Electric Vehicles will be DAZZELING!!! Gotta stop the production of obsolute junk 1st though. Than, if Auto makers get bailed out, insure they don't go back to they're fiendish, habits... Remember when the Carter Adminstration bailed out CHRYSLER? Worked well for a few years. Than they hireed Designers from the Video Game industry... like we really needed the: VIPER. Chop the Heads off these Pit Vipers!!!
Imagion a Hybrid with 4 independandt vertically mounted PanCake Moters; 1 on each wheel. Photovoltaic cell impregnated Roof. Polymor, impact resistant Body. Drive by wire... These will be amazing vehicles!!! Add, and Voice Your own ideas!!! but Join 2day:

reform-autos-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Merry Xmas!!!

Comment by Richard Barnard on November 17, 2008 at 11:46am

I posted the following on T. Boone’s PAGE. The first paragraph is my attempt at satire. The last paragraph is my real feelings. The Automobile manufacturers do have to be restructured in America. It isn’t common knowledge that GM and Ford are profitable in every country they manufacture and sell with the exception of America. GM and Ford aren’t going anywhere. What’s happening now is probably what GM and Ford wanted anyway. If they are able to get up to $50 billion dollars, $25 billion they have access to now, from the American Tax Payer and then go into Chapter 11 they kill two birds with one stone. They have working capital to re-tool and they can still go into Chapter 11 later. A good share of the billions will go into their foreign manufacturing plants. Think about it – if GM goes into Chapter 11 Ford and Chrysler will have to follow suit just to stay competitive with GM. They are changing their status-quo in America. They know how to be profitable in Europe and Asia and will eventually be profitable here. Anyway – that’s my opinion.

Richard Barnard

I say let GM have the 25 billion dollar handout with one condition - that Warren Buffett CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and his team be put in charge of GM's restructuring. GM is a failed corporation and shouldn’t be allowed to restructure anything. Would Mr. Buffett do it? - Probably not unless he was able to buy the GM stock which is in the $2.00 range and was allowed to restructure the company. If we give GM the $25 billion dollars without any conditions they will burn through it without any significant changes. At their current rate they will burn through the $25 billion in about a year. The Unions would be happy because they would get approximately $7 billon dollars up front which obviously has nothing to do with re-tooling or building energy efficient automobiles.

Of course Mr. Buffet would never do this. He isn’t the world’s richest man because he’s stupid.

It’s probably better to let GM go bankrupt. A bankruptcy judge would then be allowed to determine expenses that would allow GM to become fluid again. A bankruptcy judge would also be able to put new management in charge and oversee their decisions; i.e. medical, wages, union participation, etc. It would be a smaller company but they wouldn’t go away. Would union participation go away? – NO. It would just be a little more realistic based on our economy. Would there be tens of thousands lost jobs? – Yes. It wouldn’t be any different then what the automobile industry has done in the past. They have fired approximately 600,000 American workers in the last 30 years anyway and what did we get for it – nothing but pickups and SUVs. Ask Michigan how their economy is doing. Done properly a bankruptcy recovery might even allow GM to build and hire American workers again.

Comment by Richard Barnard on October 11, 2008 at 12:28pm

There has to be a manufacturer in America – not overseas - that begins to manufacture the HEV NG - plug in now. Will GM, Ford or Chrysler do it? - NO. There promoting (today) 4 cylinder vehicles that get 26 miles per gallon of gas. Hell – I have a 6 cylinder Pontiac Grand Prix that gets 35 miles a gallon. I had a 1992 Camaro V8 that got 27 miles a gallon. There promoting these 4 cylinder vehicles as though they are the state of the art. They can get away with it because of the SUVs and trucks people have been buying for the last 20 years. Are people gullible? – YES.

GM, Ford and Chrysler aren’t bright enough to come up with a solution for themselves. Their 30 year history is laying off 400,000 plus workers in the last 25 years, devastating our economy and destroying many American families. They weren’t bright enough in 1973 with the oil embargo or 1978 with the shortage to see the consequences. I was. They have contributed to terrorism by manufacturing cars that are dependent on Middle Eastern oil. They then, in their infinite wisdom, came up with the SUV. Boy – was that a no brainer. I mean that literally.

Comment by KENN DRESCHER on October 7, 2008 at 2:42pm

Now is the time to ACT!!! Big 3 Stocks down to almost all time lows!!! Collect all your pennys, nickels, and dimes, heck Ford Shares are now less than $3.oo!!! And BUY US AUTOMOTIVE STOCK!!! Influence what's built, and what's not. Throw out the drunken blow-heads whom designed us into this sewer in the 1st place!!!

Make 'um build the "Peoples Car"!!!

Comment by Bill Mollring on July 17, 2008 at 8:46pm

Thank you for starting this site. I am very interested in seeing how alternative energy ideas develop across the country. Please include me on your updates and notices. I wish you much success. We are listed on the Pickens Plan as Mariah Power. http://www.push.pickensplan.com/group/mariahpower
To see our other alternative energy sources please go to:
http://www.emsystems.net
Aloha, Bill