Can we improve gas mileage using technology we already have? Yes, according to Dan Neil, car writer for the LA Times.
His LA Times magazine piece, Running on Empty,
http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-500mpg29jul17,1,7773745.story?coll=la-he
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demonstrates how, with a few tweaks in battery technology and the computer code presently on board a standard Toyota Prius, he was able to drive with high performance on LA freeways and mountain roads for weeks with a cost of 4 cents a mile. He experienced 122 miles per gallon with this technology and calculated that if he used this car as he normally uses a car, he could drive for 22 weeks on one tank of gas. Pretty amazing. The technology is here. It's called Plug-in Hybrid Electic Vehicle (PHEV) and it, in combination with alternative fuel sources such as ethanol, could reduce our dependence on foreien oil, increase our national security and put money in our wallets. This kind of innovative approach has been sorely lacking these past 5 years in particular, but of course it extends further back than that. The oil business hasn't looked kindly on these types of products over the long history of the car. Daimler, they say, was murdered when he invented a diesel engine that ran on peanut oil. This PHEV technology is something most Americans can get behind, especially since it doesn't effect the performance of the car and produces such enormous fuel effeciencies and cost savings. I hope to see more of this technology in the future. Read that piece by Neil. It's astonishing!