Petrol price increase... not again!

It seems that petrol prices increase with a disconcerting regularity. If I had a penny for every time I have heard the phrase "remember to fill up your car today, petrol prices are increasing tomorrow", I would be a wealthy man, provided of course, I too didn't need to fill up.

At moments like these, when the impending doom of yet another hike is upon me, I take some time to reflect on ways to stem the tide of this petroleum beast. The logical choice would be to change my mode of transport, a bicycle sounds really good, but just isn't practical in Johannesburg, walking a definite no no. While a motorbike or scooter is an option, the aura of danger surrounding these vehicles is enough to put me off. Cancel public transport due to unreliability and we are once more right back where we started... a Car.

The good news however, is that there is ample choice when buying a car, and with the advancements in technology, hybrid cars (and hopefully electric cars in the not to distant future) are definitely worth considering. Just how much can you save financially buying a hybrid car? In the short term, probably not as much as you would save scratching the idea and taking the extra 34c per litre in your stride. This however, is not the case on a more long term timeline. The effects of a more fuel efficient car on your wallet and the environment will be quite significant going forward and hopefully the prices of these cars will come down too, thus making it easier for us to help ourselves and the environment.

A while ago I wrote a post on the most fuel efficient cars in South Africa, give it a read if you are interested in upgrading.

BMWs new energy and environmental test center

BMW have constructed a specialty environmental test center in order to ensure all of their vehicles can operate properly under numerous different conditions. In previous times many of these tests had to be conducted in different areas that had varying temperatures and weather conditions but now they can all be conducted within the test center. The tests are to ensure that rain does not inhibit full breaking power, snow must not adversely effect the engine and extreme heat should not overtax the cooling system.

The test center can simulate all the necessary environmental conditions that the cars need to be tested against. Including, precipitation, head, cold, humidity, atmospheric pressure and wind. The test center is made up of 3 wind tunnels and 2 chambers. The wind tunnels include a climatic wind tunnel, a thermal wind tunnel and a environmental wind tunnel. The chambers include an altitude test chamber and a cold test chamber.

Previously there was always a decision to be made whether to test the car with a test drive or test facility. Now BMW can combine the best of both worlds and have their cars drive through the test facility and under all the varying different conditions in just 8 hours.

Source: BMW