By Rob Janicki
By now most reasonably informed people have seen video of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu telling the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, on Thursday, that he does not own a car. Chu's reply came as part of his revealing statement that essentially said the administration's position on the high price of gas was that it would decrease demand for gas fueled cars and thus increase demand for hybrid electric cars.
In other words, contrary to what President Obama has said, his administration actually wants higher gas prices in order to make electric cars or hybrid electric cars more cost competitive with gas fueled cars, even if these "green" cars are foreign imports. The Chevy Volt still wouldn't have a prayer in becoming cost competitive to its own brother, the Chevy Cruze, a gas engine car that gets over 40mpg and is priced two and a half times LESS than a Volt.
What makes Chu's comment, on not owning a car, quite interesting is that it has been found that his wife does own a car and it isn't any electric or hybrid electric car.
Daily Caller
[...] TheDC (Daily Caller) has obtained motor vehicle registration records showing that Jean Chu (née Fetter) is the owner of a 2002 BMW 325i, a sports sedan with a gas-guzzling 6-cylinder engine.
And its engine requires premium gasoline. AAA determined on Thursday that the average U.S. price for that grade of fuel was $4.03 per gallon.
When the car was first sold, its EPA-estimated fuel economy was rated at 18 miles per gallon in the city and 27 mpg on highways, according to FuelEconomy.gov, a website run by Secretary Chu’s own Department of Energy. The website reports that the car’s average fuel economy was 21 mpg — back when it had zero miles on its odometer. [...]
I especially liked the irony in the fact that the technical data for the BMW gas mileage was obtained from a website run by Secretary Chu's own Department of Energy.
Not to mention the car cost about 27K new (stripped down model) and is ugly as sin.
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