WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Concern over the price of oil and global warming has renewed interest in the U.S. about cars with diesel engines.
About half the cars currently sold in Europe are powered by diesels, quieter and less polluting than Americans are used to. The first trip by a diesel-powered car in the U.S. was completed on this day in 1930, when C.L. Cummins drove a converted Packard sedan from Indianapolis to New York City.
He covered just under 800 miles for a total fuel cost of $1.38. Compared to regular gasoline engines, diesels get far more miles per gallon. Each year in the U.S., motor vehicles used 174 billion gallons of fuel — averaging just over 17 miles per gallon.
You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at
www.census.gov .
Sources: Famous First Facts, 5474, p. 386
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 1070
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html
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