If I invented an automobile engine that would get 100 miles to the gallon, would the petroleum industry buy me out?
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 3
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If you invent something, you decide to whom you sell the invention. If an oil company makes you a better offer than Honda, Ford, Daimler, etc. sure - sell out to them. But they can't make you sell your invention. Since gas costs over $5 a gallon in many places, the big auto makers are always looking for new ways to improve fuel economy and would likely pay handsomely for a market advantage, but for you to get paid anything your engine would have to be "better" than the existing engines in several ways - at least as reliable, powerful, inexpensive, etc. - to get any market penetration. Most of the stories about super-high mileage engines are either untrue or fail on cost, power or some other critical market factor.
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Automakers might buy you out, petroleum industry will probably rub you out.
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For sure the industry would stop you from manufacturing or promoting this car engine. Car manufacturers, oil companies and governments would shut you down in a heartbeat. They would do anything they could to stop you including buying you out. Your engine would be a GIANT threat to "profits" with a clear advantage to consumers so you would be stopped before you even got started. I wonder how many have already been stopped in the past - likely thousands.
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