Hybrid fizzle

World Mag Blog ^ | 30 Jun 04 | Dawson

[xzins]

Hybrid fizzle So pumped was Cincinnati resident Pete Blackshaw about getting his Civic hybrid, he gave the car a "MO MILES" vanity license plate. Blackshaw got the opposite. Instead of the advertised 47 mpg, Blackshaw gets about 32. The hybrid enthusiast turned critic blogged away his frustration with his underperforming gas-electric car. But it could be worse. Consumer Reports found most Civic hybrids get only about 26 mpg on average. Regular Civics usually score above 30 mpg.

According to a J.D. Power survey, hybrid car owners may not all be as discouraged as Blackshaw. The study revealed that more than wanting to save money at the pump, hybrid drivers want to save the world with their hands on the steering wheel.

The attitudes and opinions about economics, technology, and the environment held by owners of hybrid-electric cars distinguish them from the other groups. Issues on which the owners of hybrid-electric cars hold extreme positions are: interest in helping reduce vehicle pollution, willingness to pay extra for "green" products, and thinking of oneself as an avid recycler. Owners of hybrid-electric cars also have the most extreme expectations that fuel prices will be higher in the future.

[.cnI redruM]

I hope that hybrids eventually succeed.

[DustyMoment]

Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances.

No one ever accused environmentalists of being in charge of the nation's brain trust.

[sr4402]

I would imagine the environment you are in may affect Hybrid mileage considerably. Colder weather makes battery performance poor, hence more use of the gasoline side. If you travel a lot of hills/mountains regularly you will burn more gas as well.

The best places for the Hybrids will be the southern flat states. A good tailwind would probably help, but I couldn't guarantee that with every trip.

As always "Buyer Beware". Look before you leap.

[xzins]

I hope energy conservation succeeds, too.

And I also believe it pays to read car and consumer mags for writeups on the different models. They really do have some decent info, and that info would've saved this guy some disappointment. (Assuming, of course, that the article preceded his purchase.)

[xzins]

If he lives in Cincy proper, then it is hilly and it we do have cold winters.

[traumer]

This subject had been discussed on FR extensively.
I belive that the 'hybrid technology' had made itself a bad name...

[Tallguy]

I would imagine the environment you are in may affect Hybrid mileage considerably.

Bingo.

[RightWhale]

Hybrid is pure hype.

[KellyAdmirer]

This "Mo Miles" guy is becoming as well known on this site as Saddam Hussein.

[blanknoone]

interest in helping reduce vehicle pollution, willingness to pay extra for "green" products, and thinking of oneself as an avid recycler. Owners of hybrid-electric cars also have the most extreme expectations that fuel prices will be higher in the future.

Ah, the classic, feelings. I think it hilarious that they (at least some) are actually paying more to produce more pollution per mile and consume more gas all so they can feel like they're doing the right thing when they are not.

[jrawk]

nice troll! But I'll bite.

I don't see how adding another energy conversion to the mix is really going to succeed in higher effienciecy in the larger picture. I really think the laws of physics indicate we need to pick our poison. Clean, or Mileage. Let a car burn 1 gallon per mile and you would have a lot of energy left over to clean the emissions....

Now here is my troll. Why not Hydrogen?

-- lates
-- jrawk

[expatpat]

Schadenfreude again!

[kezekiel]

These cars require a different driving style... all the same techniques that save gas in a regular car (easy on the acceleration, moderate top speeds, gradual braking, etc.) have big payoffs in a hybrid. I noticed significant differences in mileage when I drove a Prius for a couple of days based upon how easy I was on it, and I reached an average of over 50 MPG when I used the right techniques.

[ChewedGum]

A good tailwind would probably help...

Yea....and a sail.

Gum

[.cnI redruM]

Why not hydrogen? Or better yet, driving a lot less often. Hypotheticals aside, there is a finite mass of fossil material that can be used to fuel combustion. As India, Brazil and China all become modern, consumer-driven economies, the population of people wanting to fill up the gas tanks of their cars will increase 10-fold easily.

Thus, we need some workable alternative to gasoline, or the market will serve it's purpose as a balancing force and anyone who can't fork over say $18 to $20 dollars a gallon for gas won't be driving anywhere and we won't get too bent out of shape over gas mileage.

[jriemer]

Why not Hydrogen?

Why not Natural Gas? Most ever house has it and you wouldn't have to go to the gas station any more. Buses and delivery trucks have long started the conversion process.

[taildragger]

Mild Hybrids that GM will use in the Saturn SUV get 80% of the Benefit at 10 to 20% of the cost.

Now if you combined that with an Aluminum Chassis (for every 100lbs weight reduction it ='s 1 mpg) you would have something.

Air Assisted Direct Injection for another 20% is the one I want.

To learn more about Air Assisted Direct Injection, go to: http://www.orbeng.com

[oyez]

you wouldn't have to go to the gas station any more

Now Exxon, Shell, Mobile have too much invested in that real estate, Slirpies, Candy and stale sandwiches to let us get away with that.

[Batrachian]

The cost of gasoline won't be $20 a gallon in the foreseeable future except through taxation, even with India, China, et al driving.

There's still plenty of petroleum out there, and if you factor in the conversion of coal to gasoline, and using alcohol for fuel, then we have enough for several hundred years, even at 10x current consumption.

As I say, it would take taxation for fuel to be that expensive, and the economy would collapse long before gas got to $20 per gallon. Greens may advocate that, but you would see lynchings in the street before that happened.