Yeah, but what is the city mileage for the Focus? The EPA says 24mpg so the Focus is 52% worse than the HCH (based on my 50mpg lifetime average). If all you do is highway miles, then the Focus is only 30% worse (again based on my 50mpg lifetime average). If you drove 12,000 city miles a year at $3/g, that would work out to $780 savings driving the HCH ($1500 Focus vs $720 HCH).

I guess that calculation is a little harsh since I would get better than the EPA mileage in the Focus with the way I drive, but by the same token, if you aren't getting the MPG in the HCH, what makes you think you would get EPA in the Focus? I know you're just devil's advocating here, but I'm just trying to clear up the facts on MPG...

 

Ok, fair enough.

But I know of no HEV production vehicle that was released with NiCad battery. Ever.

All of the HEV vehicles produced since 1997 where fitted with NiMH, the older ones are no more than 11 years old. Also, unless I had "mental crash" of some sort, NiMH battery packs contain no cadmium or any other environmentally questionably substance. I only wish the 12v batteries on the millions of vehicles on our roads today were as inert.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Very good points Kristian. MPG is more a mental attitude toward driving than the vehicle's capabilities. My wife drives the 08 FEH AWD, and I drive a 2002 Ford Ranger with 3.0L V6, 5sp Manual. I don't know what the EPA ratings are for the Ranger V6, but I get 26-28mpg (in town) when the temperatures average 50F or higher (yes, cold effects regular cars a lot too). I use hypermiling techniques on my gas Ranger, just like I do on the FEH.

I used to get 46+ mpg on the road with my old 99 Saturn SL1 with a 1.9L engine. I've gotten 24.x mpg on a 500+ mile trip with my old 1996 Ford Explorer, 4WD, 4.0L engine.

Bottom line, you can be disappointed with a hybrid if you don't embrace proper driving techinques, and by the same token, you can be pleased with a regular car (Ford Focus for example), if you drive with FE in mind. If you drive a hybrid <b>consistantly</b> with FE in mind, you will be VERY happy with the fuel savings results.

Any day of the week, I can easily beat EPA mileage, and I'm much more relaxed getting there, stay in the right hand lane, there's an egg between my foot and the gas pedal, and I Look ahead to anticipate every coasting opportunity. Plus there are many more.

I'm no longer current, but when I used to fly my Cessna 172, I flew around the area just safely above MCA (pilots know), because it used considerably less fuel, and was better for sight seeing.

I used semi-hybrid driving/flying techinques in a plane.

 

I'm so glad someone else mentioned it. I don't know why, but Honda and Toyota really need to rethink their seat foam selection. I recently drove to Terryville, CT from Alexandria VA and took my truck because it was more comfortable (even though it get 14mpg). Japanese automakers really should start using the same foam American cars do. And it's not just our civic, we have a CRV as well, same issue: uncomfortable foam in the seats. My bum is always soar if i spend more than 1 hour in the seat of a Honda or Toyota.

These cars were not made for road tripping. Sad but true.

 

The seats are a preference. It's NOT a BMW, and it's NOT a luxury car.. there's really no reason to compare them. It's like me telling you that the seats in my 07 are much nicer than the seats were in my 99 chevy cavalier. They are. Do you care? No.

The accelerator isn't tuned to my liking either. When starting out from a stop it is extremely torquey and on the highway you have to step on it to get some power out to accelerate a few MPH. Over the past 24 hours I've driven 60 miles and gotten an average 34 MPG. It's also been 15 degrees F average. I think you got pretty good mileage for driving 70 MPH with a fully loaded car. I haven't gotten over 40 MPG since I took an 800 mile trip over the holidays.

-
Martin

 

I have been getting about 45-50 mpg in 20-30F weather lately gonig 55-60 on CC. My coworker is getting 35-40 mpg going 60-70 mph in his HCH2.

Unfortunatly, both low temps and higher speeds conspire to bring down FE.

 

Whats a CC???

 

CC = cruise control
(usually, anyway)

--doug

 

Thanks, I was reading too much to the analogy of his sentence... I assumed he was comparing a CC car with a HCH car...

 

true, the seats are a prefrence. But every Honda I've driven over any distance (more than 1 hour seat time) and my bum is very sore. i don't have that problem in any other car.