Rest of blog

 

I've always thought Consumer Reports thoughly researches their material - even blogs before putting them out to print. The blogger (profile here might hint at his perspective) Does this remind you of the early hybrid reviews by gearheads? Hardly a neutral observer and definitely not a statistical sample. Prius Chat (mentioned in blog) and other sites would have condemned the Insight running the red stop sign from hypermilers themselves.

What really endangers lifes and wastes fuel on the roads today? Here is an example of a minor fender-bender in the North Dallas area in Carrollton at I35E and TX190:

• 1-2 thousand drivers at gridlock on the side of the minor accident
• About as many rubberneckers in the opposite direction slowing down for no good reason
• I consumed 25% more fuel on that commute, so multiply that times those thousands of drivers, plus the police and wrecker that came.
• All because one driver was late, sleepy, inattentive, speeding,...or something else that was probably easily avoidable.

Maybe the blogger got a buzz, but the real waste and hazard is NOT hypermiling. BTW - he totally misrepresented that.

 

Possible Blog Update

Got to read on, but does give a mention that hypermiling sites do not condone what this sole Insighter did.

Whether it was there from the get go or later added, I'm glad that's noted.

 

Consumer Reports replied and pointed out the 4th and last paragraph of the blog was actually quite positive....sadly "fair use" cuts off the quote well before that and the overall tone had one bad Insight driver represent all hypermilers, which resulted in a lot of unhappy replies.

I'll give them credit for responding.

 

Hi,

I smiled reading these two parts from the blog introduction:
Hummm, I have to smile at the thought of an Insight was being abused to smack-down posters in Priuschat.com. Of course I may have a jaundiced view of PriusChat. I tend to hang out in the technical forums and monitor the "Fuel economy" forum for systemic postings that tie back to Prius architecture or physics.

Recently, a Washington Post reporter asked about 'competitive MPG driving' over in PriusChat. There have been nearly a dozen follow-ups and no one claims to have volunteered other sources. I had already silently sent an e-mail pointing to the GreenHybrid database with a suggestion that here is a place to find out what regular folks have been getting.

Bob Wilson

 

Exhibit: https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...d-today-18188/

Then, I was following a Camry wagon who was gliding fast down hills and slowing down on the inclines by 20% under the limit. This was annoying me because this inconsistency on city streets is like declaring that the driver doesn't know how to control their vehicle appropriately.

 

This pattern is worse because it implies the driver doesn't want to be passed. Typically the passing zone on two lane roads is downgrade and the upgrade sections are non-passing because the hill is blind. When someone slows up on the climbing part and then speeds up on the passing zone, it looks like a deliberate attempt to bottle up traffic.

Bob Wilson