Here it is


Pretty lame, but the comments have sparked some discussion. I've written two responses, but this BC guy would benefit from some hard facts. Any Prius owners out there want to help straighten out his misconceptions?

Cheers,
Doug

 

Straighten out? Nah, not there. I indirectly invited him here though, and he can take Hybrids 101 if he likes. That course is available pass/no credit, right?

Would rather see some 'low-mpg' hybrid drivers show up, though. We can find out if their tires are flat or misaligned, drum brakes dragging, etc... Y'all know the list.

DAS

 

Sigh. I'm usually angry after reading such viewpoints aka ignorance. I think I'll just laugh instead this time!

 

Oh, my...my TCH is getting 38.5 MPG average. I had hoped for 40. Guess I'll slit my wrists now.

 

Please don't Chris. But if you must, don't bleed on the Camry's upholstery! Your heirs, in their sorrow, will have a pretty nice car to console themselves with.

DAS

 

I've driven a Prius briefly a couple of times, also drove a TCH around the parking lot.

Unlike that writer, I'm aware a day or even a week in a Prius would not make me an expert on it.

What kind of milage should John Q Public expect on any hybrid?

Respectably close to the old EPA if he goes the speed limit and avoids overusing the accelerator and brakes. I don't expect John Q Public to hypermile, but reasonable driving should put him ahead of typical writers like this one.

 

This just makes me tired. Yawn. I need to go catch up on my sleep before I can summon the energy to argue with stuff like this. (yeah, right! In about 7 hours, if I'm lucky!)

 

I left a little post. We were having a similar discussion related to the AP Hypermiling article that appeared yesterday nationwide (and in the local paper). I posted that I was getting my advertised MPG despite still being in the break-in period (only 1400 miles on my '08 FEH) and loving it. I said that not all hybrid owners should be lumped together; some may have been suckered into thinking they'd get ridiculous mileage, but most people did their homework before buying because a hybrid is a little bit different from gas-only cars.

 

I think he really took the wrong tack on the logic of the story. The way he wrote the story I think you're kind of led you believe that the actual milage you will get on the cars will be changing. But that's not the case - just the way the EPA runs the tests and the calculations is what's changing the number.

If you're getting an average of (just picking a number here) 35mpg driving your '07 FEH - and assuming there's absolutely no changes in an '08 FEH (I know there are minor ones, but just making a baseline assumption here) and your driving habits don't change, you would still be getting 35mpg.

It's kind of like saying today I just drove a 20 mile trip, but tomorrow I'm going to drive that same trip but it's going to be 32.2 km trip. Same distance, just a different standard to measure it by.


But as an aside question - do these revised test figures affect the car companies' CAFE requirements? Not sure I have heard anyone mention what happens to those. Does that mean that the companies will now have to redesign their cars to get those numbers back up to the requirements? These new test must not have changed anything there or we would have heard a whole lot of whining from Detroit.

 

God, give me a break. His argument is soo flawed that it does not warrant a response!

Look at the number of Hybrid Cars that are out there now. Tons. Made for every type of person.

I hate when people get into my car, and they look @ my odo and say things like "sshhh only getting 42 mpg? I knew hybrids were all hype."

I drive 80% time in bumper to bumper traffic! Variables people!!! :O