As usual, the ignorant media get hybrids all wrong! Slashdot links to a wired article on changes to EPA standards. Bottom line: according to the new rules, Hybrids aren't anywhere near as good as their hype. Oh, and they go on about calculating how many years it takes to pay back the added cost and how that's not worth it. As if anybody bought a hybrid to save money!
Anyway, take a look, post on Slashdot, ignore it, whatever you feel like...
Bottom line is not what the EPA says you'll get but what you actually get. Many Insighters get better than the old EPA figures, myself included. If the average man on the street doesn't think the Insight can get astounding gas mileage it will make it easier for others in the know to find these cars which are increasing in demand. Hybrids have now exceeded 2% of new car sales. skeptics who never saw the hybrid as anything but a niche market are getting indigestion from eating their hats.
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Kip Munro
The laws of physics don't need changing, but rather our attitude and values. 72.8 LMPG
If the average man on the street doesn't think the Insight can get astounding gas mileage it will make it easier for others in the know to find these cars which are increasing in demand.
True!
It will also make it more likely for the average buyer to skip the hybrid and rather go for the traditional guzzler. I wonder who is behind the rule change....?
The new ratings are based on theoretical modeling, not actual tests.
To be fair, people look at the rotten mileage they get in real world driving conditions, look at their cost to fill up at the pump, then see the mileage rating on a new hybrid. Based on what they see on the EPA sticker they calculate their yearly savings and take out a loan to buy the new hybrid. They still drive like an F1 racer and soon discover they can't make the loan payments with their fuel savings.
For some people staying with their existing car, changing their vehicle use and driving style, coupled with synthetic oil and a little more air in the tires is the right economic choice. For others who need to change vehicles, and who can honestly weigh all the factors long term, I'm convinced a hybrid IS the right choice.
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Kip Munro
The laws of physics don't need changing, but rather our attitude and values. 72.8 LMPG
[quote="b1shmu63"
... They still drive like an F1 racer ...
It's not that they're not doing it here in the Poconos but I saw it close up, with a lot more cars the other Friday when I was down in Willow Grove PA; those "racers" roaring from one red light to the next, from one Stop sign to the next. Makes you wonder, what is wrong with those people? Will they ever learn? Makes you wonder.
My good friend called me yesterday as I was driving my new to me 2000 insight home. I told him I was averaging 78 mpg at the time.....he couldnt believe it gets twice his 2004 civic hybred that he comutes on the hyway in. He said he ussually gets 38-41 in it.
Funny how they never really clearly state how the new EPA ratings affect ALL vehicles, not just hybrids. Just doing a little quick math on the numbers they give in the table (all I did was calculate the difference in combined mileage using the old and new EPA ratings) is a little more telling. Yes, the Prius and Civic hybrid both lose about 19-20%, but the poster child for gluttony (the H3) loses 13%. Actually, the biggest loser in the table is the non-hybrid Camry, which loses an astounding 25%.
I guess I'll take my 76 mpg and laugh all the way to the bank.
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new EPA mileage ratings
