Hybrid car cost controversy: You can save money
Earlier this week I posted an entry, Edmunds.com's Senseless Hybrid Vehicle Cost Study, in which I called the Edmund's hybrid car cost analysis, silly.
Edmunds reminds me of the EPA and some Detroit auto writers. "Hybrids don't achieve their EPA numbers," they scowl. While they are right, they hardly acknowledge the fact that most vehicles don't achieve EPA numbers. In fact, EPA numbers on some vehicles can be off by as much 30 %.
The EPA, and apparently Edmunds, base fuel efficiency and driving habits off data from the 80s. For example, the Edmunds study assumes 75% of consumer transportation is highway driving, and only 25% is city driving.
How can that be possible?
Roughly 70% of the American population lives in urban areas. Between 1980 and 2000 the intensity of traffic congestion has tripled, while the extent and duration of traffic has doubled.
Not only is the majority of American transportation city driving, a significant percentage is stop-and-go city driving - the type of conditions that make many conventional vehicles 30 percent less fuel efficient, while causing significant increases in pollution. And the future promises far greater congestion, even for rural areas.
Yet, hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius and even the Ford Escape hybrid, excel in these same conditions - the same conditions that cost America $100 billion dollars per year and significantly increase the need for foreign oil.
In urban areas hybrids like the Prius can save you money now and in the future they will save even more money. Just imagine if every vehicle achieved Prius efficiency, the environment would be significantly cleaner and America wouldn't need foreign oil.
How much is that worth?
Edmunds reminds me of the EPA and some Detroit auto writers. "Hybrids don't achieve their EPA numbers," they scowl. While they are right, they hardly acknowledge the fact that most vehicles don't achieve EPA numbers. In fact, EPA numbers on some vehicles can be off by as much 30 %.
The EPA, and apparently Edmunds, base fuel efficiency and driving habits off data from the 80s. For example, the Edmunds study assumes 75% of consumer transportation is highway driving, and only 25% is city driving.
How can that be possible?
Roughly 70% of the American population lives in urban areas. Between 1980 and 2000 the intensity of traffic congestion has tripled, while the extent and duration of traffic has doubled.
Not only is the majority of American transportation city driving, a significant percentage is stop-and-go city driving - the type of conditions that make many conventional vehicles 30 percent less fuel efficient, while causing significant increases in pollution. And the future promises far greater congestion, even for rural areas.
Yet, hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius and even the Ford Escape hybrid, excel in these same conditions - the same conditions that cost America $100 billion dollars per year and significantly increase the need for foreign oil.
In urban areas hybrids like the Prius can save you money now and in the future they will save even more money. Just imagine if every vehicle achieved Prius efficiency, the environment would be significantly cleaner and America wouldn't need foreign oil.
How much is that worth?
Labels: Escape hybrid, Ford, Ford Escape hybrid, fuel efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles, prius, toyota
posted by Dahcredyns at
7:42 AM
3 Comments:
I drive the first generation Prius, and get 45 mpg in the winter, and 55 mpg in the summer. At 70 mph, get about 42 mpg.
Your mileage gets better as you learn to drive it.
How sad, your lowest gas mileage is 42 mpg - how pathetic. The Prius is just plain awesome.
Driving at 70 mpg is becoming much less the norm, as congestion becomes more common in suburban areas and even small cities. And the problem of congestion is predicted to growly greatly the next few decades.
These are the ideal conditions in which to drive a Prius, and the second generation Prius was able to take advantage of breakthroughs in battery technology and software to make the Prius even more efficient in congestion.
If you live in a city, such as Los Angeles, where I live, the Prius can get as much as 70 mpg in stop-and-go traffic.
Millions and millions of Americans drive in those conditions, and the Edmunds study completely discounted that reality.
At least when gas hits $3.00 per gallon, it will have much less affect on you, vineyardhybrid.
My wife drives our 2005 package 5 Prius 35-40 miles each day in city/rural traffic. The computer shows an average of 47-53 mpg, while fill-ups compute at 43-51 mpg (some differences may be accoutable to tempereature and atmospheric pressure at the time of fill). Considering my wife's LEAD FOOT, I believe the car is performing amazingly well. Driving it in town, I have achieved computer readings of 57 mpg, and I believe it could easily exceed 60 mpg in heavy stop-and-go conditions.
Are you kiddin' me? I have never had a car -- I have been driving since 1960 -- that came anywhere as close to its EPA ratings as the Prius!
If you are getting 43 mpg at 70 and are unhappy, trade the Prius and see if 30 mpg feels better in a conventional car!
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