What is Digg?221 Comments
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+50Bicycles save even more gas...
- redrock34, on 10/10/2007, -7/+36Oh yeah, you think your so special with your hybrid? Well I've got myself a Tribrid. It runs on a little gas, electricity, but mostly tears of Exxon executives.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -6/+28My car runs on the smug from the hybrid owners. Perpetual motion has been achieved.
- f00bar, on 10/10/2007, -2/+20Hybrids save gas UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.. In the worst case the hybrid will be just as wastefull as any other.
Clean diesel engines will save a lot more under more broad circunstances.
Proper driving technique will save you even more. - allaboutdatiki, on 10/10/2007, -3/+18It's not just hybrids, thankfully.
This mileage calculator shows how much you can save by switching to a high-MPG car (hybrid or not):
http://www.mpgomatic.com/mileage_calculator.html - evilghaleon, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16Perhaps it is short for something?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline - evilregis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15So does simply driving properly.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml - jlebrech, on 10/10/2007, -4/+17Yet the Oil industry is pushing hybrid cars, because they still rely on Gasoline. The idea is that once we start saving money on gas they can then inflate the price of gas and blame it on peak oil.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -7/+20watch 'who killed the electric car?'
- oldtactics, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13My 96 Saturn gets the same gas mileage as hybrid sedans.
What's the point of buying another brand new car when there's a million cars on the road that already get decent mpg? - 13B1303, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I would like to see the MPG of an insight with a VW TDI motor
- YuriSakazaki, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13Do you walk around naked, living in a forest, contributing to neither pollution or a solution, because you're that much of a condescending *****?
Or do you simply bottle the smell of your own farts because you're that much of a smug *****? - dmckean, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13Why don't they come out with diesel hybrids? Then you could load them up with twice as many batteries because you wouldn't have the load penalty that you do for gasoline engines.
- JackSrenton, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12are you pretending your SUV gets 60 miles to the gallon?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12I would say your best bet to save fuel is to switch to a diesel, not a hybrid. I drive a Seat Toledo (not sure if they are marketed in US or not), and I get a good 40-50 mpg in town driving, upping to 60-odd on long distance journeys.
FTA:"To date, hybrids have saved 230 million gallons, or 5.5 million barrels, of fuel.
That sounds impressive until you consider that more than 8.5 million barrels per day go to light-duty vehicles (according to NREL, which used 2003 oil import figures). In other words, the seven years of market growth for hybrids have produced less than a full day's worth of fuel savings."
How does that equate to saving "A Lot of Gas"? I make it an average saving of 0.025% per annum. - lozaning, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8its a hybrid, that means the electricity is made from the cars engine, not an old stinky coal plant.
- BonerMachine, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11Surprise! Hybrids save gas. An inconsequential amount of gas. I know I'm going to get dugg down for saying this, but even if every person on the planet who drove was driving a vehicle that got 100 miles per gallon, we would still be screwed environmentally, and we would still be screwed resource-wise.
As long as we're relying on oil to power our vehicles in some way, there is no magic bullet, and it certainly won't come in the form of a car that saves a day's worth of fuel over seven years of growth. Thanks hybrids, you just bought us an extra day of over consumption. - dmightx, on 09/21/2008, -2/+10Unfortunately thats how almost everyone thinks...
- Clawg, on 10/10/2007, -5/+12Inaccurate. Even the original article is inaccurate. In 7 years hybrid cars saved one day's worth of gas.
Not to mention the higher costs for development and government subsidies... - szembek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7"Only" efficiency is not better. If you shop for a vehicle based completely on fuel consumption than you are a fool. Power does matter unless you enjoy dogging it up hills all the time. I am not saying that the 1.4 VWs you mention would not be powerful enough, I'm just stating that power is an important consideration for any informed consumer.
- swiftheart, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9An acquaintance of mine (who sold used cars and is a staunch environmentalist) was angry at most drivers of Priuses. Why? As it's been reported before (in an NY Times article fairly recently in fact) the main reason people buy Priuses is because it makes them feel good. Hypothetically, there's nothing wrong with that.
However, there is a limited quantity of Priuses available, and the best use of a high-mileage, low-emissions vehicle is in the hands of someone who drive around a lot. If you drive 100,000 miles/year the difference between doing that in a Corolla and doing it in a Prius is significant.
But a lot of the people who buy Priuses do it to satisfy their egos--they bid up the cost of the vehicles in a war to have the greenest car available, and then proceed to drive them 12,000 miles per year, which is a complete waste of the vehicle. If you drive 12,000 miles a year, the difference between the Corolla and the Prius isn't much--sell the car to someone who drives a lot instead.
From an environmental point of view, the boneheads with money who priced Priuses out of the hands of people who really need them cause more harm than good. - brufleth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Please learn what a hybrid is and how they work. kthxbye
- Satanael, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Sarcasm eludes you. You take 5 damage.
- JahRage, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Actually smart ass, most hybrids have meters that let you know how efficiently you are driving. So they would have at LEAST a clue they are not saving fuel. Why do people just insist on pissing in other peoples kool-aid?
- cloudyprison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6What do you mean I can't gun it from every light!?! I have potential old people and cops to impress!
- JahRage, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Jesus ***** christ man. The electricity is generated by the engine. A hybrid is a cross between a combustion and electric engine, not a pure electric engine. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
- las3rjock, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6The efficiency of an automotive engine is ~20%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine#Engine_Efficiency
The efficiency of natural gas power stations is ~60%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation#Turbines - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Fry: Nice! Listen to that baby purr!
Bender: There's a baby in there, huh? - UberC, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6??
- YuriSakazaki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Oh please, let's not get started on regional dialects... sometimes it's like you need a translator to understand what British people are saying. I love Doctor Who to death, but I've had to pause and check Google on more than one occasion to figure out what the hell something meant. A guildie of mine in WoW is British and had to explain to me what a Chav was after he called someone one and NO ONE had any clue what he was talking about.
- Satanael, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6What kind of twisted engineering did YOU learn?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -5/+10Look, the solution lies clearly with the manufacturers. I was on the VW USA site one day and I noticed something shocking.
Both the VW Beetle (girls car) and the VW Rabbit (known as the Golf elsewhere) have a MINIMUM of a 2.5L engine in the USA. Why the ***** is this? These cars are available with a 1.4L engine almost everywhere else in the world and then a staggered movement up to higher capacities.
Why would anyone who buys a Beetle or a Golf want a standard 2.5L engine? It says it barely gets 30mpg but the machines with smaller engines get 10-20mpg more than that. If you want a big engine in a Golf, get the GTI or R32 for sports kicks, but everyday people who want a normal car can't possibly have a use for 2.5L. - Kev1000000, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6You have no idea what you're talking about. When I drive 85 on the freeway, I still get around 42mpg. That's still above almost all regular petrol cars you can buy.
- cheti12, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4oh and you car should have a 'help wanted' sticker on it somewhere. Just in case you're lucky and a passing shrink happens to see it.
- jmpeagle, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5HAHAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, wow, so like no fuel at all
We consume 20 million barrels of oil per day in the U.S. alone which is equivalent to 840 million gallons. So hybrids have saved is about 5-6 hours of fuel over an 8 years period? That's depressing. - Blizaine, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4wow... I just went to honda.com and configured a pimped Accord w/ Nav @ $29K and an Accord Hybrid w/ Nav @ $34k.
Driving that car 15K miles a year... I would have to drive the Hybrid 12+ years to recoup the cost of going with a hybrid. - Novagenesis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I've yet to see my Prius go under 39mpg, and that was treating it like crap.
I'm not saying the Prius is the best car in the world, but I use a lot less gas in my 100-mile-per-day total commute. - Abomonog, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I got a Prius and you're right. They'll do better than 50 MPG if your easy on them but you can still swing only 17 MPG if you drive it like a racecar.
- Ummagumma, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I think I'll bury this, the article itself states that hybrids don't account for much fuel savings yet, less than one day's worth in the big scheme of things. Hardly "a lot of gas".
- toxigenicpoem, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I'm sorry beagle, you REALLY need to do your reasearch. The Hybrid will NOT start saving you money until you own it for at LEAST 10 years. The increased cost of the vehical, and increased maintenance costs, actually create a curve that puts the projected savings start point a decade frmo the purchase point, AND thats if you pay straight cash for your vehical, and don't LEASE or FINANCE.
- GoatMonkey2112, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Wait, "petrol"? Why do you call it "petrol" when the word is actually "petrolium"?
- sacherjj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Get a 1980's VW Diesel Rabbit for $100. Mine got 50 mpg, back in 1994. I would never buy a hybrid. I would buy a VW TDI Jetta instead. Just as good of gas mileage as a hybrid and better for long trips on the highway.
- Buelldozer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I dislike people who talk out of their ass. A modern ICE is NOWHERE near 90% efficient, not even half of that.
- szembek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Just buy a small used sedan rated for 40 mpg and save a TON of money. A couple years ago I got a used '01 saturn SL1 for my wife for $4k and it gets 40mpg.
- MeMongo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Seats are not sold in the U.S., but during my trips to southern Europe, I've enjoyed the high fuel economy of Fiat and Seat diesels. In the U.S., the highest fuel economy vehicles (in real world tests) are the Volkswagen Jetta TDI (diesel). It consistently gets in the mid 40 MPG (about 19-20 KPL) range while the Prius gets between 30 and 40 MPG (12 to 19 KPL) in real-world tests. The good thing is that even though 30 MPG isn't as good as the 55 MPG (23 KPL), it is still better than the 15 MPG (6 KPL) that most trucks and SUVs get.
- ucg1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4The better solution is obvious: diesel hybrids.
- DarylScience, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Gasoline use is only one indicator. Recently, the Nat'l Center for Policy Analysis published a blurb on the combined energy to produce and use the Prius vs the Hummer. Yes, Prius vs Hummer. See http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14304 . Turns out the Prius, through its use of nickel and lead and sulfur dioxides, costs $3.25 per mile over its expected 100,000 mile lifetime. Meanwhile, the conventionally made behemoth Hummer costs a meager $1.95 per mile over its 300,000 mile lifetime. Yes, the Hummer will use more gasoline, but its overall environmental footprint is much smaller even over 3 times the life of a Prius.
When looking at these gasoline ratings, you really must look deeper into the 'big picture'. - Dewhead, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Good question. It one of those unexplained things like here in Texas we call all soda type soft drinks "coke" regardless of whether they are a Pepsi or whatever. I have heard people from the Northeast call it "Pop".
- muchachoburacho, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Your numbers are slightly made up. Car engine are around 30-40% effecient.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine - apeweek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That plant has been there for decades upon decades. Most of that pollution came from making parts for conventional cars. At least NIMH batteries have very long lifetimes (100,000 miles plus) and are fully recyclable.
Plus there are better batteries out there than NIMHs. The NIMHs will be obsolete soon. -
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