Another Idiot Reporter

[jimmyrose]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Earthling @ May 25 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]449775[/snapback]</div>

I worked two years in Saudi Arabia for OPEC (ARAMCO).

The Prius is my way of sticking it to the Imam.

Harry
[/b]

[Kong_Man]

i get 55+

[caprinicity]

[quote]
I worked two years in Saudi Arabia for OPEC (ARAMCO).

The Prius is my way of sticking it to the Imam.


I love this. Is there a bumper sticker?

CNN's Robin & Company did their bit for the "anti-hybrid" hype. 33mpg my a**. What planet are they from? The worst mpg I've gotten to date was 43 mpg over winter, and that was 15 degree weather and running the heater full blast. Yesterday, in 85 degree heat, running the air conditioner and driving 70, I got 52 mpg. With a good tailwind I can get 65.

When Toyota makes a V8 pickup truck with a gunrack in a hybrid version, maybe the world will change.

Bonnie

[chogan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ May 24 2007, 11:23 PM) [snapback]449563[/snapback]</div>

Okay, if we're going to keep posting about reporters who haven't a clue regarding what they are reporting, we will need a separate folder just for these threads. ;)
[/b]

So true, and yet it brings up a point: Are any other cars subject to this constant stream of disinformation and propaganda? I mean, does anybody say Corvettes aren't fast, or an F150 can't tow a trailer, or Hummers aren't macho-looking, or Mercedes have a crappy ride? Why us?

Has any other car ever been subject to similar treatment via disinformation, and why does anti-Prius propaganda play so well?

[bobdavisnpf]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ May 25 2007, 12:48 PM) [snapback]450013[/snapback]</div>

So true, and yet it brings up a point: Are any other cars subject to this constant stream of disinformation and propaganda? I mean, does anybody say Corvettes aren't fast, or an F150 can't tow a trailer, or Hummers aren't macho-looking, or Mercedes have a crappy ride? Why us?

Has any other car ever been subject to similar treatment via disinformation, and why does anti-Prius propaganda play so well?
[/b]

The EPA test suite was designed by the Big 3 to help them meet fleet mileage requirements. They are universally optimistic in their ratings. We had a 23mpg Saturn that measured out at 15-17; a 26mpg Saturn that did 18-20; a 30mpg Toyota that did 22-24. My better-informed friends driving 15mpg trucks tell me they don't see better than 10 around town, and the only way to hit 15 is to drive "downhill on a highway."

The overwhelming majority of drivers, when asked what mileage they get, tell me what they'd *like* to get and believe that's what they *do* get. Ive had hummer owners tell me they're getting 22 miles to the gallon. They just have no clue. And why should they? Fuel economy and environment had nothing to do with the way their desires were shaped, and nothing ot do with their purchase decision.

The point the press latches onto is mileage for the Prius, because that's the easiest way to make the story seem relevant to an otherwise uninformed reader. And it's a lot more palatable to bash an import for making only 2/3 its EPA number, than to write about how our national fleet average of 27.5mpg is actually running at *18mpg.*

[Don-RI]

Actual numbers aside, it would be nice when talking MPG to put things in perspective. the Side by Side Comparison on the DOE's fueleconomy.gov website is fun -- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm. It keeps it all relative.

[cwerdna]

This stupid article is now in the middle of http://finance.yahoo.com/. The link is also titled "The Real Truth About Hybrid Cars."

[jkash]

I wrote this author when I read the article earlier in the week. I asked if they actually did any research on their own. To quote 33 MPG is absurd. I think I said something like: "You'd have to drive like a crazy person to get on 33 MPG in a Prius." I have not received a reply.

[AsylumMoon]

No surprise that CNN is anti hybrid. Everyone at CNN still feels they owe Chrysler for getting their show on the air (or more appropriately getting their show on the road)

Not all sales went that well for CNN. We had trouble in Detroit. Before we went on the air, David Koff, our Detroit salesman, tried the Big Three. GM and Ford passed. Chrysler, teetering on bankruptcy, wanted us but couldn't afford us. They had cars they couldn't sell. We had airtime we couldn't sell. It was a marriage made in heaven. They gave us a half-million dollars' worth of cars and vans for our bureaus and cameramen. We gave them one 30-second spot every two hours for a full year.

Source: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA60430.html[/b]

[quote]
Must be a new green guy taking over for Peter Valdes-Dapena and recycling ancient and inaccurate information again. Never fails since CNN Money/Auto is very anti-hybrid.

[wkramer]

Put 5 full size adults into the Prius and you could get 33mpg under the right conditions as I did yesterday. Put 5 full size adults into a Yaris and see what happens.

I average around 45mpg when I pay no attention to how I am driving by myself in mixed local and highway driving. If I pay attention to how I am drving I get in the low 50's.