CNW crapp again

Unbelievable! So Prius drivers should be limited only to the slow lane, because that is where the Prius does better (in terms of mileage)! What!! So we should encourage the car that gets 35mpg at 55mph to drive 75mph for a very green 25mpg -- so that the Prius goes from 50mpg at 75mph to 60mpg at 55mph?:bounce:

 

Their original report was REVISED to include that quote above. (They switched compare vehicles from Hummer to Tahoe.)

Claiming Prius will only last 109,000 miles is blatant greenwashing, a desperate attempt to undermine progress. That's sad.

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Regardless of what the D2D report says (which does have some unbelievable assumptions), the point that Prius's should not have special privileges to a lane which reduces it's fuel economy does make some sense.

Giving a Prius HOV stickers is silly from a reducing overall gas consumption anyway. People who buy Prius's were likely to buy a fuel efficient vehicle anyway. Best to give those stickers to SUV hybrid owners.

 

I disagree. Yes, it is silly from a reducing individual gas consumption, but not necessarily overall consumption.
The HOV sticker is a benifit which encourages people to buy a Prius. The logic is:
A. HOV stickers are desireable.
B. Give hybrids access to HOV stickers.
C. More people will buy hybrids as a result.

Now, I can certainly see questioning the fact that the HOV sticker availability nudged anyone into buying a hybrid. However, it isn't that far out there.
And while the hybrid may not get the most efficiency IN the HOV lane, it will get better than what the person was driving before and will get closer to that potential efficiency when driving in other situations.
Unless of course, you know anyone that ONLY drives in HOV lanes and never anywhere else

 

This is the Spenella family, no doubt. They, and he, lost all credibility when he refused to let anyone see what he bases his findings on. If Spinella believed his own crap, he'd be driving a Hummer. I'm sure his employer, GM would give him one for free since they can't unload 'em for any price ... back lots stuffed with them for years to come.

The HOV stickers ? (which I've had for years btw) no longer serve their function, which was to encourage hybrid purchases. High gas prices keep the Prius inventory down to nothing. It's a wait list now. Get it? No encouragement necessary any more.

 

Are you sure it wasn't REVERSED rather than REVISED? I think most of the world knows that a Tahoe will be expected to last about 100K while the Toyota will go 3 or 4x times that. My brother in law just retired his Tahoe at 90K miles as it literally started falling about and costing thousands in repairs every few months. It was only 5 years old and he sold it for $1500. Yet our Lexus SC400 which is 13 years old is approaching 300K miles with oil changes done every 10K miles and not much else. No breakdowns or repairs of any sort ever. I did just finally change the timing belt for the second time. This one was done 200K miles after the first timing belt.

 

Another example of uneducated bunk! I don't know about anyone else, but if I do travel in the slow lane (running 60-65) I'm not running on electric -- I am getting unbelievable mileage on ICE though.

 

Actually, I do all my interstate driving at 60-65 MPH w/ cruise control and my Prius does spend an astounding amount of time on electric only... Warp stealth --traveling down most every incline. Some 2-mile stretches at time.
And if the Prius won't do it itself, off goes the cruise and I make it happen.

 

This guy does not know the difference between a hybrid and an EV when he talked about moving the pollution from LA to other parts of the country or to other countries.

 

The HOV stickers are a reflection of a vehicle's emissions compared to a conventional vehicle, not fuel economy. A single occupant Prius is going to emit less than half the emissions of a two-passenger Tahoe.

 

I took this to be a reference to the environmental costs associated with the production of various pieces and parts of the Prius outside of the places the car is driven. I believe they also assign a number of "extra" environmental costs to the Prius for the development and use of new technology (the NiMH battery, for one).

Interestingly, I do not believe they account for the huge and continuing environmental cost associated with the design and building of today's cars. Because the work happened in the 50s, 60s and 70s (before most environmental laws), the current pollution and the cost to remediate it must be seen as "sunk costs." (Yes, this was a snide remark.)

 

I'm trying to understand the 'scope' of this report. Is this some minor, backwater, self-produced fluff piece or something more main stream?

The reason I ask is backwater sources often have a problem with 'fact checking' (next to nothing.) A main stream source would have an editor interested in accuracy. In such cases, collect the Pacific Institute report and forward to the editor or producer. That doesn't mean they'll go back and 'do the job right,' but at least you've done what can be done.

Bob Wilson

 

Why did they interview a marketing guy like an expert?

CNW Marketing Research, Inc. (CNWMR), known primarily as an automotive marketing research company, is a private company founded in 1984.

 

Isn't that what you do when you want to sell more Hummers?

 

Unbelievable! So Prius drivers should be limited only to the slow lane, because that is where the Prius does better (in terms of mileage)! What!! So we should encourage the car that gets 35mpg at 55mph to drive 75mph for a very green 25mpg -- so that the Prius goes from 50mpg at 75mph to 60mpg at 55mph?

I am not offended by the suggestion for Prius drivers to drive in the right lane...as a suggestion. Driving in the right lane makes sense in a Prius. Frankly I never understood the whole 'special left lane' category for hybrid owners. Certainly, in today's economy, where Prius are almost extinct at the dealership level, it's ridiculous to allow special privileges for hybid drivers. Plus, where is the MPG benefit riding in the left lane where the hyper-anxious psuedo-race car drivers tailgate one another at 80 MPH?
I would not want to be relegated to the right lane, or the back of the bus, for that matter but you can usually find me in the right lane when highway driving doesn't resemble a crawling parking lot.

 

FWIW the link indicates it was recorded last November. There was quite a bit of stink about this back a number of months ago, and a lot of folks sent angry notes to PBS stations thinking about picking up this pilot as well as to the producers. As far as I know the show was never picked up, but not sure what its status is?

Rob