CNN's most efficient family car

I knew I made a good choice. :first:

 

I second this! :second:

 

Read also these feedbacks and comments below the article to see all the outcries from VW TDi owners and others who thinks their cars have been ignored. One point they keep saying was the cost of replacing battery. I guess they don't know the reliability record of these Prius batteries.

 

I read the replies and it makes me so annoyed regarding the stupidity of so many people out there! It truly is amazing how DUMB some people are!

 

Funny, I have one co-worker, when talking about hybrids, says he'd buy a hybrid except keeps quoting some unknown article saying that the batteries only last 3-4 years. I keep telling him that Toyota and Ford couldn't afford to keep a car on the road with a battery life expectancy of less than 5 years and they have a warranty of 8 years. He ends his rant, only to repeat it the next time the topic comes up. Some people hear but don't listen, I guess?

 

I think no one really knows how long these batteries will last. 10 years, 20 years, or 300K miles as the gas engine should. But Toyota and Ford are certain that these batteries on average shall last beyond 8 -10 years or 100K miles. I see no gas engine has that kind of warranty other than the Korean automakers. One thing about VW TDi that gets over 50 mpg is that these people ignore the performance factor. VW TDi that gets 50mpg is considerably slower than Prius not to mention Fusion Hybrid. The current TDi don't do 50 mpg, I don't think.

 

CNN seems to have made a fairly honest review. Refreshing for a change.

 

<AHEM>Every Prius that shows up is sold ... nearly instantly. They are supply limited so for now, let's 'self-select' for owners who are:

"all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average" - Garrison Keillor
​

Bob Wilson

 

Back when my wife convinced me to get a 2005 Prius, I recall that it was ludicrously more efficient than any other car I would consider buying (measured by seat miles or ton miles per gallon). Basically, double what I could get in any other car that I was considering.

I decided to download the 2005 and 2010 EPA mileage data to see how things have changed.

Download the Fuel Economy Database

I calculated cubic-foot-miles-per gallon (product of total interior volume including luggage x overall MPG rating). That's the only measure I can calculate directly from that spreadsheet. Seems like a fairly reasonable measure of efficiency. I can't compare across years because the old data files at that URL embody the old MPG cycle. But I can see how things compare to a Prius in each year.

My conclusion is that, in terms of efficiency, the 2010 Prius is as far ahead of the pack now as the 2005 Prius was in 2005. And that's a damn shame.

In 2005, if I wanted a car that was at least 75% as efficient as a Prius (in terms of CU-FT-MPG), my choices where:
Prius - 100%
Jetta diesel wagon with manual transmission - 82%
HCH - 79%

Redoing that for 2010, I find:
Prius - 100%
Ford Fusion - 79%

The Jetta Wagon diesel now works out to be 73% as efficient. (And that may be a bit of a cheat, depending on how you trade off the higher energy density of diesel versus the higher energy cost of production of gasoline.)

Basically, there's still nothing that touches the Prius for efficiency. Which is a pity, really.

OK, has the lineup of efficient cars at least gotten deeper, relative to the Prius, at a lower standard -- are there more cars at 60% Prius efficiency or better?

Here I'm just going to count lines (so, e.g., same car with manual and automatic gets counted twice).

At 60% Prius efficiency or better:
2005: 19 lines
2010: 21 lines

At 50% Prius efficiency or better (the curve flattens considerably):
2005: 103 lines
2010: 111 lines

I probably ought to norm for the change in total listed models, but it seems relatively small:

Total models with MPG and volume listed:
2005: 627
2010: 571

Conclusion: In 2005, if my standard was 60% Prius efficiency or better, my choice was limited to 3.0% of the passenger car models on the market. Today, using the same standard, it is limited to 3.6% of the passenger car models on the market. If I'd wanted 75% or better, I had three models to choose from in 2005, two models to choose from today. Within the limits of the accuracy of the analysis, I'd say that's pretty much no change.

 

That is why I just had to comment.

Having a Facebook account made it simple enough. I'll likely get flamed by some knuckledragger though. lol

 

I'd almost agree with the VW TDI owners except:

1) The 2.0 TDI engine is not going to come anywhere near the AT-PZEV emissions certification the Prius gets.

2) The VW Jetta TDI is nowhere as roomy for four passengers as the Prius (which has interior space more akin to an Honda Accord or Toyota Camry!).

 

Jetta sedan passenger volume: 91 cu.ft
Jetta wagon passenger volume: 92 cu.ft
Prius passenger volume: 94 cu.ft
Camry passenger volume: 101 cu.ft

 

Actually, the U.S.-spec 2.0 TDI gets quite close to SULEV per certified emissions data from CARB...


http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/cert/pcldtmdv/2010/volkswagen_pc_a0070285_2d0_u2_diesel.pdf (2010 ULEV II TDI)

Emission Standards: USA: Cars and Light-Duty Trucks - California (LEV II emission standards)

(Grams/mile)

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Emission...........2010 VW TDI............SULEV II Limits........ULEV II Limits (@ FUL)

NMHC/NMOG............0.015.....................0.010...........................0.055
CO.........................0.5.......................1.0...............................2.1
NOx........................0.05......................0.02.............................0.07
Highway NOx............0.04......................0.03.............................0.09
PM.........................0.001....................0.01.............................0.01
US06 HC+NOx..........0.13.......................0.14.............................0.14
US06 CO.................0.03.......................8.0...............................8.0
SC03 HC+NOx..........0.12.......................0.2...............................0.2
SC03 CO.................0.03.......................2.7...............................2.7

 

Interesting, as the 2008 Prius had 96 cu. ft. of passenger space. That put it in a nice niche between the smaller vehicles and the ~101 cu. ft of Camry's/Altimas/Accords. Toyota is efficient with its use of space in the Prius.

Part of the difficulty in perception is that the '08 Prius had more passenger volume than our '94 Accord (94 cu. ft.) while the Jetta is still sized like the Corolla.

 

That is interesting:
Fuel Economy

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
0	model	pass. ft{3}	lug. ft{3}
1	2008	96	16
2	2010	94	22

.
Somehow I thought the 2010 had more room. Total volume is up but losing 2 ft{3} ... where did it come from?

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5
0	model	pass. ft{3}	lug. ft{3}	total	min. midsize sedan ft{3}
1	2010 Jetta TDI sedan	91	16	107	110
2	2010 Camry hybrid	101	11	112	110
3	2010 Prius	94	22	116	110
4	2010 Jetta TDI wagon	92	33	125	* wagon

.
So from a volume standpoint, it looks like the Jetta wagon is closer to the Prius. Regardless, the Camry has the largest passenger volume but nothing for stuff.

Bob Wilson

 

Chris Hogan made an excellent suggestion on how to rate vehicle 'efficiency:'

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6	Column 7	Column 8
0	model	pass. ft{3}	lug. ft{3}	total	user MPG(cnt)	ft{3}mile/gal	%
1	2010 Jetta TDI sedan	91	16	107	41.0(2)	4	387	100%
2	2010 Camry hybrid	101	11	112	39.3(2)	4	402	+0.3%
3	2010 Jetta TDI wagon	92	33	125	37.5(2)	4	688	+6.9%
4	2010 Honda Insight	85	16	101	50.0(16)*	5	050	+15.1%
5	2010 Prius	94	22	116	51.1(54)	5	928	+35.1%

(* - A rough average of averages, 50.4 and 49.2 MPG. Honda Insight has two models in the EPA web site with eight reports in each group.)

The "cubic feet-mile"/gallon gives a rough idea of how much stuff (not dense stuff) could be carried by the different vehicles. These could be reduced to % using either the highest or the lowest vehicle as the 100% reference.

Bob Wilson