ABC news report on Hybrids tonight

But it's not even just about the vehicle, though.

I personally think it's foolish to try to capture any car's behavior with just 2 or 3 numbers. People shouldn't trust the EPA numbers as a definite measure of how their car will do under all conditions, and realize that it's simply a relative measure.

It's possible that neither a car with EPA of 25 nor a car with EPA of 40 will get even close to their EPA figures, but with high probability, the car with EPA of 40 will have better fuel economy given ALL other factors the same than the car that gets EPA 25.

 

Don't forget that each percent of deviation on a high-mileage car looks worse than it does on a normal-mileage car.

 

Clearly, if you are not getting the EPA mileage on your car, it a mechanical problem.

There's a screw loose in the operator!

 

The mileage hit on my Prius is quite a bit less than it was with my old diesel car.

I rarely drive in a city though, so I could see that would suffer more from the cold weather battery limitations we have. But it is enough for me that the EPA numbers are easily achievable in the summer. I have always had worse mpg in winter with any car.

 

My wife drives the Prius and has been getting around 30mpg, she even seemed a little disappointed with the car. I took it out today to run some errands and got about 50mpg. On one 5 minute stretch I got 60mpg. I have tried to explain to her how to drive more efficiently and with a little practice, I'm hoping she'll get there. She also runs the heater on high and puts the HID's on to use as DRLs.

 

In previous cars, I would stop keeping track of mileage in the winter because I could tell by the trip that it was much lower than it was in the summer. I had a Corolla that easily got 35-36 miles per gallon in the summer and it wasn't even close to that in the winter. I often wonder just how bad the mileage is for a truck that GM boasts 16 mpg for. Considering that 16 is the very best that they can hope for, some guy driving a Silverado, in the winter, must be getting, what, 10? 8?

 

The whole EPA mileage thing is a scam worked up by Dick Cheney and his oil business cohorts when they planned out America's energy policy in secret meetings. It's a plot to discredit hybrids and Japanese carmakers so that GM can go back to peddling gas guzzling SUVs and making loads of illicit cash for the oil industry. Now big media are picking it up since they're in the Administration's pocket and spewing out the anti-Prius, anti-Japanese, anti-hybrid "official line" of the Bushites.

Gee...I started out this post thinking that I was kidding but the more I think about it....

:blink:

Jan

 

Even with the arrival of winter and the "snowflake icon" in San Antonio, I'm averaging 52mpg. If ABC has anything positive to say tonight about the Prius, I'll eat my hat.

Wait, I don't have a hat.

 

Yea, wouldn't mind them coming on and saying these cars are not the best for people who live in cold climates and drive 2 miles a trip, but instead it'll probably be the worse case of "no payback" we have seen to date... :huh:

 

I am one of the few that is extremely disappointed with my mileage, but happy with my Prius. I saw that 70 mpg on the sticker and thought WOW- I will save so much money by buying this car, when in reality I average about 46 mpg.

But still, if I owned a "regular" car, I would still get what??? 20 mpg?? 25 maybe on a "fun" type of car.... Yes I am disappointed, but come on!

And I am sure Buick is a decent, comfy car, but who the heck wants a Buick?!!

The EPA mileage on my last car was 18-24 I believe, and I was doing good to get 22... But still, though I never got 24 on average, that is a lot closer than 50 is to 71!!

I live in the mountains, and I am not the slowest driver, so I know I won't get the highest possible fuel economy, but I would expect if it says 70, to get at least 60 mpg.

I still recomend the Prius on a daily basis- and don't hate it! But I think as soon as my payoff is low enough to sell it, I will buy a Hybrid Escape- I would hope to get at least 25mpg??

 

And also, now that winter is here, I am averaging a low 43 mpg- and not too happy with that!

 

The media sells soap. That's it, bottom line.

People want to hear they are doing fine and since most people don't have efficiant cars they are going to want to hear that they are doing fine without them. Hence, they will watch and buy more soap.

There was a local news 'special report' here in Phoenix a few months back where a guy drove an Echo to and from Tucson and then the same trip in a Prius. His unit of measure was to fill the tank before and then after the trip to see how much was used. Not very exact. He didn't know how to drive a hybrid and he didn't even mention that he was dirving a pre-2004 model. Basically he left out all of the information for the viewer to have an informed thought about the report.

Bottom line, they got the same MPG, hence the Prius wasn't a good deal. No mention about the air quality, or the fact that he was driving 75 the whole time with no stop and go.

He sold some soap. I've heard so many stories where I KNEW the details and their reports were distorted by leaving out serious and important facts that I no longer pay any attention to them. How can I? I never know what they are NOT telling me.

Until masses of Sheeple out there understand that we are going to see this kind of reports on the Prius and anything else as long as it sells soap. Unfortunatly 50% of the people will always be below average!

 

The Prius was NEVER advertised to get 70 mpg. The EPA numbers are 51 highway / 60 city, with 55mpg being listed as the average. The EPA numbers aren't that far off, actually. Myaverage is high 40's in winter and low 50's in summer. I rarely hit high 50's or 60 in town, but my intown driving trips aren't long enough.

I think the flap about mileage is silly; EPA numbers are off for everyone, and the Prius would still be the mileage leader (after the Insight, which is pretty impractical for most users) after all the numbers were adjusted, if adjusting were possible.

 

Something must have happened that changed, because when I was at the dealer buying my car, it said "70 mpg city"- and I told my friend that was with me "WOW, That's over 3 times what I get now- what a deal!"

Hmm... odd...

 

A must read article on the EPA mileage ratings:

With $3 gas, we need accurate mpg tests.

 

You must have seen it in the section of the sticker that lists the range of the mileage ratings of the other vehicles in the same class. The Prius' "class" includes the Honda Insight, which probably is rated near 70 MPG.

 

It amazes me about all the people that whine that the Prius does not get stated MPG. No car does, that is a lab test -- but who cares as it is a level test that lets you compare the relative mileage across different vehicles. The car companies use it because they are mandated to by Federal law.

That said, the Prius does the closest to EPA of any car I have ever owned. My '02 Clasic averages about 46 mpg. In the spring/fall I get about 52 mpg and in the 10-30 degree weather I probably get about 42 mpg. I think the Prius mileage probably swings more than other cars based on driving, terrain and weather, but it is still a great car.

 

During the summer, I was getting slightly over 50 miles per gallon, which I was quite happy with. I'm now getting over 48 miles per gallon, which I'm also quite happy with. Still only about 2000 miles on the car...I do drive in a way that tends to maximize mpg, since I have the feedback to do that. When I first got the car (summer), I was getting about 43 mpg, which was with normal driving for me. I can certainly see that if you drive the car like a sports car, gunning it a lot, and driving at speeds over 65 mph (quite common in this area), you could get pretty poor gas mileage. But then you're not taking advantage of the hybrid aspects of the car nearly as much as you could. And you would get poor gas mileage relative to the EPA ratings for any car.

There should be two EPA ratings, one if you drive the car to maximize gas mileage, and the other if you drive it like you would drive a sports car. That would give people both an idea of what to expect if they weren't willing to think about changing their driving style a little, and let them see the benefits of driving it actually thinking about getting better gas mileage. It still wouldn't be realistic on either end, but would provide a range.

On the other hand, I was seeing an article in the paper about a new diesel hybrid that was said to get 80mpg, and doing 0-60mph in 4 seconds. Now, I'm pretty sure that those are mutually exclusive; i.e. you don't get 80mpg when you're going from 0-60 in 4 seconds, but stuff like that raises people's expectations about hybrid cars unreasonably.

-Roger

 

Ah, ABC News. One of my favorite and most trustworthy news sources (sarcasm, people). Much like the bogus campus nuclear reactor threat they made up last summer, this, too, should prove to be an interesting distortion of reality.