Positive Article about Hybrids

s1059197 · Feb 19, 2006

I was interviewed for a story in our local paper about the experiences of hybrid car owners, and the resulting article is very positive. I'm the "Phil Whittmer" they mention near the end. That's a misspelling of my last name, but it's par for the course. They also insinuate that a woman from my company who I didn't even know played a role in my decision to buy a Prius. Untrue, but not at all essential to the overall meaning of the article. Just good to see some positive press.

Phil

The article is available at:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/cont...0219hybrid.html

Since the site requires registration, I'll reproduce the text below.

Hybrid owners happy to point out highlights
By James Cummings

Dayton Daily News

Sometimes you can do something for the good of humanity that turns out to be really, really good for you, too.

That seems to be the experience of everyone who contacted the Dayton Daily News to tell us about their hybrid cars. They were attracted to the outstanding fuel economy and significantly lowered emissions hybrid cars offer, but once they had bought the cars they were just as impressed with how well they drove and how reliable and quiet they were.

"Since 9/11, I'm like a lot of people," said Karla Hollencamp of Dayton. "I started thinking differently about a lot of things. I knew that to protect our way of life we Americans needed to cut down on our conspicuous consumption."

Hollencamp said trading in her 1997 Chrysler Sebring for a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid was her attempt to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, but she said it turned out to be a great investment.

Hollencamp is publisher of Life With Style, a local lifestyle magazine, and she said she spends a lot of time in her car driving around for interviews, photo sessions and other business.

"I find I'm saving about $25 a week in gas," Hollencamp said. "When you're trying to run a business, that $100 a month can be significant."

Hybrid cars combine a gasoline engine with a battery-powered electric motor to drive their wheels. Typically the electric motor drives the car when cruising at surface street speeds, and the gas engine kicks in when more speed and power are needed. The battery that powers the electric motor charges itself automatically as the car decelerates and brakes.

Hybrid cars cost about $2,000 to $3,500 more than their traditional counterparts, but the owners we talked to said their hybrids are giving quick returns on the extra investment. They're getting 45 to 65 miles per gallon and are spending less on routine maintenance because the hybrids don't need oil changes and other work as often.

Gretchen Henrich of Dayton said she got interested in ecology in the late 1980s and still is a conscientious recycler who does what she can to preserve the environment. She was working in Blue Ash near Cincinnati in 2000 when she went looking for a more environmentally friendly car for her daily commute.

Henrich, who now works for Lexis-Nexis in Miami Twp., became something of a pioneer when she bought her 2000 Honda Insight, one of the first hybrid cars available in the United States. The little silver two-seater with its low-slung aerodynamic body and tiny tires turned a lot of heads, she said.

"When I first got it, people said that it looked like a spaceship. They kind of laughed at it," Henrich said. "But when they hear I'm getting 57 miles per gallon, they get really interested."

Henrich's Insight has a standard transmission and rides like a typical subcompact. She's driven the car to Tennessee and Pennsylvania and hasn't had any trouble negotiating highway traffic.

She doesn't drive on snow and ice, though, because she said the car is very lightweight, and she doesn't feel secure driving in icy conditions.

Henrich's years of happy hybrid motoring was a comforting example for Phil Whittmer, who also works at Lexis-Nexis. Whittmer did a lot of online research before deciding his first new car would be on a Toyota Prius.

"It costs about $3,000 more than comparable nonhybrid models, so I had to save up a little longer before I could buy it," he said. "But there are so many great geeky things about this car I had to have it."

Chief among the geek-friendly features in Whittmer's Prius is a graphic display screen in the middle of the dashboard that gives constant feedback on current mileage performance. The screen can be set to show an animated display that indicates whether the car is on battery or internal combustion engine power.

By adjusting his driving style to stay on battery as much as possible, Whittmer said he's been able to boost his miles per gallon to over 100 for short periods.

"I used to be a very aggressive driver," Whittmer said. "But the Prius has changed my focus from jockeying for position in traffic to conserving energy and maximizing my miles per gallon.

"And incredibly, my new driving style has added less than five minutes to my daily commute. All that aggressive driving was pretty pointless in retrospect."

Hybrids seemed to have a calming effect on all their drivers interviewed for this article. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they can be almost eerily quiet.

Internal combustion engines derive their power from little controlled explosions inside cylinders, so there is naturally some noise involved. Hybrids depend less on combustion and more on quieter electric power.

"The first few times I stopped at a light or something, I thought the car had stalled on me," Hollencamp said. "I could hear the fan going, but I couldn't hear the engine at all.

"I've driven muscle cars in the past, and they're beautiful and can be fun. But I love this car, too. And I'm glad my car is not polluting as much as my old car probably did."
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EricGo · Feb 19, 2006

"And incredibly, my new driving style has added less than five minutes to my daily commute. All that aggressive driving was pretty pointless in retrospect."

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Nice line

sunnysandiegan · Feb 19, 2006

"And incredibly, my new driving style has added less than five minutes to my daily commute. All that aggressive driving was pretty pointless in retrospect."

This is my favorite part! It is so true and yet it takes something akin to "miraculous" or "incredible" for most of us to realize this.

mdmikemd · Feb 19, 2006

That newspaper needs someone to check the grammer under your photo caption.

s1059197 · Feb 20, 2006

Originally posted by mdmikemd@Feb 19 2006, 07:41 PM
That newspaper needs someone to check the grammer under your photo caption.

[snapback]212677[/snapback]
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Right you are. As you can tell, attention to detail isn't a strong suit of the Dayton Daily News.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that it's "grammar," not "grammer."

Phil

CinciPrius · Feb 20, 2006

Originally posted by s1059197@Feb 19 2006, 03:37 PM
I was interviewed for a story in our local paper about the experiences of hybrid car owners, and the resulting article is very positive.

Click to expand...

Great article - especially the quote about the minimal impact on your commute time.

I'll have to stop by sometime - I live in Cincinnati but I'm in Kettering about once a week for work.

There's at least one other local poster here on PC - Schmika, who's pretty active, is from Xenia. - We did a small meet last year at Young's.

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