Japanese Mileage Maniacs

WY writes "Bloomberg reports on the quirky world of Japanese hybrid car hackers: 'Toyota Motor Corp. says its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car gets about 55 miles to the gallon, making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road. That's not good enough for Takashi Toya.' He managed to reach as high as 115 MPG. He is one of about 100 nenpimania, Japanese for mileage maniacs."

Comments

As it should be

[billcopc]

Maybe I'm just an asshole, but I never thought the Prius was a big deal to begin with. 55 MPG for an overpriced hybrid vehicle, or 35 MPG for a cheap city car that costs 1/3 of the Prius; seems like an easy choice for most people. Buying a Prius still means spending a ton of money over the lifetime of your vehicle, except you're giving more to the auto manufacturer and less to the fuel distributors.

Come up with a car that results in net savings over the lifetime of the vehicle, then people will have a real financial incentive to buy it up. Being environmentally friendly is something most people agree is a good idea, but the tense economy we live in takes precedence over long-term green ideals whose impact will be felt only after this generation's passing, if at all.

100 MPG ? If it means I could get 3-4 times more distance out of every dollar of fuel pumped, sign me up! Until then, I'll keep driving my thirsty little speeder.