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Another Stab At Sorting Hybrid Hype From Reality
Attila Dimedici writes "Eric Peters makes the case that hybrids have been over-hyped. His argument is that in order to sell people on hybrid cars, automakers have emphasized the energy efficiency of hybrids in ideal conditions and failed to tell people that in most ordinary driving conditions they will not come close to meeting the numbers given. He refers to a recent case where an individual has chosen to forego membership in a class action law suit and has instead chosen to go to small claims court. He suggests that there is a significant chance that she will win there and that this will open up all of the manufacturers of hybrid vehicles to similar lawsuits.
The article was on a rather partisan website, so I am curious what factors he has chosen to overemphasize to make his case. (Or what factors he has chosen to ignore to the same end.) I know that Slashdot has a large contingent of hybrid and EV supporters who are well educated on the subject (as well as a large contingent of those who are not so well educated)."
> I know that Slashdot has a large contingent of hybrid and EV supporters who are well educated on the subject (as well as a large contingent of those who are not so well educated).
So... anyone who agrees with you is a smart, well-educated person, and anyone who disagrees with you is ignorant? Must be nice.
No. She got 30mpg average in her hybrid Civic, I got 22 mpg average in my Honda Accord, and I accelerate to 60mph faster than you can say "Ayrton Senna".
Not in your Honda Accord, or any Honda Accord, you don't. I'd be surprised if it does 60 mph whatsoever, forget it if you have a stiff headwind. You owe Ayrton Senna a massive apology for disparaging his great name by placing it in the same sentence with 'Honda Accord'.
"Laws of physics."
I don't think...
That was your first mistake. The amount of force required to accelerate a vehicle of mass M, from dead stop to speed Y, over time T, does not change. Modern engines have increased by a marginal amount of efficiency at best. Drive trains have not become terribly more efficient since the introduction of the slushbox, and are far lossier than a standard (e.g. manual) transmission driven properly is. Continuously Variable Transmissions haven't come close to automotive implementation yet, so we're stuck with most of the US driving on a shoddy piece of crap technology that invariably HAS to slip by at least 10% in order to provide the mindless gear changing that ADD-afflicted Americans, unable to wrap their atrophied brains around the concepts of a clutch and shifter, continue to demand.