Slashdot Mirror
Cheap Gas Fuels Switch From Electric Cars To SUVs
schwit1 points out news that's sure to clash with Earth Day narratives: drivers who bought hybrid and electric cars are switching back to SUVs at a higher rate than ever. Quoting:
According to Edmunds.com, about 22 percent of people who have traded in their hybrids and EVs in 2015 bought a new SUV. The number represents a sharp increase from 18.8 percent last year, and it is nearly double the rate of 11.9 percent just three years ago. Overall, only 45 percent of this year's hybrid and EV trade-ins have gone toward the purchase of another alternative fuel vehicle, down from just over 60 percent in 2012. Never before have loyalty rates for alt-fuel vehicles fallen below 50 percent. ... Edmunds calculates that at the peak average national gas price of $4.67/gallon in October 2012, it would take five years to break even on the $3,770 price difference between a Toyota Camry LE Hybrid ($28,230) and a Toyota Camry LE ($24,460). At today's national average gas price of $2.27/gallon, it would take twice as much time (10.5 years) to close the same gap.
This is very true. As someone with a Ford Focus Electric many people keep telling me I made a bad decision because of cheap gas prices. I tell them I enjoy the ride and it is working out fine having no fuel expense and as my company has chargers I fill up for near $0 each month considering I hardly plus in at home. However these people are purchasing large SUVs will complain bitterly when/if gas prices go back up.
Eliminate any exceptions to the CAFE standard for SUVs.
Background: The SUV class of vehicle only exists because it was a loophole in the CAFE standards. Automakers had to meet a 'fleet average' fuel economy for every vehicle they sold.
That meant Chevy needed to produce and sell a significant number of fuel-economical vehicles for each gas guzzler they sold. That requirement alone forced the Station Wagon almost entirely out of the market, because Chevy wants to sell heavily equipped pickup trucks to people who want them (will spend lots of extra $$) and not just to people who need them. Also to sell vettes and other crap.
The SUV loophole was that 'light sport utility vehicles' were exempt from the fleet average calculation, so the manufacturers sold the hell out of them.
Eliminate the SUV loophole and the big bloated turds would be gone quickly. Soccer moms ignoring the road because they're texting need to drive minivans with little engines, not pigiron.
Let me know when Toyota starts shipping hybrid vehicles with batteries that actually retain their ability to recharge to a usable capacity for 10+ years.
They've been shipping those batteries... since 2001. See this 10 year checkup from Consumer Reports:
http://www.consumerreports.org...
Moreover, Toyota made it so that you can replace individual battery cells, instead of only being able to replace everything at once. My GF's Prius needed a few cells replaced, and the price was quite reasonable. ($250? I forget the exact number.)
Because you do not name the SUV I do not believe you.
On average, car-based SUVs (which are usually classed as "CUVs") get almost car-efficiency, but truck-based SUVs, the only ones worth owning as true sport utility vehicles, still lag behind cars.
I think that the exemptions for SUVs and trucks need to be eliminated entirely when under a certain GVWR, and that basically "half ton" trucks in the form of Class 1 light trucks sold as lifestyle trucks need to meet this standard. "three quarter ton" trucks sold as Class 2 trucks need to meet a fairly stringent standard too.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Your Imperial gallon is larger than a US Gallon.
So he Mazda 6 gets 46 mpg on gas in UK terms.
The Chevy Cruze Diesel gets over 55 mpg.
Also the US uses a different testing method than the EU so often the same car with the same engine will get better ratings in the EU.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Full of shit? In every case, I typed the model into Google, and took the lowest number. The rest of the weight are for options, so they are not relevant.
The ones I mentioned were because the Volt and CRV had already been discussed. I have an F-150, and it the best selling vehicle in the US for the past 32 years. (source: wikipedia) I chose the Tesla because some people cream their pants green whenever they hear that word.
Tough shit that Ford is making an aluminum F-150. Good for them. The Tesla is also aluminum, so it is an apples-vs-apples comparison.
That said, here are the numbers right from the manufacturers:
Ford F-150 4x2 = 4,050 LBS source: http://www.ford.com/trucks/f15...
(Note that even their tiny engine has 325 HP and 375 ft-lbs of torque, which is necessary for a truck)
-vs-
Tesla S = 4,647 LBS source: http://www.teslamotors.com/sup...
(If the Tesla has higher horsepower, it is only useful for making the owner's dick get hard.)
Honda CRV = 3358 lbs source: http://automobiles.honda.com/c...
-vs-
Chevy Volt Base Curb Weight = 3786 lbs source: http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-...
Despite what you want to believe, the numbers are what they are. And I just wasted a half-hour looking them up for you.