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Thursday,
September 22, 2005
Hybrid Cars
and Fuel Efficiency: The most important point
Hybrid
cars are leading
an automotive revolution. Yet, critics are everywhere.
Hybrids cost too much, they don't achieve EPA estimates,
diesel and biodiesel are better, fuel cells are the future
and on and on.
On Friday Consumers Reports sent out a press
release regarding the inaccuracy and inefficiency of
the EPA's fuel economy ratings. Of course, even Consumer
Reports had to take a stab at hybrid cars, noting that the
Honda
Civic hybrid missed its EPA estimated city fuel
economy - utilizing CR's testing methodology - by a
whopping 46 percent.
Of course CR did have to admit that hybrids still fill the
top 3 most fuel efficient vehicles slot - not bad
considering only a handful of hybrids are available.
In city driving, according to CR, 9 out of 10 vehicles -
not just hybrids - miss their EPA estimates by as much as
50 percent. 9 out of 10 of the worse offenders were NOT
hybrids. The Jeep Liberty Diesel estimated at 22 mpg city,
actually achieves only 11 mpg. Chrysler's top selling 300C
estimated at 17 mpg, actually achieves 10 mpg. A couple of
Dodges only achieve 8 mpg in the city.
That's right just 8 mpg, yet we're worried that the Civic
hybrid only achieves 24 mpg? Of course on the highway, the
Civic hybrid does much better, as do all vehicles.
Still, this is an important point, especially when it
comes to hybrids. Hybrids are not all the same. The Honda
Accord hybrid and the Civic hybrid are built upon the
same hybrid technology, but not the same hybrid technology
as the Toyota
Prius hybrid. Toyota hybrids, such as the Prius or Highlander
hybrid, can actually function on electric power only
at low speeds. This means that in city driving, where
congestion creates stop-and-go traffic, Toyota hybrids can
use much less gasoline, as can the Ford
Escape hybrid.
Honda hybrids do not benefit from this gain. The second
generation Civic hybrid, due out in October; however, will
offer this capability, but its electronic component will
still not equal that of Toyota hybrids.
Thus, all hybrids are not created equal and viewing
hybrids as one class is as inaccurate and misleading as
utilizing EPA fuel economy data. While the Civic hybrid
only achieves 26 mpg in the city according to CR, the
Prius achieves 45 mpg. The Ford Focus, for a conventional
comparison, only achieves 17 mpg.
At today's gas prices, driving 15,000 miles per year, the
Civic hybrid would save you $1500.00 in gas versus the
Focus, the Prius would save $4500.00 per year in gas
savings versus the Focus. Of course, not everyone drives
in these conditions all the time, but for those that live
in large cities, the cost-benefit of hybrids like the
Prius is pretty dramatic.
Additionally, if you HAVE to drive an SUV and you drive
mostly in the city, driving a Highlander hybrid or Escape
hybrid will probably save close to $700 - $1000 per year.
For many hybrid drivers, gasoline savings in the real
world ARE enough to cover the cost of hybrid components,
plus you are helping to clean the environment - can you
really put a cost on that?
Ultimately, hybrids are not all the same. Currently, the
Prius is best in class - at least until the second
generation Civic hybrid. Still, it isn't the fuel economy
of hybrids that should be in focus, rather is should be
the incredible fuel inefficiency of conventional vehicles.
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