The first six speed hybrid?
Long before hybrids, I drove a manual '94 Nissan Sentra. As I hopped from apartment to apartment, and job to job, I experienced many diverse Los Angeles commutes. Traffic, however, was always a common factor.
During those commutes I often hypermiled to work, pacing and spacing myself to minimize braking and to maximize coasting in neutral. Ultimately, I didn't do this to save money on my gas bill - it was the 90's - but purely for entertainment, purely to break up the horrible monotony of extremely slow stop and go traffic. It was just a game.
This makes me wonder about Honda's upcoming CR-Z hybrid.
Today, many hybrid owners have devised numerous fuel economy-increasing techniques that regularly exceed EPA fuel economy ratings. For instance, in my old LA commutes - I take the subway for most of my commuting needs these days - a hybrid like the Toyota Prius can easily top 60 mpg and topple the EPA's city fuel economy rating of 51 mpg.
On the other hand, most other cars - including many 'small ones' - idle in the teens.
Now, obviously, the new CR-Z hybrid isn't going to be as efficient as the Prius, at least not in the city. It just doesn't have a big enough battery. Nonetheless, its unique-in-the-hybrid-space, six-speed manual transmission option might lead to new hypermiling techniques that could enable drivers to achieve much better numbers than what EPA methodologies will suggest. And such a capability might provide an intriguing hybrid option for fans of manual transmissions, especially those with congested commutes.
Certainly that won't achieve 100,000+ per year sales figures in the US market, but the unique hybrid powertrain and styling of the CR-Z could make Honda's latest hybrid more popular than the Ford Fusion hybrid, for comparison, at least in terms of sale's figures if priced right.
In today's hybrid market, you'd have to call such a hybrid a winner.
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