Best Hypermilers From Across America Compete in MPG Challenge - Top Drivers Achieve 60 to 168 MPG Posted 2007-07-22 21:22:55 tags: EfficiencyAwardPress Release(suggest tag) Today at Hybridfest 2007, the nation’s largest hybrid car festival, 35 drivers competed in the second annual Hybridfest MPG Challenge, with the top drivers achieving 60 to 168 miles per gallon (MPG), over a 26-mile open course. Novice to expert hypermilers competed to achieve maximum fuel efficiency. Each driver’s goal was to achieve the best percentage over the EPA’s estimates for their vehicle, within their division. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Hypermilers compete to see who can get best mileage Posted 2007-07-19 08:45:03 tags: Efficiency(suggest tag) Jerad Parish is driving a very deliberate 22 miles per hour south on John Nolen Drive where the speed limit is 35. Cars zoom past his black Toyota Prius hybrid on both sides before he switches lanes as he approaches a stoplight. He's driving slow enough that he doesn't have to brake as he makes a right turn onto Rimrock Road. He keeps the air conditioning off and on this July afternoon, his T-shirt clings to him with perspiration. The car's thermometer reads 86. But according to a dashboard computer that displays his fuel consumption, Parish is averaging almost 80 miles per gallon for the trip ... ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Consumer Consideration of Hybrid Vehicles Drops as Fuel Efficiency Expectations Among Shoppers Become More Realistic Posted 2007-07-17 10:25:08 tags: EfficiencyStudy(suggest tag) As consumers become more realistic about the fuel efficiency capabilities of hybrid vehicles, the percentage of new-vehicle shoppers who are considering a hybrid has declined, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Alternative Powertrain Study(SM) released today. Now in its second year, the Alternative Powertrain Study examines the reasons why consumers consider or avoid alternative powertrain vehicles. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Lawsuit against Honda challenges hybrid mileage claims Posted 2007-07-09 09:15:51 tags: HondaEfficiencyLegal(suggest tag) Facing $3-a-gallon gasoline prices in California last year, John True decided to stop driving his Mercedes-Benz E320 and bought a Honda Civic Hybrid. Impressed by the gas-electric hybrid's advertised mileage — 49 miles per gallon in the city, 51 mpg highway — True plunked down $28,470, at least $7,000 more than for a comparable non-hybrid Civic EX. After 6,000 miles of driving, True said he averaged just 32 mpg in mixed city/highway driving. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Travelling a greener road Posted 2007-07-08 08:52:23 tags: EditorialEfficiency(suggest tag) Eddie and Margaret Chengiah bought their first hybrid car, a Toyota Prius, in 2002. They liked it so much, they traded it for a 2004 model with more options, including navigation. "Our first Prius was so quiet and responsive, we just took to it," he says. In November, the Newport News residents became a two-hybrid-car couple, purchasing a Camry version. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Toyota Memo Raises Concerns Over Plug-in Conversions Posted 2007-07-01 21:34:52 tags: ToyotaEditorialPlug-InEfficiency(suggest tag) ... Based on Argonne National Lab testing of two converted Prius hybrids to PHEVs -- the Hymotion and Energy CS PHEV conversions -- both generate significantly higher NOx and total HC emissions when compared to a stock Prius. This is particularly evident after cold start, when Prius emissions are virtually zero. (See the attached chart.) This raises the question of whether the government should be paying people to make their cars dirtier? ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
How Much Gas Have Hybrids Saved? Posted 2007-06-25 09:56:07 tags: SavingsEfficiencyBlog(suggest tag) According to a recent report from National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), hybrids have saved the country 5.5 million barrels of oil since they were introduced in 1999. Unfortunately, the US net imports of oil in 2003 were 11.24 million barrels per day, and 8.55 million barrels per day went to light duty vehicle use. Hybrid sales keep increasing, though. It seems like each month, their market share increases. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
NREL Estimates U.S. Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fuel Savings Posted 2007-06-21 09:37:38 tags: EfficiencyPolitics(suggest tag) Hybrid electric vehicles have saved close to 230 million gallons – or 5.5 million barrels – of fuel in the United States since their introduction in 1999, according to a recent analysis conducted at the U. S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “Sales of hybrid electric vehicles have increased an average of 72 percent a year for the past five years and in 2006 the average fuel economy based on new EPA estimates was 35 miles per gallon for new hybrid models sold in the U.S,� said Kevin Bennion, an NREL vehicle systems analysis research engineer. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Prius Drivers To Blame for Coming Highway Trust Fund Deficit Posted 2007-06-18 09:49:15 tags: EfficiencyPolitics(suggest tag) The Federal Highway Trust Fund, which is a huge source of funding for road construction and maintenance, is running out of money, and you know who gets the blame? Environmentally-conscious and energy-conscious drivers, that’s who. The Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer reports
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Hybrid Equals Low Emissions and Great Fuel Economy? Posted 2007-05-24 14:09:17 tags: EditorialEfficiencyBlog(suggest tag) Today, I want to talk about a popular myth about hybrids, i.e. hybrid technology means low emissions and great fuel economy, right? Wrong! While hybrid technology can be used to lower emission and increase fuel savings, it can also be used to enhance performance instead. For example, the Prius and the Insight were both designed to maximize fuel economy and to lower emissions. Since these were the two hybrids first sold on the modern market, hybrid technology has become synonymous with fuel savings and being good for the environment. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
'Intelligent' cars as fuel-efficient as hybrids Posted 2007-05-09 12:46:39 tags: Efficiency(suggest tag) Hybrid vehicles such as the highly popular Toyota Prius have an electric motor and a fossil-fuel engine, which are deployed at different stages of the driving cycle to deliver fuel economies. In contrast, "intelligent" cars are conventional vehicles would be fitted with telematics. These are sensors and receivers that work in a network, swapping information about the traffic ahead in order to speed up the car or slow it down so that the ride is smooth and avoids the stop-start phenomenon that so drains fuel. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
Hybrid Cars And Fuzzy Math Posted 2007-04-29 21:31:30 tags: EditorialEfficiency(suggest tag) The only fuzzy math in George F. Will's April 12 op-ed column, "Fuzzy Climate Math," came from his primary resource, CNW Marketing Research. Alleging that the Hummer H3 is more environmentally friendly than a Toyota Prius, Mr. Will claimed that the mining and smelting of the "zinc" that is used in the "battery-powered second motor" causes significant environmental damage. If Mr. Will had vetted the CNW study, he would have found that it has been discredited by Argonne National Laboratory, MIT, the Union of Concerned Scientists and others. ... Read the article(report dead link) :: Permalink :: View blog reactions
