What on earth happened to high mileage hybrids?

Question

In the US, hybrid cars have become a fashion statement. A GM Yukon/ Tahoe Hybrid gets 21 mpg in town driving and 22 mpg on the highway. 10's of percent better than the revolting gas-guzzling non-hybrid versions of these behemoths. However it's still absolutely pitiful. GM should be ashamed! WTF bother? My 2 Litre Mazda 3 gets almost 35! The new Civic hybrid is touted at getting 45 mpg. Great, until you consider that the stripped down manual, with a 1.7L regular engine was estimated at 40 to 44! Only the Toyota Prius (and perhaps the Honda insight) gets a genuinely impressive mgp (& I don't think the insight counts, since mileage is also enhanced using other methods, that strip it of utility - not exactly a family car).

Newer cars have more HP compared to their older siblings, and are subject to more stringent (excessive?) emissions regulation (using the rationale that more CO2 and more fuel consumption are preferable to smog).

But c'mon? What happened to the idea?

Answer 1

Bush isn't getting rich off of oil. Look off the coast of the UAE at the resorts, islands, skyscrapers and other 'western' decadence being spent at the expense of our oil dollars.

Bash the Arabs, they're the ones with all of your oil money.

Answer 2

My wife has a Citroen C3 1.4Hdi.  It easily returns 60mpg and, with careful driving, will return nearly 70mpg.  My 1995 Citroen ZX 1.9D returns 50mpg running on reclaimed vegetable oil.  My son's 1997 Nissan Micra 1litre petrol returns 40mpg.

Next year, Loremo will produce a diesel car for about €11,000 (£8,000/$15,000) that will return 150mpg.

It's a question of weight and performance.  In the US, where fuel prices are still half that of Europe, there simply isn't the demand for small, lightweight, efficient cars.  US demand is still heavyweight muscle cars, SUV's and minivans because the car buying public and US motor industry is too conservative.  Even the Prius is too heavy to be truly efficient.  It's toting hundreds of pounds of chemical batteries and electric motor along with its normal combustion engine thus it returns fewer mpg than many small European and Japanese diesel powered cars.

Answer 3

Bush and his asociates have not made their money yet.

How do we tax hydrogeon.

Answer 4

Wow the "mileage" is when running on gas, uh, it's a hybrid.  . .? In the city every time you idle your car like at red lights or in traffic or slow driving in traffic you run on electricity in a gas car 25% of the gas is wasted idling, so in a hybrid no waste in the city, plus you don't have to plug them in, they have regenerative breaking so everytime you use the break it charges the batteries.  Their mileage is great, I have saved sooooo much money, I live in the city so traffic and red lights make me smile, I save money and the environment!!  I love my prius!

Answer 5

The oil and petrol companies are making vast sums of money. So they do not want high mileage cars on the road. just look at the price of petrol going up daily, do they not stockpile the oil ? so way does the price go up daily?

Answer 6

I agree they shouldn't even be making these stupid 20 mpg hybrid monsters.  If people really need SUVs, they can get a Ford Escape hybrid with 32 mpg efficiency.  Nobody needs a freaking Chevy Tahoe, hybrid or not.

Anyway, in the next few years as electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are released, mileage efficiencies will skyrocket and we'll all feel better.  See the link below for some examples.

Answer 7

Why are people still locked in this silly car ownership construct? And independent energy cartage. Think outside the box, go back to basics. What is the purpose of the average automobile? Are there other more efficient ways to achieve the same end?

I can envision a situation where I can take a short walk to the next corner and pick up a vehicle to suit my immediate needs, hop in and drive off. If I have mobility issues, I arrange for it to arrive at my door. If I have a more exotic need, I prearrange for my special car to be brought to my nearest depot or to my door. I know I will be billed according to the car I use so I use the cheapest car for the job at hand, need to just nip down to the store, choose a micro car, need to pick up the soccer team, well choose a mini bus, need to go cross country, choose an SUV, going out? choose a spoirts or limo as the situation calls for. I can have any car for any situation without ever having to fork out a fortune in capital, just lease it for the occasion. Entry etc is via bio metrics, payment direct debit from my account.

Better still the vehicles are mostly electric as most never go very far and while waiting for the next user are being charged.

Even better on all the main roads there are stretches that have embedded charging zones, so that the batteries are being charged as I drive over them. So range is no longer an issue. Small lightweight batteries is all that''s needed adding to the efficiency.

The technology was made possible by large scale government /or company purchases/pre orders, made it viable for manufacturers to develop the technology. Some people are still buying their own vehicles, old habits die hard I guess, but that isn't a problem. Some people are still driving gas guzzlers, but not often as fuel is very expensive and hard to get now that most service stations don't stock it anymore.

A different more efficient future with greater choices, not less.

Answer 8

The real question is why do diesels in Germany get 50 miles to the gallon and we can't buy them here in the US

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/au...

Answer 9

Well I can't haul six kids to their ball game in one of those. You could get maybe two. So that means there will be no more car pooling and each parent will have to take their own kid to the game. So if 3 cars go instead of one you are at the same MPG average or actually the Tahoe gets better mileage than three of your Mazda 3's