Why are hybrid cars becoming a joke?

Question

I was looking at some hybrid cars sporting the newest technology and they are talking about cars that get 25-30 miles per gallon...as a fricken hybrid. Since when is that considered "fuel efficient" and why is the technology behind it producing cars that are as fuel efficient as cars 10-20 years old? h**l, I had a 97 Honda Civic that got an average of 30mpg even with tons of problems and 120,000 miles on it! Even the new Prius is down to 45-48mpg. What happened to the Prius that got 66mpg or the Insight that got 70mpg?

Is it just me, or is automotive technology not only going backwards, but doing it with deceptive advertising and misleading wordplay?

Answer 1

who knows maybe greed, but they need to start making more of those "better" hybrids. i think if not soon everyone will have  a motorcycle or moped.

Answer 2

What happened was the test was changed to represent the way people really drive. The Prius and the Insight were tuned to match the old test. There were many people were very upset that they didn’t get the 66 mpg that was on the sticker. So the new sticker is closer to what you really get when you drive a Prius or Insight.

I had a Ford Festiva that got 40+ mpg combined, my dad’s old caddies mid 1960’s model would get 25+ (with overdrive) on the highway. But what happened is they kept putting more junk on a car some good some bad, along with bigger and bigger engines. In 1992 a Honda Civic VX  would get about 48/55 in 2007 the Honda Civic Hybrid get about 40/45 non-hybrid (25/36). In the years between 92 and 07 the Civic got much bigger, and the engine size increased.

It’s kinda funny but if you took the Prius and put a small diesel engine in it, take out all the weight of the batteries, I’d be willing to bet you’d see 60+ mpg. The 2007 Golf claims 40/60, but you can’t do 0 to 60 in 4.5. It seems the Japanese have forgotten what made their cars great, small, well made, good fuel economy, and took a lesson from the big 3 and made their cars bigger, faster, and not as well made.

Answer 3

you are probably not comparing equal cars.

a Honda civic should be compared to the Prius, although the Prius is certainly not so agile. If you compare a Hybrid that is also an SUV to the civic. it's hardly fair.

I also believe that hybrids are only a half step in the right direction, and their main weaknesses come from the batteries on board. as better methods to store electricity will become available, we will see better hybrid cars, and maybe even purely electric cars

Answer 4

Yeah, I had a beat up corolla,and I would get 30 + every time.

Trust me, I paid attention, I sometimes only added a gallon.

Answer 5

I think what happened is most people don't want a car that pulls out of its lane and tries to pass another car but barely can.  Then when it finally does and tries to maneuver back in, the space closes before the car gets to it.

So, they boosted the torque of the motor, I assume.  Also, are you reading the highway mileage, or town mileage. Hybrids typically get better town mileage because  of dynamic breaking energy recovery systems.

However, added weight of more powerful electric motors might cost mileage; and if you are looking at SUV hybrids, the weight and aerodynamics matter.

I'm also not sure you are comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.  To make a rational judgment you must compare two cars of the same weight, aerodynamics, power plant horsepower and general gearing ratios.  Otherwise your comparison means nothing.

Answer 6

We had cars that got 50MPG in the 80's. (Honda CRX?, and VW Rabbit Diesel). With the new efficient engines, we should easily beat that.

Europe has many nice cars today that get over 50MPG and are cheaper. The brands are Ford, Toyota, Peugeot, VW, etc., etc.  Must not be the oil companies or car companies. Could it be our regulations and congress keeping them from us?

Check out the VW Polo - 60-70 MPG. will go 120MPH and can burn bio diesel. Why do have to pay more for a Hybrid that pollutes our earth more? Is it our regulations? We allow people to ride motorcycles and jump out of airplanes. Why not let people have these greener cars if they want them?

h**l, I think we should make anyone that drives a gas hog donate a VW Polo to someone that needs a good green car.

Compressed air / Electric cars still use polluting energy from power plants and have very short range and long charge times. Good for some city drivers only.

Answer 7

get a car with a 70 hp motor..no power steering no AC no power windows.and make it weigh 2500 pounds and u will get 50 mpg and 10K price...but no one will buy it...how many yaris type cars do u see....almost none...

Answer 8

they should run on batteries lol

Answer 9

Hybrid suck and always have sucked. The oil companies own the automobile companies, they control the tech. That's why we are still using an engine that is over 100 yrs old, the internal combustion engine. Why is it that computers have come soo far in twenty years, but we are still using fuel to run our automobiles??

We need to be using solar panels, batteries, and generators that charge the battery when the wheels spin. I don't see any of that happening until all the oil in the land is used up.

Answer 10

It's all about money.  Everyone wants his share in this new technology and that's what's slowing things down.

Why not get the "World's Cleanest Car" that runs on compressed air that's coming out later this year.

"BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. India's Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.

The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000.

The car features a fibreglass body and a revolutionary electrical system and is completely computer-controlled. It is powered by the expansion of compressed air, using no combustion at all, and the exhaust is entirely clean and cool enough for use in the internal air conditioning system. "

Answer 11

The oil companies happened.

Electric cars have been around for a long time.....don't you think we should be seeing real technology that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to buy by now? Yeah...I think so too.

Answer 12

Car manufacturers are selling hybrids because that is what people in America want. If you strip a lot of the amenities off the Prius down to a bare-bones vehicle you could definitely get a fuel efficient car, but nobody would buy it.

In Europe where gas is 6 dollars a gallon Ford is not selling hybrids, they are selling 2 door Mini Cooper-like vehicles that can get 50+ MPG because that is what people there want.