>>
http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=10031
>
> But yes, every calculation dollar wise has been in favor of the conventional
> version of the same vehicle.
Be sure to read the bottom comment about the 2004 Prius:
http://www.physorg.com/news10031.html
Ah heck, I will quote it here, below.
Lynn
And, pilotmadrat, your's is also the same old boring, short-sighted regurgitation of the nay-sayers.
I've said it a million times elsewhere, if a gas/electric hybrid is "only 10-15% more efficient" (I'll argue that point later) and a
diesel (or biodiesel) is 35-40% more efficient. Then a diesel (or biodiesel)/electric hybrid would, therefore, be more efficient
than either a straight diesel (or biodiesel) or a gas/electric hybrid.
As to your point of "only 10-15% more efficient," let's see, my old 4-cyl Chevy S10 pickup averaged a respectable 27 mpg, my '04
Prius averages around 47 mpg (when taking into account winter/spring/summer/fall driving): that comes out an improvement of around
70-75% over my S10's average performance for my situation.
Now, let's also consider that my '04 Prius has a CD player, power windows (for all FOUR windows), 12 presets for FM and 6 for AM,
Vehicle Stability Control, automatic climate control, ELECTRIC air conditioning (which means using the A/C doesn't drain my POWER
when I'm driving uphill - more on that later), side air bags, room for 4 (5 according to Toyota's reckoning), folding rear and
passenger seats (and the driver's seat folds down too, presumably for taking a nap when you are NOT driving), absolutley zero,
nadda, no emissions coming out the tail pipe while sitting at a read light, and plenty of pep or "get-up-and-go".
I can't say my old S10 had any of those things, except for the 4 presets for the stereo and it did have 2 windows, though they were
not powered and it had regular A/C.
Now, for you nit-pickers, yes, I know that the electric A/C will drain energy, my point is that I don't notice my car slogging along
because of the A/C. That is, when the compressor kicked in on every other car I've owned or driven, the POWER dropped because of the
mechanical nature of the A/C. A Prius, on the other hand, does not struggle because of the A/c being turned on. Of course, you will
notice the battery draining faster and it could drain if you're speeding up a looong hill, but for 99% of my driving that doesn't
happen ... and I live in Denver just East of the foothills. So, yes, the ENERGY will drain just the same (translating into lower
mpg, as with every other vehicle in existence) but you won't notice a POWER drop. Of course, no other car out there will constantly
recharge that extra A/C energy drain like a hybrid, which is why electric A/C is so nice in a hybrid.
I will agree that a decision to buy a hybrid strictly on economic factors is a tough sell, though I got around $3000 back in tax
incentives, which means I paid just over $17,000 for my '04 Prius. I can also say I fit into my Prius fairly comfortably. I never
did like my friend's Civic or VW Jetta (diesel), they were way too small for me.
And finally, given the standard features in a Prius, I think it is fairer to compare a Prius to a Camry or an Accord, and not to the
Corolla or Civic.
