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A surprising short piece on NPR regarding the future of Hybrids. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12523027#email)

Sorry guys, but pretty soon we're gonna be 'unpopular' in spite of our vain concern with 'image'. But Hey, at least I can debadge my Civic and hope no one notices the rims, lest they chase me down throw banana peels at me from their Hummers. :Banane38:

Quite a disappointment coming from NPR. Some lovely gems:
"At the same time, some gas-only models have become very fuel efficient."
- Oh really! Anything that can beat the old Civic HX?? No, didn't think so.

"But lest hybrid owners get too cocky about their individual contribution to a cleaner environment, consider this sobering observation. The U.S. Department of Energy says in the seven years that hybrids have been available here, the total amount of gasoline saved adds up to less than the amount the United States imports every day."
- And that is exactly why we should not even bother trying to reduce consumption. Spoken like a true and serious pragmatist [sarcasm off]

shame on NPR. i knew there was a reason i didn't subscribe this year.

right, i got my hybrid for the image. must be why it needs washing really badly, and has footprints all over it from the barn cats walking on it. not to mention the egg cartons in the back seat (i sell eggs at work, and people who buy them put the cartons back in my car to reuse).....that's image, all right LOL

as far as gas saved? on a personal level, i figure that had i kept the vehicle i was driving two years ago when i purchased my HCHI, assuming gas at $3, which is where it was then, i would have spend about $7000 more in gasoline. yes, that's $7000. i had a CRX getting about 22MPG and i drive 25,000 miles a year. for the same mileage my HCH gets about 55MPG overall......

so their are article says that we should just give up. sorry, my wallet can't afford to.

Where on earth do they find all these sick puppies that buy cars for "image"?? Sheesh!! How come they never find people like most of us who bought for the mpg, the mpg, and the mpg. That's the sole reason I bought my Insight - sorry, no image, moral, or political reasons. The liking the car and enjoying the driving process came later and was unexpected.

On second thought, maybe the writers just make up these people and their quotes for these stories?? And use actors??

Rant over, I feel much better now.

After hearing some stories from them and their dramtic readings, I have no doubt they use actors or whatever to make the stories interesting to listen to.

After hearing some stories from them and their dramtic readings, I have no doubt they use actors or whatever to make the stories interesting to listen to.

i'm not a hybrid driver, but i play one on the radio.

:D

The thought of replacing the Subaru with a Prius flitted across my mind. I could get a lot better mpg with less work than I get with the Subaru! A friend hauls rowing shells on his Prius... But I now realize I should confer with an image consultant first. Perhaps someone here could recommend one? This could be a rapidly expanding and possibly very lucrative field.

Actually, some may actually purchase hybrids for the image - so what? In my opinion, its better that they drive something that is hard to get below 40mpg than another "image" vehicle that gets guano mpg...

the quote that stuck with me is:

" The U.S. Department of Energy says in the seven years that hybrids have been available here, the total amount of gasoline saved adds up to less than the amount the United States imports every day."

I dont think they should point at hybrid owners (or hypermilers) for not saving enough - but the other 98% of owners who can put a dent in the nations fuel consumption.

LOL @ having a hybrid for the "image". I just don't like buying gas! :D My previous car was a '95 geo metro (a rather hideous green color, but still good for 45+ MPG)...sheesh!

Well, if NPR is drinking the koolaid too, then I really don't know what to say.

No more yearly pledges from me, if this is their perspective. I can get that crap everywhere else.
_____________________

A day's worth of oil imports? I'll take that.

How much CO2 was saved? How much pollution saved? How much less money going to Al Qaeda?

Hey, a couple of years ago I didn't want a Prius because of the "image." Fortunately the "image" has been manufactured by the media so that they can talk about something other than the facts, which they seem to have trouble grasping. (I am grateful for the few journalists who do take the time to learn before they start typing!)

IMO being a member of the media isn't just a job, it's a responsibility. I just wish there were better filters for the things they call "news" for those members who don't understand.

"At the same time, some gas-only models have become very fuel efficient."This statement is misleading at best and borders on falsehood.

About the most efficient gas-only models are the Civic, Corolla and Yaris. Those vehicles are no more efficient than the Civic (LX/DX), Corolla or Echo/Tercel models of the past. In fact, at no point since the early 1980s has either Honda or Toyota failed to offer a model with fuel economy at least as good or better than the current Civic or Corolla. As already mentioned, current models don't even come close to the the Civic 6G/7G HX, let alone the 5G Civic CX and VX, The 3G Civic HF, the CRX or the Metro.

"But lest hybrid owners get too cocky about their individual contribution ... "That's like saying "but lest (insert political affiliation here) voters get too cocky about their individual contribution, consider that (insert party name here) lost (insert description of election here).

If NPR reported on elections -- in which an individual's contibution may sometimes seem even more futile -- in this manner, their listeners would have them cremated.

"But lest hybrid owners get too cocky about their individual contribution ... "The following "sobering observation" might do something to smack down cockiness about hybrid owners' collective contribution, but it does nothing to diminish their individual contributions. See voting analogy above.

Actually, ...

the quote that stuck with me is:

" The U.S. Department of Energy says in the seven years that hybrids have been available here, the total amount of gasoline saved adds up to less than the amount the United States imports every day."

...

When I read that quote I called "B**ls**t". That does not sound like the style of finding DOE issues. The reporter sounds like she took somebody else's advocacy numbers off a blog somewhere without fact checking or attributing them, but I could be wrong....

Actually I was wrong as MSIRACH points out, the DOE press release says something pretty close to that along with a prediction that there will be more impact as Hybrids' numbers grow (duh!); the NPR reporter just spun up the negatives of the stat without providing any of the context of the study. Kind of like focusing on drafting techniques in a hypermiling story.

Along with a vague description of how they derived their numbers, the original press release also quoted the study as saying "In 2006, the average fuel economy improvement for hybrid electric vehicles over the replaced conventional vehicle was approximately 45 percent." I doubt that the guys who did the study are amused by NPR's reporting.

That does not sound like the style of finding DOE issues. The reporter sounds like she took somehttp://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/styles/greenleaf/editor/color.gif
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/styles/greenleaf/editor/color.gifbody else's advocacy numbers off a blog somewhere without fact checking or attributing them, but I could be wrong....


Yes:

NREL (http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2007/518.html)




Another job of POOR reporting. Taking excerpts and sensationalizing out of context content.

Gosh there is so much wrong with this article its not even funny.

Who cares if some Prius buyers buy the car for image (though I dont' think I know or have heard of any of them, but just in case)? Are people buying low mpg cars because of image? Are people buying large SUVs for image? Of course they are. I know people who have SUVs that don't haul much more than groceries and never go to the mountains, even though they aren't that far away.

If you buy a Prius for the image then get 45 mpg, isn't that a good thing?

The idea that all that much gas hasn't been saved might be due to another factor entirely-- that a lot of hybrids are of non-fuel efficient cars to begin with. But I agree with the comment re: political campaigns. I think it's an apt analogy.

While I would like a smaller underpowered car to get hybrid technology it's true that that's what the mileage compares to. I don't think everyone wants a Yaris. As far as that goes most Prius drivers get better mileage than I do with a Corolla, which is a pretty fuel efficient car. I would agree that current Corollas aren't really much better than mine in terms of mpg, if at all (might be the other way actually). So I agree that the statement that gas cars have gotten better isn't true. The only thing is there are some tinier cars available-- but they don't seem to get as good mileage as you would think.

Nothing wrong with clean diesel but I think hybrid in the link technology for plug-in and solar and diesel is not. We can only run so many cars on biofuels and they are still carbon based. By making hybrids batteries are getting a needed technology push that could lead off a carbon economy, eventually.

BTW, maybe we should stop giving to charities like NPR, after all you don't individually have that much effect.



--des

BTW, maybe we should stop giving to charities like NPR, after all you don't individually have that much effect.

Bah HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly fell out of my chair! :D Oh man, I'm dying... Can I steal that, if I write to NPR?

-Gren

Gosh there is so much wrong with this article its not even funny.

....

BTW, maybe we should stop giving to charities like NPR, after all you don't individually have that much effect.

--des

Bah HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly fell out of my chair! :D Oh man, I'm dying... Can I steal that, if I write to NPR?

-Gren

Agreed--Well done, des!

NPR is now part of the vast right wing conspiracy. Ruppert Murdock is paying off the whole lot.

Hi All:

___All I can say is thank god for those that have taken the plunge and purchased Toyota, Honda and Ford hybrids vs. anything else of similar size they could have been driving. Congrats to half this forums membership in fact. The other half of us are just waiting for the next gen hybrids is all :D

___Oh, and screw Murdoch and his ilk if he really did have something to do with this mess ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

You not only can steal it, you can steal it without naming your source (of course if you named your source...). Hint: my real name is not desdemona anyways.

--des

Bah HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly fell out of my chair! :D Oh man, I'm dying... Can I steal that, if I write to NPR?

-Gren

You not only can steal it, you can steal it without naming your source (of course if you named your source...). Hint: my real name is not desdemona anyways.

--des

You weren't named after Desdemona by the British band John's Children sung by a young Marc Bolan!?!

Nope, it's Jimmy Buffet's song: "Desdemona's building a rocket ship, Desdemona's going away, Desdemona's building a rocket ship, blasting off today."
I'm really interested in space. Surprise surprise.


--des

You weren't named after Desdemona by the British band John's Children sung by a young Marc Bolan!?!