xcel
02-08-2007, 09:01 AM
Local writer does what he can in his brand new Prius II for all of us. (http://www.dailyherald.com/search/searchstory.asp?id=278565)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2006_Prius-II_in_woods.jpgBurt Constable - Daily Herald - Feb. 8, 2007
2007 Toyota Prius II - Automobile of choice for Americans currently trying to do something for the rest of us.
Finally, I followed the advice of President Bush. At least when it comes to reducing our dependency on foreign oil.
I did it out of patriotism for America. I did it for you, and for your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And, as President Bush always insists, I got a tax break to boot.
I bought a Prius — the popular Super Ultra Low Emission Toyota hybrid car that goes 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, barely emits any pollutants into our air, lists for about 22 grand and is the vehicle of choice for celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Susan Sarandon and Harrison Ford.
You, grateful people of earth, are welcome.
I don’t need a bumper sticker proclaiming my politics. My car IS my bumper sticker.
As smug and self-righteous as I feel right now, I’m a bit disappointed the list of Prius drivers can’t officially include God. The Bible doesn’t mention motor vehicles — except to say that Moses burned a (Dodge) Ram at the altar, and that the people came to King Herod in one (Honda) Accord.
I’m also feeling a tad slighted when it comes to the public’s gratitude. In this morning’s frigid, stop-and-go commute on slick roads (where I managed a respectable 45.7 miles per gallon), a gas-guzzling SUV rode my bumper as if it wanted to give my Prius a wedgie for taunting about gas mileage.
Search Google for the words “smug” and “Prius” and you’ll get 36,800 hits — and that’s before I joined the club.
“Don’t worry about that,” says Wayne R. Gerdes, the greatest fuel-efficiency driver in the world. “At least you’re doing something. You are saving the planet one mile at a time.”
But I feel like I’m driving a Hummer when I compare myself to Gerdes, 44, a nuclear plant operator from Wadsworth whose extreme fuel efficiency makes him the King of the Hypermilers.
At Hybridfest 2006, Gerdes enhanced his legend by logging an eye-popping 180.91 mpg in a Honda Insight during a 20-mile course through the streets of Madison, Wis. In a Prius hypermileage marathon, Gerdes’ team traveled 1,397 miles on one 12.8-gallon tank of gas, and Gerdes turned in the best single shift of 120.6 mpg.
“Nine-Eleven is what woke me up to this whole thing,” Gerdes says. Osama bin Laden had the money to finance the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on our nation because we Americans buy so much gas, Gerdes says.
That tragedy marked the end of his driving 75 miles an hour or punching the accelerator the instant the light turned green, and the moment when he became interested (who are we kidding? obsessed) with fuel efficiency.
Gerdes generally drives slowly in the far right lane and tries never to brake, preferring to roll gently to a stop. He drafts behind semi-trucks. He sometimes shuts off his engine while coasting and parks on the high part of parking lots so he can coast before starting his engine.
“I do not condone anybody doing our advanced techniques,” Gerdes says. But everyone can get better mileage simply by anticipating stops, using the terrain and taking advantage of his easy-to-do “pulse and glide” method that he posts on his Web site at www.cleanmpg.com.
At gatherings of like-minded folks, Gerdes freely gives away fuel-efficiency secrets in a class dubbed “Hypermiling 101.”
He spends about two hours commuting 93 miles each way to his job at the nuclear plant in Braidwood. Even in his nonhybrid, factory-issued Honda Accord, Gerdes can approach 60 mpg. Using tricks on the back-road route he takes “when my car pool doesn’t mind,” Gerdes says he can get near 80 mpg. He gets 30 mpg in his wife’s Accura MDX.
“I don’t know anybody like that, except Wayne,” says Bill Robbins, a Prius owner whose bonding with other hybrid owners led to last summer’s inaugural Hybridfest, which lured 2,000 drivers.
For details on Hybridfest 2007, July 21-22 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., see www.hybridfest.com.
People drive hybrids to make “not only a statement, but an impact,” says Robbins, 44, a manager for AT&T. His vanity license plate reads “55 MPG.”
“There’s no smugness at all; we just are superior to everyone else,” Robbins jokes.
But my days of Prius-inspired smugness may be short-lived. Robbins urges visitors to the Chicago Auto Show, which opens to the public Friday and runs through Feb. 18, to check out Chevrolet’s new electric concept car.
“I’m really excited about the Chevy Volt,” Robbins says of the not-yet-for-sale car that you could plug in overnight and make a 40-mile roundtrip commute without using any gasoline or emitting any pollution. “If I get one of those, I’d have my nose in the air as I passed your Prius in my all-electric mode.”
Reprinted with express permission of The Daily Herald.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2006_Prius-II_in_woods.jpgBurt Constable - Daily Herald - Feb. 8, 2007
2007 Toyota Prius II - Automobile of choice for Americans currently trying to do something for the rest of us.
Finally, I followed the advice of President Bush. At least when it comes to reducing our dependency on foreign oil.
I did it out of patriotism for America. I did it for you, and for your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And, as President Bush always insists, I got a tax break to boot.
I bought a Prius — the popular Super Ultra Low Emission Toyota hybrid car that goes 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, barely emits any pollutants into our air, lists for about 22 grand and is the vehicle of choice for celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Susan Sarandon and Harrison Ford.
You, grateful people of earth, are welcome.
I don’t need a bumper sticker proclaiming my politics. My car IS my bumper sticker.
As smug and self-righteous as I feel right now, I’m a bit disappointed the list of Prius drivers can’t officially include God. The Bible doesn’t mention motor vehicles — except to say that Moses burned a (Dodge) Ram at the altar, and that the people came to King Herod in one (Honda) Accord.
I’m also feeling a tad slighted when it comes to the public’s gratitude. In this morning’s frigid, stop-and-go commute on slick roads (where I managed a respectable 45.7 miles per gallon), a gas-guzzling SUV rode my bumper as if it wanted to give my Prius a wedgie for taunting about gas mileage.
Search Google for the words “smug” and “Prius” and you’ll get 36,800 hits — and that’s before I joined the club.
“Don’t worry about that,” says Wayne R. Gerdes, the greatest fuel-efficiency driver in the world. “At least you’re doing something. You are saving the planet one mile at a time.”
But I feel like I’m driving a Hummer when I compare myself to Gerdes, 44, a nuclear plant operator from Wadsworth whose extreme fuel efficiency makes him the King of the Hypermilers.
At Hybridfest 2006, Gerdes enhanced his legend by logging an eye-popping 180.91 mpg in a Honda Insight during a 20-mile course through the streets of Madison, Wis. In a Prius hypermileage marathon, Gerdes’ team traveled 1,397 miles on one 12.8-gallon tank of gas, and Gerdes turned in the best single shift of 120.6 mpg.
“Nine-Eleven is what woke me up to this whole thing,” Gerdes says. Osama bin Laden had the money to finance the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on our nation because we Americans buy so much gas, Gerdes says.
That tragedy marked the end of his driving 75 miles an hour or punching the accelerator the instant the light turned green, and the moment when he became interested (who are we kidding? obsessed) with fuel efficiency.
Gerdes generally drives slowly in the far right lane and tries never to brake, preferring to roll gently to a stop. He drafts behind semi-trucks. He sometimes shuts off his engine while coasting and parks on the high part of parking lots so he can coast before starting his engine.
“I do not condone anybody doing our advanced techniques,” Gerdes says. But everyone can get better mileage simply by anticipating stops, using the terrain and taking advantage of his easy-to-do “pulse and glide” method that he posts on his Web site at www.cleanmpg.com.
At gatherings of like-minded folks, Gerdes freely gives away fuel-efficiency secrets in a class dubbed “Hypermiling 101.”
He spends about two hours commuting 93 miles each way to his job at the nuclear plant in Braidwood. Even in his nonhybrid, factory-issued Honda Accord, Gerdes can approach 60 mpg. Using tricks on the back-road route he takes “when my car pool doesn’t mind,” Gerdes says he can get near 80 mpg. He gets 30 mpg in his wife’s Accura MDX.
“I don’t know anybody like that, except Wayne,” says Bill Robbins, a Prius owner whose bonding with other hybrid owners led to last summer’s inaugural Hybridfest, which lured 2,000 drivers.
For details on Hybridfest 2007, July 21-22 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., see www.hybridfest.com.
People drive hybrids to make “not only a statement, but an impact,” says Robbins, 44, a manager for AT&T. His vanity license plate reads “55 MPG.”
“There’s no smugness at all; we just are superior to everyone else,” Robbins jokes.
But my days of Prius-inspired smugness may be short-lived. Robbins urges visitors to the Chicago Auto Show, which opens to the public Friday and runs through Feb. 18, to check out Chevrolet’s new electric concept car.
“I’m really excited about the Chevy Volt,” Robbins says of the not-yet-for-sale car that you could plug in overnight and make a 40-mile roundtrip commute without using any gasoline or emitting any pollution. “If I get one of those, I’d have my nose in the air as I passed your Prius in my all-electric mode.”
Reprinted with express permission of The Daily Herald.