Jones Beene wrote:
Check out these numbers (short Atlanta commute) which look more favorable
for Prius than some numbers supplied by others:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/0905/25bizgasmath.html
The numbers in this article mix apples and oranges somewhat. They are a bit
more optimistic than the ones I posted, but it all makes sense. The lady
interviewed in the article gets 38 to 45 mpg in Atlanta traffic, which
tells me she has not learned how to drive the thing yet. I get 45 to 49.
Hybrid cars are more sensitive to the driver's skill and technique than
ordinary cars, as we saw the other day when someone got 110 mpg. The text
also says, "the Explorer gets about 11 mpg."
The comparison at the bottom of the article says:
Car vs. car
Commuting: paying $2.50 a gallon for gas
Average miles per gallon
Ford Explorer: 16
Toyota Prius: 55
. . .
These are the official city/highway combined mileage. That's a reasonable
way to compare the cars. The Prius gets 3.4 times better mileage.
The way this lady drives her Explorer and Prius, she gets 3.8 times better
mileage, about the same ratio as the official numbers. If she learns to
drive the way I do, she will get 4.3 times. And if she drives a car pool
with two other people she will get 13 times more passenger-miles per gallon
than the average Atlanta SUV driver. So there you have it: this is how we
could reduce fuel consumption by an order of magnitude. Throw in plug-in
hybrids and pretty soon you have reduced petroleum consumption by two
orders of magnitude. The problem is easier to fix than people realize.
Also, it should be noted that the Ford Explorer costs $33,000, so with a
base model Prius you save $11,000 up front. So much for the $3,000
"premium." (Although I expect Explorers are selling at a big discount these
days.)
- Jed
