I drive a diesel, and I love it. I'm so surprised that all of these hybrids are "revolutionary" yet they offer almost no improvement over something similar with a diesel engine.
My 1.9L diesel engine gets 40+ MPG everyday for the past few years. I'm excited by what Mercedes is doing with their GLK250... a 2.1L diesel in the GLK is almost perfect for that car.
I wasn't comparing a normal car to this, as this is an edge case.
I am talking about the choices we make when purchasing a car. Almost everyone that I spoke to that has a hybrid doesn't consider it worth the money. These manufacturers advertise "38MPG highway" as being something incredible while a ten year old technology can achieve something better.
The problem is that gas prices are stable (controlled?) in the US so that inefficient cars are the norm.
The planetary gear transaxle is innovative, if not revolutionary. It solves the problem of power delivery in a completely different way from the traditional gears + clutch/torque converter.
You have to be really careful when talking about fuel economy. The numbers mean one very specific thing, on a particular test the car achieved a particular fuel economy. Without specifying how exactly they got those fuel economy numbers(referring to article), the numbers are literally meaningless. If I'm just cruising along at 60mph on flat land I can get 65mpg in my gen2 prius, even though the official highway number is 45mpg.
Driver behavior, AC, the test conditions, and vehicle conditions all affect efficiency.
With the proper driving strategy the prius can great efficiency out of situations that are problematic for traditional vehicles. What kind of fuel economy do you get out of your diesel in stop-and-go traffic? With regenerative braking and the ability to turn off the engine when not needed can easily get 75mpg+. On the freeway with the cruise set at 70mph (cruise control is not optimal) I get about 53MPG.
The 2009 Prius I drive has an official US combined MPG of 46. On average I get 55 MPG. The regenerative braking has great potential, if you drive in a way that takes advantage of it by planning your stops.
If you look at the numbers:
40 MPG is 5.88 l/100km
55 MPG is 4.28 l/100km
(5.88 - 4.28)/5.88 = 27%
The prius is 27% with my numbers and that's against a fuel that is 11% more energy dense.
If your numbers are based on the on-board computer, they're wrong. The computer usually states something higher than what you actually get. Even the MPH is a lie, as the speedometer is set to be higher by 3-9 MPH.
In the real world, I haven't seen hybrid drivers that actually get what's advertised. I don't know how much this has changed within the last 3 years...
I've calculated the long-term average by tracking how much fuel I put in the tank and how much the odometer goes up, over many fillups. From that I get about 55mpg.
The efficiency in specific situations is from the on board computer.
How do you calculate it?
> In the real world, I haven't seen hybrid drivers that actually get what's advertised
Come over to priuschat.com sometime and you'll find plenty of them that get the advertised numbers and better.
EDIT: Or check out fuelly, which calculates efficiency using the same method and you'll find plenty of people who get better than the official numbers: http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius
Wow! I never thought about looking at how much I've spent on fuel over a long period of time. The problem for me is that we have multiple cars.
I currently drive until the red light comes on, fill up, and look at the trip counter to see how many miles I've driven since my last fill-up. I then reset the trip counter and repeat. My time is spent in mixed highway and city traffic.
I'll have to look at modern hybrids once something actually breaks on my car. I'll consider everything equally once it's time to shop again.
They aren't really revolutionary, of course, but a gasoline powered hybrid still has a slight efficiency edge over a diesel. If you factor in the higher complexity, weight, cost and emissions of Diesel vs. Otto it's easy to see why gas hybrids are popular today.
I think what VW and Bosch are doing for diesels will pave the way for broad adoption of diesel-hybrids at some point, though.
* Reduced wear-tear on ICE engine (my Prius can idles on downslopes at 70mpg+ not to mention during low speeds) - I change oil every 12 months (synthetic) and it's always clear.
* No transmission - eCVT = engine directly mated to front transaxle.
* No need for ultra-low-sulphur diesel fuel (I couldn't buy a turbo-diesel in CA a few years ago), or even finding a station that sells diesel (most do, some do not).
* No evaporative emissions = garage smells cleaner.
* Regenerative breaks = no breakpad replacements in 8 years.
* No smog check - still haven't had to do one.
You also get a zen feel when you drive a car that's using electric - it floats forward, no rumble beneath your feet, in 2005 I couldn't buy any other car that'd give me that feeling and also seat 5 ppl comfortably.
I like turbo-diesels, but I like my gas hybrid better.
Modern diesels have tons of "technology." When you're running pressures above 40,000 PSI on the common-rail and doing direct injection, there's quite a lot of tech in a modern diesel engine. Older, dirtier, diesels don't need this tech but emit quite a lot more particulates and other unwelcomed emissions.
Any of the urea injection technologies are a pain. Some modern diesels have low enough emissions to not need the urea. We need more of those and less urea.
"Edge" I meant purely in terms of fuel efficiency. If you consider the average consumer looking at buying a passenger car they might be willing to spend a premium on a more efficient car. Two common choices are a modern diesel or gas hybrid. At least here in the US the hybrid is a slightly more attractive choice if you factor in the purchase price and the price of diesel.
My 1.9L diesel engine gets 40+ MPG everyday for the past few years. I'm excited by what Mercedes is doing with their GLK250... a 2.1L diesel in the GLK is almost perfect for that car.