New hybrid cars not based on fuel efficiency

Original source:
http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/2331.htm

Summary:

• When automakers rolled out the first hybrid cars, drivers who wanted their spectacular fuel economy had to settle for weird shapes and a lack of luxury options.
• To attract drivers looking for large and luxurious vehicles, automakers such as Lexus and General Motors Corp. are building hybrids with the looks and size of regular cars.
• " Consumers are enthralled by hybrids because they sip gas and don't guzzle it, and they pollute less," said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming program.
• American automakers are launching hybrid versions of those vehicles to remain competitive in the areas where they are most profitable, said Anthony Pratt, an analyst who covers hybrids for J.D. Power and Associates.
• Automakers say gas guzzlers have the most room for improvement.
• But some new hybrids barely get better mileage than their non-hybrid counterparts.
• Take the hybrid Chevrolet Silverado, which gets the same 19 miles per gallon on the highway as a regular Silverado.
• On city streets it gets 17 mpg, two mpg more than the non-hybrid.
• Upping the SUV's performance from 10 mpg to 11 mpg will save 110 gallons of gas every 12,000 miles, points out GM engineer Tim Grewe.
• Lawrence Dewey, 78, is among those not getting the mileage he expected from a hybrid.
• Dewey and his wife live the plush interior, moving headlights, and "get up and go" of their new Lexus RX 400h hybrid.
• The only problem, he says, is that it averages only 25 mpg, about what he used to get in a non-hybrid Volvo Cross Country SUV.
• Dewey's other quarrel is with the EPA, which rated the vehicle at 31 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.
• The agency's mileage figures for new cars often are inflated because testing conditions yield better efficiency than real-world driving.

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