"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...
Existential Angst wrote:




So, I figger, since I drive about 20,000 mi/yr, let's compare the Fit and
the Volt in that mile range.
So in the driving I do, I get about 40 mpg on the Fit.... course, I
free-wheel all over the fukn place, have a helium foot, and shut off the
engine at the drop of a hat, etc.
And the Volt, at that mileage, will do 45 mpg. And, very importantly,
what
I do manually the Volt does *automatically*. Long live The Chip, eh?
Well, you can get a Honda Civic Hybrid for a little over $20K, and I
get up to 57 MPG without much work. I do have a light foot. I drove
3 kids plus myself (and the oldest of that crew outweighs me) about
250 miles to a basketball tournament at got 57 MPG on the highway
at 59 MPH without air conditioning. It was just at the upper range of
comfortable temps. This was flat southern Illinois country, the HCH
does great on that terrain. I just used the cruise control.

Last week I drove 1000 miles on an out of town trip taking about 600 Lbs
of stuff to a show, hotter than hell both ways, and lots of hills
that make it harder to get good mileage. I got about 47 MPG on that
run, mostly around 68 MPH. AC, hills and speed all conspire to
wreck the mileage.

You can almost buy two of the Civic Hybrids for the price of one
Volt, and get good mileage both in town and on long trips.

In that case, Kidding would indeed never ever EVER realize an ROI, unless it
was under the 10,000 mi/yr range.
And then it would be sumpn like 69 years.... lol

57 mpg is fantastic; 47 is excellent.
The prius c geekies talk about hitting 68 mpg.
The VW TDI engine supposedly returns mpg's in the mid-fifties, with a light
foot.
When sumpn like a prius c pushes 70 mpg, 100 mpge electrics -- with all the
associated prices/visissytudes thereof -- lose quite a bit of their dazzle.

And not knockin the Volt. The concept is excellent, the engineering grand,
the quality apparently very good.... just, the execution and logic was a
bit off.
But much too much for Kidding to grok, apparently.
--
EA



Jon