Paul Murray's weblog, with news you may have missed and my $0.02 worth on a number of topics.

"You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it."
- Art Buchwald

I bet you don't have a friend who's an acupuncturist

E-mail me: pmurray [at] despammed.com

Thinking critically about hybrids. Auto writer Lawrence Ulrich comes through with two great articles about hybrid automobiles.

In the July issue of SmartMoney, he finally writes the story I've been waiting to see: Why pay extra money (that you may never earn back) for a hybrid when you can simply get a modern four-cylinder car?

Who says that you have to buy a pricey and sluggish hybrid to show your environmental street cred? Thanks to new advances in engine design, four-cylinder engines are delivering more power — and better gas mileage — than ever before. Unlike the anemic four-bangers of old, which ran loud and rough and struggled to make it up long hills, today's small engines are strong, clean and reliable. Indeed, a 2007 Accord LX, like the one Benbow bought, has nearly twice the power of an Accord from the late '80s. The result: The once humble four-cylinder category now makes up one of the fastest-growing segments of the auto market.

While auto sales slumped last year, sales of small four-cylinder cars were up 14% — with subcompact sales rising a whopping 154%. And because today's technically superior small engines deliver nearly twice the horsepower of the four-cylinder engines of the 1980s, midsize sedans like the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima deliver great gas mileage without a lot of sacrifices. In the case of the Accord, the standard four-cylinder engine actually gets better mileage in the real world than the hybrid version of the same car — for $10,000 less.

To be sure, larger engines tend to deliver faster acceleration and cruise more quietly at highway speeds. And for some drivers, just knowing that they've got power in reserve is worth the price. But the reality is that the difference between a four-cylinder and a six is not as great as it might seem ....

The tradeoff is even less onerous when you consider the cost savings.

I've been driving four-cylinder cars for more than 20 years. Sure, it would be fun to have a V6 or V8, but I don't need it, and it makes little sense economically or environmentally.

(Earlier this month, Micheline Maynard cited research into why a lot of people buy the Toyota Prius: "more than half [57%] of the Prius buyers surveyed this spring by CNW Marketing Research of Bandon, Ore., said the main reason they purchased their car was that 'it makes a statement about me.'")

And in the NYT, Ulrich deservedly shreds the truly idiotic 2008 Lexus LS600H L. It costs $30,000 more than the non-hybrid V8 version, has slower acceleration, yet only delivers comparable fuel economy. Oh, and it doesn't handle as well or drive as smoothly, either. But I'm sure Lexus will find 2000 wealthy brainwashed suckers who want to think they're doing something for the environment.

Before the enviro-brigade readies the guillotine, I hasten to add that this isn’t about hating hybrids. Electric propulsion is looking more and more like a winning technology. Companies from Toyota to General Motors are working to develop affordable lithium-ion batteries, which could deliver clean, efficient, renewable power in plug-in hybrids or purely electric vehicles.

I can’t believe that adding a cupful of electric juice to a fat barrel of V-8 muscle is what environmentalists have in mind.

Labels: cars, hybrids

posted by Paul Murray at 12:21 AM | permanent link |