Recently in MPG Category

I received an HCH Class Action Settlement for my 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid (True vs. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. ) last night.

Fortunately for Honda, the settlement includes rebates for new vehicles. I get $100 cash back and a video to train me how to best use my gas and brake pedal.

The lawsuit revolves around EPA mileage estimates for Honda's hybrids and the lower than expected mileage figures some people got from their Honda hybrids.

I suggest Honda use a disclaimer sticker.

Failure to use common sense may result in lower than expected mileage figures.

Smashing the gas pedal (combining the use of electric and electric motors without the use of cylinder deactivation) and smashing the brake (not using regenerative braking) will result in lower than expected economy.

Accessories, like air-conditioning, use energy. When you shut them off you use less energy.

Very cold days and very warm days take more energy to keep you comfortable and move your vehicle.

Some days I can get over 50 mpg and some days it may be as low as 40 mpg.

All vehicle manufactures use EPA standards for fuel economy. It is the competitive benchmark for selling a car in the United States. It makes no more sense for Honda to post figures lower than the EPA testing procedure than it would be for Toyota.

Honda can keep my $100 and put it towards research and development. I am happy that there was a car on the market in 2005 (or 1999 with the Insight) with the potential of 50 mpg.

Perhaps it would be more beneficial to force the mindless, lawsuit money train toward adopting a universal standard that more accurately reflects the cost of driving. This would actually help all consumers.

It will be interesting to watch what happens when vehicles with an even greater variability of mileage like the Chevy Volt (230 mpg) or a totally electric car like the Nissan LEAF come on the scene with the same aging EPA standard.

...well, maybe there is a 10% +/- chance that certain death won't occur. Even though an 80% chance of contracting cancer and dying from a drug would flip the panic switch at the FDA, a 90% chance of global warming is unlikely to create the same panic.

President Barack Obama will announce today that automakers must meet average U.S. fuel-economy standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years sooner than previously planned, a senior administration official said.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a 2007 report there's a 90 percent certainty that greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, cars and other human activities are causing higher temperatures and sea levels, potentially leading to dangerous climate change.

Former President George W. Bush balked at the idea of reducing emissions when he took office in 2001. Many automakers including "green" Toyota concurred since large vehicles were profitable and desirable.

Fast forward nine years.

The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons through 2016, the senior administration official said. In 2016, meeting the standards will cost automakers $600 a vehicle in addition to the $700-a-car cost automakers face under standards in existing law, the official said.

Also in 2016, light trucks would have to meet a standard of 30 mpg, and the average for cars would be 39 mpg.

bloomberg.com

Save $2 on $8 tickets online. Want to be even more cheap? They stop charging for parking a couple hours before the show closes. The show continues at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg through Sunday until 9pm each day.

The word "Hybrid" is plastered on many vehicles at the annual show.

There are green hybrid logos, leaves sprouting out of logos and green signs on the carpet. The same technologies as in previous years, but in more models.General Motors has their mild hybrid (a couple mpg more for a small price) on display in the new Malibu.

The GM 2-mode hybrid, that shares engineering with Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, is on display. The electric/gasoline hybrid will be available in the Tahoe SUV and Silverado Pickup.

Ford has an interesting cut-a-way of their EcoBoost engine that is a direct injection gasoline engine boosted with turbo that promises a 20% increase in economy.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid is on display. It shares mechanical concepts with the Escape Hybrid and takes on the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

A small SUV/crossover from KIA with a small, 4-cyl common rail diesel engine (CRDi) that is European/Asian? spec that we won't get here, but you can see under the hood.

BMW features a full-size SUV with a new clean diesel that gets 26 mpg.

The weird award goes to the Nissan Cube. A boxy little, yet marshmallow looking car.

The Obama administration is reconsidering California's plan to increase the fuel economy of cars sold in the Golden State and 13 others to 35 miles per gallon by 2016.

The Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and Smart Fortwo are currently the only cars with an EPA combined rating of better than 35 mpg. Later this year, the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Honda Insight will join the list. foxnews.com

US history of vehicle efficiency (epa.gov)
1. a rapid increase from 1975 through the early 1980s, (Arab Oil embargo)
2. a slower increase until reaching its peak in 1987,
3. a gradual decline until 2004 (17 years of decline)
4. an increase beginning in 2005. (Spike in fuel prices)

Market share for large pickups started at 12.3 percent at the start of 2008, fell to 9.3 percent in May as gasoline became expensive, and rose to 13.8 percent in November, as fuel slipped back to 2001 prices. In January, large pickup trucks led all other categories in consumer consideration, as gauged by searches on Edmunds.com.

"The pickup truck is a uniquely American invention, so for those with an impulse toward nationalism it's kind of a natural way ... to endorse American consumerism in a tough environment," says Allen Jones, a Bozeman, Mont., novelist (csmonitor.com)

U.S. sales of gasoline-electric hybrids fell 9.9 percent in 2008, after rising with gasoline prices early in the year and falling along with fuel costs and a collapsing auto market at the end. (autonews.com)

It a marriage of heavy incentives, the love for pickups and cheap gas that consumers find irresistible.

It's a strange short-term memory, consumer condition.

The Volkswagen Polo is in it's fourth generation in Europe. A small car is a reincarnated idea for the German manufacturer that has continually upscaled and up-priced here in the U.S positioning itself as an upscale niche' brand.

VW made the announcement at the Detroit Auto Show

VW development chief Ulrich Hackenberg said the automaker plans to sell the car in the U.S. to take advantage of American buyers' increasing enthusiasm for smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

"The small-car segment is the fastest growing segment in the U.S.," autonews.com

The Volkswagen's tiny Up! Concept appeared at the Frankfurt Auto show last year.

This car is even smaller with a a 1.0L three-cylinder diesel making 50 hp.

That is scooter territory, only you get a roof and a heater.

photos
autoblog.com

The world's most fuel efficient couple, John and Helen Taylor, have broken the current world record for lowest fuel consumption across the 48 contiguous United States averaging 58.82 miles to the gallon.

The Taylors drove the new VW Jetta TDI 9,419 miles, exceeding 60 mpg on several legs of the record-setting run, spending only 6.9 cents per mile (total was $653). prnewswire.com

As cars evolve from simple gasoline engines, to hybrids, to plug-in hybrids calculating real world mileage gets more difficult to estimate. The extremes and disgruntled customers will also become more obvious.

My neighbor jokes that his Chevy pick-up gets 11 mpg whether he is going uphill, downhill, or pulling a few thousand pounds. It's a simple large displacement V-8 that doesn't have to work very hard and breaths a continuous hefty mixture of fuel.

General Motors Corp. said Friday that it had reached a preliminary agreement that cleared the way for U.S. regulators to certify the Chevrolet Volt as the first 100 mpg car. But the Environmental Protection Agency said testing guidelines hadn't been finalized. latimes.com/business

After about 20 years of using the same calculating process, in 2008 the EPA began using new testing methods, which EPA finalized in December 2006. Previous to this, hybrids were tested under old methods. While it was legal and prudent marketing to say a Toyota Prius attained 60 mpg and a Civic Hybrid 51, it wasn't realistic, which left some customers angry at the discrepancy.

Plug-in hybrids will offer a whole new chapter in EPA estimates verses consumer expectations. The numbers will be wild...

I can't resist an event where a company lets me ride their motorcycles on an 11 mile real world ride for free and you have to love Harley for this once a year not to miss event.

Harley-Davidson Open House Sept 25-Sept 27

A cut-a-way of the new Buell / Rotax liquid cooled 1125cc Helicon V-Twin caught my eye at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Washington D.C last winter.

Buell is the sport bike division of Harley-Davidson marketed to riders who aren't into the chrome and mystique, but would like to buy something American made that isn't a clone of anything.

Buell went to Austrian engine manufacturer Rotax to help them design a V-twin engine that utilizes three counter-balancers that smooth out the power monster. Rotax also makes the parallel 800 cc twin in my BMW 800 ST.

I love the quirky, one of a kind Buell designs, the low maintenance lifetime drive belt (BMW take notes here) with a tensioner that makes it feel like a drive shaft that only pulls in one direction - straight . However, I have never been a fan of a bike that the mirrors vibrate so badly you can't see what's behind you at a stop light. Previous Buells are based on HD engines.

The new Helicon® V-Twin is a symphony of motorcycle ecstasy. Lots of torque, a subtle trashy mechanical sound, and an assertive exhaust that lets you know it's a stealth rocket without sounding noisy.

The engine uses a "Hydraulic Vacuum Assist (HVA) Slipper-Action clutch that eases clutch pull and limits back-torque during hard downshifts". The result is one silky clutch/transmission combination.

Now if they would put this engine in the Buell Ulysses series (I'm more of an upright rider)... and trim down the cc to about 800 (I want to get 60+ mpg) .. that would be about perfect for me.

A new large four, Toyota's most powerful four. I can't tell if this engine is destined for this country but it's an interesting development for a large SUV where bigger is usually considered better. Toyota will switch production at its new Mississippi plant to the Prius from its Highlander SUV.

The 2009 all-new Highlander will be equipped with either a 3.5L V6 or a 3.3L hybrid powerplant. Toyota is expanding the Highlander's powertrain line-up for 2009 by adding a more fuel efficient 2.7L four-cylinder engine. The new engine produces 187 horsepower at 5,800 RPM and 186 lb-ft at 4,100 RPM, making it the most powerful four cylinder engine in Toyota's line-up.

The new 2.7L engine comes with a 6sp automatic transmission. Toyota has not released the fuel econ figures as yet, these figures will be announced closer to the January 2009 launch date. The Highlander was first launched in 2001. The Japanese deportee version is called the Klugger. jamaica-gleaner.com

J R writes greenmesh:

When looking for hybrid mileage information, ask what MPG is in Winter. My 3 year old (Toyota) Highlander gets 28-30 in Summer, but drops to 21-23 in Winter because the gas engine must run more often to provide heat for passengers. It was better the first Winter but refineries were forced to change additives and that made MPG worse.

The new federal mileage stickers (in effect after this vehicle was purchased) are a more realistic assessment of hybrid mileage. Everyone knew a Toyota Prius didn't get 60 mpg, but that was the law and the number was legal and every other manufacturer used the same standardized testing.

Ethanol reduces mileage. I have given up trying to fill up with pure gasoline because that option just doesn't seem to exist in the York area anymore. Every pump seems to sport the 10% mix with sayings like "enriched with ethanol" and pictures of corn stalks.

Corn based ethanol is a counterproductive alternative form of energy helping to increase food prices and lowering the national fleet fuel efficiency. Compared to gasoline and diesel, the gas mileage in ethanol is the least. Ethanol yields about 30% less gas mileage than gasoline. The stuff even takes more energy to produce from field to consumer than it is worth. Ask our politicians why they love it so much.

My neighbor Chuck says his Chevy pickup with a 6 liter V-8 gets 11 mpg whether he runs it hard or takes it easy. It's basically a simple, large displacement energy converter that doesn't strain or change it's operating function to adjust for load.

Hybrids use several tools to squeeze mileage out of a gallon of gas so mileage can vary widely.

Killing off the guzzlers

The 51-year-old Michigan Truck Plant, located in Wayne, Mich., will start building the Focus in November when it kicks equipment now used to build the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUV to it's Kentucky plant. A third shift will be created to boost production of the Ford Focus.

Ford's Cuautitlan Assembly Plant, located in Mexico, is to begin building a Fiesta subcompact car in 2010. The plant currently produces the F-Series pickup trucks. The Louisville Assembly Plant, located in Kentucky, also will begin producing a new small car in 2011. It is now home to the Ford Explorer.
wsj.com

I was mowing with my electric lawn mower last night past my neighbor's full-sized Chevy pickup that now sits there for weeks at a time getting dirt circles under the tires. Chuck actually put stabilizer in the vehicle that gets 11mpg because it rarely gets used.

The cheap plug-in electric mower I purchased at the beginning of the summer is great.

Some handle hardware kept falling apart, but that was fixed with some lock washers for $2. It's quiet, doesn't stink when it runs, requires no maintenance and I haven't bought a drop of gasoline for a mower since.

The scooter that replaced the truck for commuting two months ago now has over 1000 miles on it.

Chuck's co-workers asked him if we was going to keep using it now that gasoline has dropped more than 50 cents a gallon. His reply, "No, now it just costs me $3.50 cents to fill the tank instead of $4." He often marvels at how much more money he has in his pocket now that it isn't getting burned up on gasoline to push around a huge metal box.

So as the summer comes to a close and gas prices decline because of a reduction in demand, the question is will people go back to consuming as it becomes more affordable.

• Moving freight is five times more efficient using a train rather than a tractor trailer.
• Four miles of new railroad line can be built for the price of one mile of road.
• Electrically powered trains can use domestic fuel sources. A century ago, York had an extensive electric trolley/inter-urban system. York's street railway is a dream of tomorrow. (greenmesh 8/06)

Innovative minds looking for new revenue streams killed the railroads.

Consider all the jobs, wealth and competition that was created by our car centered, personal transport society. Cars, dealerships, parts, the insurance industry. Thousands of truck drivers, shipping companies and owner operators traversing the roads using diesel and services. All of this a major feed for the oil industry.

And it all worked as long as oil was cheap.

The once cheap oil that brought us a uniquely American car centered transportation culture is now strangling our economy and future success competing in a world market.

Pennsylvania is fortunate to have many short-line rail corridors still intact like the one along the Heritage Rail Trail and the Stewartstown Railroad waiting for innovative minds and clean technology to move large volumes of freight and people more efficiently.

Interesting thing about riding alone on a motorcycle trip is that you are never really alone. There is a bond formed by two-wheeled travelers. Perhaps it is the shared risk or the shared responsibility for each other. It's symbolized by "the wave", a synchronized passing of open palms in opposing lanes.

I decided to take the long way down to my destination on the coastal border of North and South Carolina. The Outer Banks of North Carolina connects back to the mainland with a system of ferries.

Motorcycles are strange creatures on small ferries. Ferries bounce and roll and riders are usually advised to stay with their bike.

With the first ferry, I shot past a line of 50 cars because there is always room for a bike.

With the second ferry, I was first in line with a Harley rider named Mike. We were tucked between the lines of cars in the center of the bow.

Two hours standing guard over land loving machines on choppy water. Two hours of shared conversation spanning a lifetime

My fascination with two-wheeled journeys began freshman year in high school.

Three buddies told their parents that they were staying over each other's houses; we hit the road and bicycled through the night. The exhaustion, the moments of fear, the laughing made it memorable. I don't even remember if there was a destination. We were just going far.

It was a world shared by no one. All those people trapped in their cars going somewhere or sleeping the night away were getting nowhere. We were kings ruling our adventure kingdom.

Motorcycle trips are usually framed by weather reports and last week was scheduled to fall apart right in the middle. It really doesn't matter if the weather changes because that often creates an place to stop and you might just meet someone you wouldn't have met otherwise.

There is an unwritten law about not leaving on a trip in the rain. That's just miserable. This week turned out perfect with windows of clear riding and a rain stop just as planned in the middle.

In the 1980's and 90's, I used to slam the vacation road in a VW diesel Golf.

My concept of vacation planning was to head west and make a right at North Dakota... or wander southwest until... I needed three days to get home.

Once I was having such a good time in Pitkin, Colorado after taking on a new identity for two weeks, that I left there on a Friday evening and had to be back at work Sunday morning in York.

For the past six years, my vacation has been motivated by a motorcycle. Sure there is something wonderful about driving a few hundred miles and filling up with $10 of fuel, but with simple frugality comes a richness of experience.

Smells are richer, those you come in contact seem kinder because of your vulnerability. Fellow riders strike up a conversation without pause.

Once you loose two wheels and let the air pour though your clothes, it's hard to hide in a car during a vacation again.

Cars are for work. Cars are filled with fast food wrappers and stress.

My bike is freedom.

Next: 1259 miles of adventure in five days.

It wasn't drilling or a windfall profit tax that has made the price of gasoline go down almost 30 cents in the past few weeks. U.S. fuel consumption was down 2.4 percent over the past four week a U.S. Energy Department report showed and during the heart of Summer driving season.

Sell, Sell, Sell ! I want to spark some fear in oil speculators.

The quickest way for someone who gets 15 mpg to cut the cost of their gas in half is to dump that vehicle and drive one that gets 30 mpg.

So Chuck has been using his scooter to commute to work since June 9. His Chevy truck has been sitting in the drive collecting dirt rings around the tires for two weeks straight now.

He has logged 320 miles. Had he driven the truck for those miles it would have cost him $126 in gasoline. After burning through a free tank of gas from the dealership, the scooter has cost about $12 in fuel.

Chuck admits that he is driving the scooter more than he would had he only had the truck adding that after getting back into the truck 6 liter truck after two weeks that it felt sluggish compared to the scooter.

Scooter shopping day 1
Scooter shopping day 2
Scooter shopping day 3

Global oil demand on the rise

The Chinese government's recent reduction in gasoline subsidies (increasing price 17%) may squash an appetite for gas guzzlers in the world's rapidly growing second-largest auto market.

Rising affluence has boosted sales of SUVs and larger cars, while also causing a plunge in demand for cheaper, more fuel efficient autos. Sales of low-cost compacts, powered by engines of less than 1 liter, fell 31 percent last year, even as industrywide passenger-car sales jumped 22 percent. Sales of Great Wall Motor Co. Hovers and other SUVs leapt 50 percent last year, twice the pace of the overall auto market. (bloomberg.com)

Multiply that by 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.) people with expanding incomes and and you have alot of oil consumed.

Drastic conservation is the quickest and most consumer accessible way to lower gasoline prices.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service increased the mileage deduction today for the rest of the year by 16 percent to 58.5 cents a mile from the previous rate of 50.5 cents because of the rising price of gasoline. The change takes effect July 1.

The return of the Ford F-100

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is indefinitely halting a major overhaul of its full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles as it deals with a drastic drop in sales of those products.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said Thursday the automaker instead will work on more modest updates and enhancements as it shifts resources toward higher-mileage vehicles.

Ford's next big pickup development doesn't come for a couple years, when it hopes to launch a smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient pickup dubbed the F-100.

Have you recently traded in your SUV or pickup for a smaller vehicle?

Yes, I had to because of gas prices
--- 11.57 %
No, because I was already driving a smaller car
--- 46.05 %
No, and they've have to pry my cold, dead hands from my SUV's steering wheel
--- 42.36 % %

York Daily Record/Sunday News daily survey yesterday.
Total Votes = 380

Thanks to the 11.57% who have downsized their vehicle and reduced consumption. You have put in motion the machine that will reduce the price of gasoline for the rest of us.

You have reduced the flow of oil from a few countries that don't like us very much reducing their power over us and reduced the flow of imports over exports. A few oil companies won't make as much extraordinary profit from you and you can breath easier knowing that the smaller engine you are driving is pushing out fewer pollutants.

I ran across Todd Leader of Windsor Township at the street rod event this weekend and his 1948 Jeepster convertible. The rag top had been stored for years and was destined for salvage had he not given it a home. It was an interesting find for me in the sea of plastic reproductions with large late model V-8 engines.

The Jeepster was produced by Willys-Overland after WWII as a way to market the Jeep name to someone other than farmers and people who needed to climb over logs. It was the civilian car version of a name made famous by a war.

Unlike the Hummer that came to pass many decades later, a simple Jeep of the 1940's was an efficient, small foot print climbing machine. The Jeepster followed this path.

Leader's Jeepster has a 4 cylinder engine of just over 2 liters. A three speed manual transmission is coupled with a manual overdrive that according to Leader can attain 35 mpg. The Jeepster also didn't have an oil filter, because according to marketing of the time saved the consumer one quart of oil. Of course, most engines of that vintage with the lubricants available needed overhauling by 60K miles anyway.

And Whoa...! a 1941 Willys with a supercharger and a big block V-8. That might just be gallons per mile! Um, yeah...not the original drive train for that Willys.

U.S., hybrids still only account for three per cent of new-car sales -- SUVs are around 14 per cent.

The four-bangers account for 37 per cent of the U.S. market, up from 30 per cent just three years ago. canada.com

Cost speaks:
"For now, the easiest, cheapest way for new-car shoppers to get better mileage is to choose a model with a conventional four-cylinder engine. And they are," said Jason Rothkop, a J.D. Power and Associates analyst recently.

A solution: build more interesting, high mileage small cars like they do other places?

"We saw a real change in the industry demand in pickups and SUV in the first two weeks of May," said Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally. "It seems to us we reached a tipping point."

Ford now believes that the change in vehicle choice is structural, not cyclical, Mulally said.

Mulally said the company in July will detail longer-term changes, including personnel reductions. cnn.money

It seems like the "tipping point" might have been five or six years ago. Sales of Toyota's subcompact Yaris increased 46 percent in April from a year earlier, and Honda's tiny Fit was up by 54 percent. Ford's own compact Focus model jumped 32 percent.

Ford's is pumping $1 billion into it's Brazilian operations to keep the stampede going. Ford do Brasil has had 15 quarters of profit and earnings are up 72-percent over last year (autoblog.com) from building tiny flex-fuel cars like the Fiesta that run on Brazil's abundant sugar cane ethanol.

With demand increasing for its stylish new models, Ford of Europe's sales soared by an impressive 93,500 units in 2007 to a record 1,833,600, a rise of 5.4 per cent on the previous year. Market share improved to 8.9 per cent. autochannel.com

Ford will be slowly phasing in a turbo combined with a direct injection gasoline engine across their product line in 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder engines. The updated engine technology is expected to increase fuel economy up to 20% and reduce 15% of CO2 emissions while increasing performance per liter of engine. The new technology will be available in half a million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles annually in North America during the next five years. ford.com

Direct injection of gasoline into the cylinder allows a more precise timing of the detonation of fuel. In a computerized combination with a turbo, it breaths and squeezes a bit more energy out of a drop of gasoline.

When I was looking for a new motorcycle, I tried to find the highest mileage scooter that was capable of not getting run over on the highway. You would think that mileage ratings for motorcycles would be more transparent, but there is no government mile per gallon standard that manufactures are required to publish with the sale of the motorcycle so it becomes a guessing game based on internet searching.

Ironically, most motorcycles with a usable/flexilble engine size really don't get very good mileage and many with huge over 1,000cc displacements rate below my Civic Hybrid which has about the same size gasoline engine (1,200cc). I was replacing a 919cc in-line 4cyl Honda that got in the 45-50 mpg range and before that a carburated 4cyl Honda that got about the same.

For most people buying a motorcycle, it is more an emotional experience of coolness and/or chrome and that is how they are marketed. It's about the ride and the "lifestyle" more than a statement of responsible fuel use.

It is assumed that any motorcycle will get great mileage and if you compare it to most four wheeled vehicles on the road 45-50 mpg is probably double. However, from the perspective of a car owner who normally gets 45-50 mpg in my car, I expect more from a motorcycle.

I headed down to Durham, North Carolina for a graduation over the weekend. I was trying to squeeze the most mileage I could out of a 2005 Civic Hybrid with a manual transmission with 65,000 miles on it. I think 56.7 miles per gallon might be a record for me.

My secret formula: Use cruise control and set it to 65. I did have the impossible to recreate advantage of no traffic jams on Interstate 95.