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Hybrid cars may not be as eco-friendly as they seem

 
7 1,636 views May 20, 2008

Hybrid cars may not be as eco-friendly as they seem

Hybrid cars may not be as eco-friendly as they seem

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Real-world tests have shown hybrid cars fall well short of their claimed emissions and fuel efficiency figures, raising the question of whether the technology has so far been anything more than a very effective marketing gimmick.

Some diesel-powered cars also received bad marks in the review, showing much higher emissions and poorer fuel economy, just like the hybrids. Honda's Civic Hybrid, Lexus's GS450h and Skoda's Fabia Greenline were the three models to get the 'gimmick' label by the testing publication, Auto Express.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, for example, scored a real-world output of 171g/km CO2 versus a claimed 109g/km, a difference of 57% - well outside the range of a typical margin of error. Lexus's luxury hybrid similarly scored real-world fuel consumption of 26.7mpg, falling 34% short of its claimed 35.8mpg. Skoda's Fabia Greenline scored worse than the SEAT ECOmotive and VW Polo BlueMotion that used the same engine, and was knocked for that failure.

Still, five models in total managed to get a green rating despite failing to live up to their manufacturers claims. Ford's Focus with the ECOnetic treatment, the Mini Cooper Clubman D, Toyota Prius, Seat Ibiza ECOmotive and Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion all rated well enough to be considered somewhat eco-friendly.

Via: TheTruthAboutCars



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Comments (7)

  1. By Gus Posted: 5/20/2008 5:27pm PDT

    Interesting. I knew that sometimes these vehicles fell short of their claims, but not that short.

    In my opinion, though, a lot of this is how the driver drives the vehicle. With one of these cars, it's very important to conserve momentum, plan ahead, use the regenerative brakes when possible without using the brake pads, etc...
     
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  2. By Roy Posted: 5/20/2008 5:43pm PDT

    Just wait until we try to dispose/recycle the battery packs...
     
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  3. By chris Posted: 5/20/2008 10:31pm PDT

    recycling of the battery packs isnt as big of a deal as people think. lead acid batteries are recycled every day. the big problem is the amount of added energy that goes into making (and recycling) the battery packs in hybrids. and the other extraneous systems like electrical motors and what not.

    I still think it's a transition period to a strong EV market, and once the vehicles become mostly electric, or hopefully in some years time, even fully electric (the volt is like methadone.. something to convince people they actually dont need heroin). I'd be willing to bet theres much less energy that would go into the production of an EV than a mechanical car. I've been in automotive plants, smelters, and plastics plants. I've also been in battery factories and motor factories. Electric really is the way to go.

    People are just so scared of it, the want their gasoline blankie to hold on to. Hell, I ran out of charge on my cell phone today before noon.
     
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  4. By Raptor Posted: 5/21/2008 6:16am PDT

    Electric car with small backup power generator is the best option in my opinion. Something like Volt, only with more battery juice. Maybe for 200 miles or something like that.
     
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  5. By chris Posted: 5/21/2008 7:51am PDT

    Rap, I know what you mean, like I was saying, even people like myself who would be complete EV lovers would still be uneasy about it for a little bit. If the volt comes out in 2010, I expect it to be 2013 or 2014 before you see GM just yank the engine out and offer a larger battery pack. I'd be willing to bet (based on the diagrams that have been released) that you could get 100 miles on a fully electric Volt, just looking at how much more battery you could get into that thing.

    People forget that the volt is about the same size as a prius.. and forgive me if I'm wrong in saying that probably 95% of people are using their prius as a STRICT commuter car.
     
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  6. By burke Posted: 5/22/2008 7:10am PDT

    I don't think the article is stating the problem correctly. Cleaner cars (combustion produces more H20 than CO2) produce more global warming because water vapor is the greenest of the greenhouse gases (above 70%) then there is CO2 (20%) and then the CFC's (10%) or so. Yesterday a specialist stated on CNN that gas prices could hit above $10.00/gal (to be conservative) in the next couple of years....he said in fact $15/gal...Remember Mad Max?...Hydrogen fuel cell technology is extremely expensive and is not going to be around for at least 20 years, if not more. Besides, you don't find H2 in nature the same way you find petroleum: in other words, you have to expend lots of energy to produce more energy!!!! So hybrid cars and electric cars are here to stay...they will be the only game in town for many years to come. Maybe today petrol hybrid cars don't compete with European cars that run with clean diesel, which average north of 70 MPG (VW Polo, Citroen, Peugeot, and Renault), but they will in the future. I drove a Prius (city and highway) it didn't do the 55-60 MPG for highway-city as announced, but it averaged above 40 MPG regardless of the driving style...So far, I haven't heard of any other sedan in USA that can do better than that.
     
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  7. By  Eco friendly cars Posted: 7/6/2010 2:58am PDT

    Hybrid vehicles run by capturing energy and using it whenever possible instead of tapping into the gas tank. The car is also equipped with the standard lead-acid or lithium-ion battery that converts chemical energy into electric energy. The simple fact is that a car or truck that has a form of electric drive does not mean it is better for the environment.
     
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