[OT] Engine braking

[Walter Bright]

On 8/1/2013 5:17 PM, Jeff Nowakowski wrote:
> On 08/01/2013 02:56 PM, Walter Bright wrote:
>> http://www.forbes.com/sites/eco-nomics/2012/08/09/is-the-toyota-prius-the-latest-status-symbol-of-the-wealthy/
>
> I think this
> meme has an expiration date, and is already starting to taste sour.

The article is a year old, not that ancient. It's far from the only one on the 
topic. Google "prius status symbol". Even South Park famously did an episode on it.


> "But Toyota also says that the study uses an unrealistically low estimated
> lifetime for hybrids, and that there's no data to support its assumptions in
> this. For instance, according to the study the average Prius is expected to go
> 109,000 miles over its lifetime, while a Hummer H1 would go 379,000 miles. CNW
> says about hybrids: “…these are generally secondary vehicles in a household OR
> they are driven in restricted or short range environments such as college
> campuses or retirement neighborhoods.”"

So the prius is more cost effective because you drive it less?


> So even assuming CNW is correct about the buyer and usage, if that same buyer
> had bought a Hummer instead it would have been driven the same miles as the
> Prius. There are a lot of other disputes pointed out in the article. The CNW
> study looks like a hit piece.

The Hummer is the poster boy for polluting Americans, and the Prius the poster 
boy for enlightened environmental consciousness. The truth is a lot harder to 
get at than that.

What does work is, of course, orienting your life so you drive less. Like living 
closer to work, combining errands into one trip, carpooling, biking, using 
Amazon instead of going to the mall, etc.