Gas Prices Got You Down?

IJ · Post by IJ » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:03 am

I just paid 4.53 for gas and was elated. My tank got me 490.5 miles on 12.59 gallons. That's basically 38.95 mpg, blowing my previous record of 37.1 out of the water. This jump I attribute to slight overinflation of tires plus my new habit of turning the engine off if it will take more than 6-10 seconds to get going again, including while rolling, but don't tell anyone. Of course I still drive with constant pedal pressure, 58-60mph on highway, never giving more gas than i would need to roll to the target, linking trips, avoiding traffic, parking smart, coasting on hills, and so on.

Apparently I'm beating the supposed mileage of the 2004 Accord on the highway with my combined numbers by 5 mpg.
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005 ... 17162.html

This means I'm also beating most of the drivers of the Accord hybrid:
http://www.hybridcarrevolution.com/hybr ... onials.htm

I still have room to go tho.

This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature ... ilers.html

Waiting for the next Pruis battery and then I'll be getting one of those.

Rich, have you redone your cost calculations for hybrids with the ever rising prices--or with the advantage one could have with conscientious driving?

TSDguy · Post by **TSDguy** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:11 am

I presume you're driving a standard. I HATE HATE HATE automatics. They are ALWAYS in the wrong gear; both too high and too low.

IJ · Post by IJ » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:06 pm

I am. Obviously will have to give that up for a Prius. At least it has a CVT. Some of the hypermiler videos I've seen were with automatics, however, and they were constantly shifting to neutral when appropriate.

hthom · Post by **hthom** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:43 pm

Gas price nowadays is giving the word "cheap" a whole different meaning.

Last night I took the wife to a Sushi place. As you know, those places charge ridiculous prices for small slices of raw fish on small chucks of cold rice.

When the bill came, I said to the wife, hey it's cheap, it costs less than a tank of gas! (By the way, gas is getting close to $5 a gallon here).

Henry

TSDguy · Post by **TSDguy** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:14 pm

Do you get 164 mpg yet, Ian?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/200 ... titialskip

Post by **gmattson** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:16 pm

I finally had to fill 'er up this morning. . . first time in a month. I use the scooter whenever possible, especially on short trips within 25 miles.

The tank was nearly empty, so the 'fillup' cost me $6.25!!!

I'm a fast driver, which accounted for my poor milage... only 92 mpg this fillup.

(I thought the guy filling up his tank next to me was going to have a heart attack when he saw my final price and I told him what mileage I was getting. . . His gas guage read $85 and still pumping when I left the gas station)

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:22 pm

IJ wrote:

Rich, have you redone your cost calculations for hybrids with the ever rising prices--or with the advantage one could have with conscientious driving?

My friend Rich has been preoccupied with other aspects of his life lately. But I still remember those heated discussions we'd have about hybrid technology.

Rich's premise all along was that we should go for the home run in the form of fuel cell (hydrogen) technology. Of course that's what his beloved GM had spent so much money on in lieu of the "intermediate" step of hybrid (gas/regen/battery) technology.

As I have said all along (Rich disagrees with me), the battery and regen technology evolving out of present-day hybrids are the stepping stones for what we will see as commonplace about a decade from now. Fuel cell vehicles can only store so much hydrogen, so they'll need advanced regen/battery technology to get more from less.

Interestingly enough, even GM has now jumped on the bandwagon. They've taken their big, honking SUVs and hybridized.

The following GM vehicles are now available in hybrid format. The list is growing.

Chevy Tahoe
GMC Yukon
Chevy Malibu
Saturn Vue
Saturn Aura

These aren't exactly super efficient vehicles, but they're a step in the right direction. At least GM's getting the experience with batteries and regen.

IJ wrote:

Waiting for the next Pruis battery and then I'll be getting one of those.

I hear you.

Actually I really wanted to get a Dodge Durango hybrid that Chrysler was experimenting with. It was quite a unique design, and was counting on that next generation of battery (lithium ion). But it never materialized and Chrysler dropped the experiment - for now.

Tesla however has managed to make the new battery technology work. Furthermore, they switched to a COMPLETELY electric car, and managed to get one to work in style.

The Tesla Roadster's battery pack — the car's "fuel tank" — represents the biggest innovation in the Tesla Roadster and is one of the largest and most advanced battery packs in the world. We've combined basic proven lithium ion battery technology with our own unique battery pack design to provide multiple layers of safety. It's light, durable, recyclable, and it is capable of delivering enough power to accelerate the Tesla Roadster from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Meanwhile, the battery stores enough energy for the vehicle to travel about 220 miles without recharging, something no other production electric vehicle in history can claim.

The way Tesla got this to work is basically to put about 6700 of these laptop-like batteries in series and parallel, and build in a cooling system similar to what you see in a car engine.

Oh and yes - they use regen!

I really hope Tesla does well. Their success may mean the rebirth of the US Auto industry.

- Bill

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:27 pm

I heard those GMC hybrids on those monster guzzlers get only 20 mpg.
Whoopee! I'd get one of those scooters like your running down there in "Gods waiting room" ( as my dad called Florida

) But there's too many charged up Starbucks caffeine junkie soccer moms driving those Detroit dinosaurs around here to be safe.

Maybe with Starbucks closing 600 stores things will improve....

F.

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:46 pm

How long would it take to recharge an all electric car's batteries? Would you relay on the kinetic energy of the car to drive a charger? Say one travels 150 or 200 miles on a road trip and makes a pit stop. How long would one wait while the car recharges to go the next leg of the trip? It might not be much of an issue for a daily commute and place to recharge overnight, but might require a paradigm shift for long range travel...which wouldn't be bad.

Just wondering.

Cheers,
Gene

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:12 pm

What I can't figure out is why they don't have solar panels on the roof to recharge in the hot sun or while parked? Seems to me it would be a no-brainer.

F.

TSDguy · Post by **TSDguy** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:06 pm

Solar panels aren't very efficient. They have made solar powered (concept) cars, but I imagine it would be more a lot more expensive to put that stuff on the car than the the value you get out of it.

IJ · Post by IJ » Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:38 pm

Not only are they inefficient, if they DID manage to convert 100% of the energy to electricity, you still wouldn't get much extra range. Think about how much energy it would take from sunlight to boil a pot of water and get the lid to wiggle around... now imagine the lid is a Ford Excess or a Chrysler Monstra or some other ridiculous contraption.

We should and probably will change our approach to cars and trucks. We ought to all be driving electric cars (well, we ought to be using public transport, but...) around town and then using part time owned or rented trucks to do the occasional heavy work. People scoff at a Prius and ask how they'll get a drywall panel home from Lowes. EASY. Pay the rental fee of what, 15 bucks or something, and make all the money back each time the car is filled up, and then some. Or, had we some sense of community, each block could co-own such a car, just like we could have shared pools and other facilities if we wanted to save some resources.

hoshin · Post by **hoshin** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:10 am

BIll,
while i could be mistaken , (maybe i should check my sources) but GM doesnt have a hybrid vehicle avalible. they have a mix blend combustion engine meaning it can run on higher quantity ethanol mixes. the more ethanol the more intenal motor damage to older vehicles.
but i will double check this with my brother who is a manager at a dealership.

steve

hthom · Post by **hthom** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:39 am

gmattson wrote:I finally had to fill 'er up this morning. . . first time in a month. I use the scooter whenever possible, especially on short trips within 25 miles.--------)

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/ca ... -Scooters/

U.S. News--- Record gas price forces people to scooters----

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:01 am

hoshin wrote:
BIll,
while i could be mistaken , (maybe i should check my sources) but GM doesnt have a hybrid vehicle avalible. they have a mix blend combustion engine meaning it can run on higher quantity ethanol mixes. the more ethanol the more intenal motor damage to older vehicles.
but i will double check this with my brother who is a manager at a dealership.

steve

GM Hybrids

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Nov. 15, 2007 – The 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid – the first General Motors vehicle to use the company’s all-new two-mode hybrid system – has been named Green Car Journal’s 2008 Green Car of the Year®. The award was presented at a press conference this morning at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

- Bill

Gas Prices Got You Down?

Gas Prices Got You Down?

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