Eco-friendly claims for ‘hybrid’ cars dismissed as gimmickry

The Honda Civic hybrid, regarded widely as one of the lowest emitting cars, performed the worst in the tests.

Instead of the 109g/km of CO2 claimed in the makers’ specifications, it was found to put out 171g/km. The testers said its electric motor was “not strong enough to propel the oddball four-door Civic on its own” and they concluded that the vehicle “failed to match the firm’s economy claims”.

The second car labelled a gimmick was the Lexus GS450h, leased by David Cameron, the Conservative leader. It managed fuel consumption of 26.7 miles per gallon (mpg) in the road test compared with the claimed 35.8 mpg – meaning higher carbon emissions. Diesel rivals were said to “produce similar emissions and better economy”.
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Htay7500 - 5/23/2008 5:19:19 PM

+5 Boost

I think I'll take the metro than getting stuck in traffic with a hybrid around metro DC.

autopro - 5/23/2008 5:55:48 PM

-8 Boost

The GS450 doesn't claim 37mpg.Their goes that article's credibility.

Sedulous - 5/23/2008 7:06:06 PM

+7 Boost

it's called imperial gallons... 37 miles per IMPERIAL gallon, you know, like the unit the BRITISH use, where the TIMES are from...

steve27t - 5/23/2008 11:21:08 PM

+1 Boost

Autopro.... check your facts before spouting off... this is from the LEXUS UK Website...

Consuming fuel equivalent to a 4-cylinder 2.0-litre vehicle (35.7mpg in the combined cycle) and CO2 emissions of just 186/km, the GS is truly remarkable. And, when starting up or driving at low speeds, there are no emissions at all as the car is powered solely by the electric motor.

abcd - 5/23/2008 6:07:51 PM

0 Boost

"Road tests were carried out by Auto Express magazine"

here is full test from autoexpress to which this article refers :

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests/221616/the_clean_machines.html

strange results: 1st,2nd,3rd for hybrids

_43LE - 5/23/2008 9:46:14 PM

+1 Boost

I think we all know that the only reason Turbo/sport/midengine posted this was because of the earlier post about the Jetta not getting good EPA ratings. Typical...and childish.

abcd - 5/25/2008 3:31:22 PM

+2 Boost

yes , my mistake , I only looked what order was .
they only do in prius 41,5 imperial gallon ( with is only 34,6 US mpg ) while edmunds in earlier post :

http://www.autospies.com/news/Who-Wins-The-Gas-Sipper-Smackdown-30205/

did the lowest 46 US mpg in prius ( average was even higher ). Hmm... british should do slighty better becouse they have fuel with higher octane number than americans .

34,6 mpg is unprobably low for prius , I think they drove it very , very aggressive .

Barrie - 5/24/2008 6:52:55 AM

+4 Boost

35.7mpg and 186gm/km are not remarkable, very average 74.3 and under 100 are achievable and much more impressive, not achieved by anything from Toyota or Honda, in economy hybrids struggle to get into the top 10 as for no emissions when starting up or driving slowly, that is for a very short distance before the petrol engine has to start, they are not worth the price and are not green if you take into account the manufacture and disposal of the battery,

truckmen - 5/25/2008 4:24:42 AM

0 Boost

All of these hybrids are not worthy! Check out PML! Now this company can make an electrical car! PML is just the start, PML has 4 times the power of any of these crappy hybrids and aprox two to three times the economy, now that impresses me! 0-60mph in 4.5 secounds

truckmen - 5/28/2008 4:32:34 PM

+1 Boost

To whoever deboosted me please explain to us all what you disagree with! All I am pointing out is progress that please the hot rodders and the greenies. The current hybrids don't compare to PML's numbers! Not even close, and yes the current hybrids are gimmicy.