Hybrid Disappointment Leads to Lawsuit
9 Jul, 2007
6 Comments 
In America (where else but) a man is suing Honda for what he believes to be misleading estimates on the mileage of his hybrid Honda Civic.
The manufacturer claimed fuel consumption to be around 45/51 mpg, but hybrid owner John True experienced mileage far less than expected, only around 32mpg on average. True, a jazz piano player - not a lawyer, as is the norm with these kind of law suits - is set to make history by filing the first legal challenge of the mileage claims of hybrid vehicles.
True is not alone however, with many hybrid owner’s angered by the fact that their quest to save the world is falling horribly short.
“This case does seek relief for tens of thousands of consumers like Mr. True, who paid thousands of dollars extra for a hybrid that looks identical and performs basically the same as the non-hybrid Honda Civic,”
It seems what hybrid vehicle owner’s don’t seem to realise is that aggressive driving engages the petrol motor, making the electric motor as well as optimal fuel usage redundant.
George Skentzos
Source: AUTOSInsider
Location: Home / Honda, Hybrid, Random News / ...
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July 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Der
That’s the problem with greenies - they are incapable of rational thought.
It’s not a difficult thing to ascertain that the Honda and Toyota hybrids are not economical or green when “birth to death” is taken into account.
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July 9th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
My 2002 1.3 jazz on 100kmh highway trips returns 49-50 off mpg, around town depending on how i drive, around 35-40 mpg!!
cost me half the price of a hybrid, i dont have expensive batteries to replace, and though its slow, its not as slow as a hybrid.
hybrids= over rated!!
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July 9th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Yeah I think this guy is going to fall flat on his face… as said the electric motor isnt in use if you drive aggressively so he’s going to prove he hasnt been, how will he do that!?!? And even if he can, then it comes down to the driving he does, the electric motor will be used solely when say crusing at 60km/h but if hes been in driving situations that dont favour electric motor solely being in use then that would explain why its been return bad consumption. 1000 other things you could say as well… he has no chance. Only thing that worries me is the U.S, a guy won a massive amount of damages because a dry cleaner cost his pants… so anything is possible over their!
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July 10th, 2007 at 8:35 am
I’m seeing this from a slightly different angle. If he wins it could actually put into question published fuel figures for all vehicles not just hybrid.
“hybrids= over rated!!”
You have to remember hybrids are still in their infancy. How many years of development does the petrol engine have over the hybrid system? It has to start somewhere.
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September 3rd, 2007 at 12:51 am
I get 3.9-4.1 l/100km (65-72mpg) repeatedly out of my Prius. I drive smoothly and gently. That’s averaging 1000km and better per tank. (620 miles)
My wife gets less (4.5 /100km). Others will get only 5
If you want to be green keep your foot feather light, carry more passengers, don’t take unnecessary trips, walk or cycle instead if you can.
(If you really try hard, the Prius can go as low as 3.7l/100km - but 99.9% of you will never have the patience).
I am waiting for photovoltaic cells to be part of the roof. Then the car can recharge in the carpark all day.
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December 20th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
We need a plug in electric car like a more modern version of the Saturn EVO-1 they had back in the 90s(which was very good even with now decade old technology). Unfortunately car companies feel they can’t make enough money from them because they are too efficient and don’t need much maintenance. Check out the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car.” Hybrids are a joke. The mileage obtained by people that drive normally (not Hypermilers) is not much better, if at all, than small displacement civics and other economy cars from the early 90s.
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