Hi,
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Originally Posted by gonavy
Yeah, but providing all that info to the uninformed consumer opens them up to all sorts of complaints or worse- "you said I would get 58mpg at 40mph on a 4%downgrade- I don't and I'm calling my lawyer."
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In this, we disagree. After all, EPA mileage cases have not shutdown the auto industry and those are just two data points of the missing graphs. Legal disclaimer language is quite common, just buy some software. Aircraft are still made and sold and the lawsuits have had more to do with keeping knowledge from pilots than what was available.
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Originally Posted by gonavy
That's not to say it shouldn't be available- upon request, or via ownerslink or something like that?
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Empirical data is what attracted me to GreenHybrid.com in the first place. Compared to the EPA numbers, the mileage database is an order of magnitude better. As I mentioned, I'm already plotting my own data which allows me to make driving choices:
As crude as this data is, lacking accelleration and decelleration effects, it provides insights that changed my driving habits and improved
my MPG performance.
Successful lawsuits have been built upon finding information that was withheld such as the "Pinto memos" and other cases where the company tried to keep "the bad news" to itself. Tobacco has learned that thanks to the "Warning," they now have a powerful shield against lawsuits while they continue selling truely dangerous products. Yet hybrids have been rightfully castigated by automobile writers who in their ignorance, can not achieve EPA numbers.
Lacking performance charts, having nothing but the limited data in the Owner's Manual, owner-operators have next to nothing to give them a clue about how to drive hybrids (or any other car) efficiently. It is funny but publishing this kind of detailed data for all cars would probably save more gas across the board than a huge increase in hybrids. Of course, not everyone will understand and use this data. But to keep capable owner-operators ignorant because there are fools about, is just wrong.
Bob Wilson