10-19-2004, 11:24 AM
|
|
Ridiculously Active Enthusiast
|
|
Real Name: Larry S. Singleton
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Hybrids: 2007 TCH and Loving It !
Posts: 1,427
|
|
Found this on a website today (houston chronicle archives) indicating A/C usage will decrease MPG by 34 percent on the Honda Hybrids - they did not indicate Civic or Insight but the MPG numbers they quote are closer to the Civic:
Quote:
"Air-conditioning issue : "I've heard that if you run the air-conditioning in a hybrid, it stays in the gasoline mode. In Houston, that would be 10 months of the year; may as well get a straight gasoline engine."
That was true of the previous generation of Prius cars — the 2000-2003 models — but "we fixed that little glitch," said Cindy Knight, environmental communications administrator for Toyota Motor North America in Torrance, Calif.
The air conditioning in the 2004 and 2005 Prius runs on the electric motor, which is powered by a battery.
However, if it's 90 degrees or hotter outside the car and the air conditioning is set at 65 degrees inside the car, the engine will go into gasoline mode to keep the cool air blowing, Knight said. And that cuts down on fuel efficiency.
The air conditioning can also force the car to run on gasoline if the battery is low and the AC setting is high, Knight said.
Honda's hybrids don't switch between gasoline and electricity like Toyota. They use both forms of power at all times and never turn off the gas engine, said Yuzuru Matsuno, a spokesman in Detroit for Honda North America.
But running the air conditioning does lower the Honda hybrid's fuel efficiency, he said. For example:
If a car with a regular engine got 20 miles per gallon and the hybrid engine got 50 miles per gallon, the regular car would need 5 gallons to go 100 miles without running the air conditioning and the hybrid would need 2 gallons.
If you turned on the AC, each vehicle would require one more gallon of gas to go that same 100 miles — the regular engine would use 6 gallons and the hybrid would use 3.
That additional gallon changes the regular car's mileage rating to about 17 mpg, a 16 percent decrease in fuel efficiency. The hybrid drops to about 33 miles per gallon, a 34 percent decrease.
That's still better than the regular engine but not the ideal netted in the Environmental Protection Agency's testing."
|
I wonder if that is true, and where or how they came up with the "extra 1 gallon used in 100 miles" calculation?
Any Ideas, gang?
|