tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post1137122695288269395..comments2024-03-18T21:13:23.616-04:00Comments on Ecofrugal Living: The Paradox of EfficiencyAmy Livingstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16362533758291353748noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-44432356699422522052011-03-23T09:45:53.448-04:002011-03-23T09:45:53.448-04:00I think the answer to your question is that the ma...I think the answer to your question is that the manufacturers can sell more cars (and, to be fair, have a bigger impact on the environment) by putting hybrid engines in their bigger vehicles. There are still plenty of people out there who really want an SUV but feel guilty about the emissions, and selling to them is more profitable than selling to the folks who really want the tiniest, most efficient little car available. (Chances are, a lot of those folks will just buy the Prius anyway, because it's got that unmistakeable jellybean shape that says "Look at me, I'm driving a green car!")<br /><br />But one nice feature of the Fit is that it has that little mileage meter under the odometer, just like the Prius, so you can actually see how your driving is affecting your mileage. That helps you learn how to drive more efficiently, which in turn boosts your mileage more. I remember reading an article once that suggested we could go a long way toward improving fleet efficiency just by putting one of those little meters in every new car sold.Amy Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362533758291353748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-85290221070367446502011-03-23T02:07:58.274-04:002011-03-23T02:07:58.274-04:00Sorry, I misremembered the data from Consumer Repo...Sorry, I misremembered the data from Consumer Reports. They do their own mileage testing. They didn't include the Volt or the Leaf. The Prius got 44; Smart 39; Honda Insight and VW Golf TDI 38, and others lower. The Fit Sport with manual transmission was reported at 33. I am glad to hear yours has been doing better. I also like to drive a stick shift and I really like the Fit so I might end up with one of those. But I'm still frustrated-- where is the Civic hybrid, or the Fit hybrid, that builds on that fuel-efficient little sedan/hatchback model but gets an extra 10mpg? Shouldn't there be such a car? I guess it's the Prius.Amy Khttp://www.broadside.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-73544482056051009072011-03-11T10:26:42.612-05:002011-03-11T10:26:42.612-05:00"..in which a 1959 Chevy Bel Air (which got a..."..in which a 1959 Chevy Bel Air (which got about 17 mpg at highway speeds) is crashed into a 2009 Chevy Malibu (30 mpg)..."<br /><br />What is also amazing, is that the 1959 weighs only 179 pounds more. All that high-strength steel of the new car and extra structure adds weight, yet the fuel economy is drastically better. And so is the performance. The 2009 Malibu with the base 4 cylinder does 0 to 60 in about 9.5 seconds. The 1959 chevy with the base 6 cylinder does 0 to 60 in about 16 seconds. Even with several of the optional V8s, like a 348 cubic inch, (5.7 liter), it takes about 10.5 seconds to do 0-60. And the new malibu? Order the optional V6, and it does 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds. And with total efficiency. And even with the ultra high performance police version of the 348, in 1959, it did 0-60 in 7.4 seconds - amazing for the time, ordinary today. (And there is only ONE of those cars known to still remain today, out of about only 40 that were ordered with that engine.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-87515232384805582262011-03-10T09:16:49.687-05:002011-03-10T09:16:49.687-05:00"I looked at the latest Consumer Reports, the..."I looked at the latest Consumer Reports, the annual auto issue. And there I see that, 12 years later with hybrids quite common now, the best gas mileage available is... 39 mpg."<br /><br />How do they figure that? According to the government's calculations (at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml), the Prius gets 51 mpg in the city and 48 on the highway. The plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt gets better than 60 mpg, and the all-electric Nissan Leaf gets the equivalent of 99 mpg (http://www.automotiveaddicts.com/15601/epa-rates-nissan-leaf-chevy-volt-mpg-equivalent-estimates).<br /><br />Are you sure that 39 mpg figure isn't the best you can get with a standard gasoline engine? We just bought a new Honda Fit (we toyed with the idea of a hybrid, but we both prefer to drive a stick shift, and an efficient gas engine seemed nearly as good), and it's been getting 38 in typical driving and 42 on the highway. (And although this is about 33 percent better than our old Honda Accord, we haven't decided to increase our driving by 33 percent as a result.)Amy Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362533758291353748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-1159708760673951552011-03-10T08:54:45.688-05:002011-03-10T08:54:45.688-05:00"An economist blog I like also took a stab at..."An economist blog I like also took a stab at the underlying article.<br />http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2011/03/led-holiday-lights-and-the-rebound-effect.html"<br /><br />Interesting. The gist of the article seems to be as follows: the physicists who drew up the data on lighting expenditures saw that over the last three centuries, lighting costs have always accounted for the same percentage of GDP, and extrapolating, they concluded that "a 90% decrease in the cost of lighting will increase the quantity demanded ten-fold." However, according to the economist blogger, "intermediate micro (or even Econ 1000) shows that this is wrong." Rather, decreasing costs will lead to increased consumption only so long as it increases the "consumer surplus," which the blogger defines as "the difference between the benefits they get from consuming a good and the price they actually have to pay for it." In other words, they're making pretty much the same point I did when talking about a disco ball in the garage. Obviously I'm not going to do that, because it wouldn't provide a significant benefit, no matter how low the cost. (Nor am I going to leave my Christmas lights up until Lent, the way the blogger and most of his neighbors are doing, because that just bugs me.)Amy Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362533758291353748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-58050516062349311872011-03-09T19:57:19.805-05:002011-03-09T19:57:19.805-05:00I agree with you-- I can imagine other situations ...I agree with you-- I can imagine other situations with rebound effects, but this doesn't seem like one of them. Like I've heard that if you make the highways wider, traffic gets *worse*-- I think the argument was similar, that more people move into the suburbs those highways go to. So I suppose that a person with a more fuel-efficient car might also decide to move farther from work. <br /><br />And I would just like to use this comments section as a platform to whine about the state of "fuel-efficient" cars today. Back in 1999, I was in the position of buying a new car, and I bought the one Consumer Reports listed as "greenest"-- the Honda Civic. It was a year before the first hybrid, the original Honda Insight, came out. My 99 Honda Civic consistently got (gets, probably) gas mileage in the high 30s, and I was quite pleased with it. <br /><br />Then we moved to Colorado and I sold my beloved car and bought a bike. But soon we will be moving back, and I'll be needing a car again. So it was with great interest that I looked at the latest Consumer Reports, the annual auto issue. And there I see that, 12 years later with hybrids quite common now, the best gas mileage available is... 39 mpg. <br /><br />Why???? Why hasn't it gotten any better?Amy Khttp://www.broadside.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6276531209730408101.post-32773086254571806832011-03-09T19:47:51.808-05:002011-03-09T19:47:51.808-05:00An economist blog I like also took a stab at the u...An economist blog I like also took a stab at the underlying article.<br />http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2011/03/led-holiday-lights-and-the-rebound-effect.html A bit of math, but not too much, and you can just skim through it if you want. The first comment there is also good.Doug Bonarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04833700146695394598noreply@blogger.com