September 30, 2008 at 7:15 am
The lights definitely pull a load, but we can't do without them. LED bulbs would help here and I agree, the rest of the electronics can't pull much power.
Regen braking, LED lights, maybe a small solar power, all could really make things more efficient, which is the idea. Small things adding up.
Not sure I'd buy a used Prius for that reason. Maybe if someone had replaced the batteries or built some of that into the price.
September 30, 2008 at 7:23 am
Steve Jones - Editor (9/30/2008)
The lights definitely pull a load, but we can't do without them. LED bulbs would help here and I agree, the rest of the electronics can't pull much power.Regen braking, LED lights, maybe a small solar power, all could really make things more efficient, which is the idea. Small things adding up.
Not sure I'd buy a used Prius for that reason. Maybe if someone had replaced the batteries or built some of that into the price.
The big ones are heat and air conditioning. Heat is free in a conventional engine, expensive in an electric car and air conditioning is relatively cheap in a conventional car mainly because it still sits within the band of inefficiency (AC has almost no effect on low gas mileage cars, has a bigger effect on high mileage cars). Since the hybirds and especially electrics depend on saving every joule it will be a much larger part of the energy budget.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
September 30, 2008 at 8:33 am
Steve, I make this comment, not out of vindictiveness or meanness, but to help you improve. If you are going to make part of your living writing, do a couple things: take a writing course somewhere; and, let someone proofread your column before you send it out. I've been reading you for some time and find you have interesting things to say. I've overlooked your obvious writing weakness, but this column was particularly gruesome (not the content). I'm sure others have been too kind to mention this, or maybe I'm just a butt hole.
Good Luck,
Another Steve.
September 30, 2008 at 9:40 am
Now, there's a conversation killer....
... or maybe I'm just a @#$^*(.
Ya think? :blink:
September 30, 2008 at 9:46 am
jay holovacs (9/30/2008)
Steve Jones - Editor (9/30/2008)
The lights definitely pull a load, but we can't do without them. LED bulbs would help here and I agree, the rest of the electronics can't pull much power.Regen braking, LED lights, maybe a small solar power, all could really make things more efficient, which is the idea. Small things adding up.
Not sure I'd buy a used Prius for that reason. Maybe if someone had replaced the batteries or built some of that into the price.
The big ones are heat and air conditioning. Heat is free in a conventional engine, expensive in an electric car and air conditioning is relatively cheap in a conventional car mainly because it still sits within the band of inefficiency (AC has almost no effect on low gas mileage cars, has a bigger effect on high mileage cars). Since the hybirds and especially electrics depend on saving every joule it will be a much larger part of the energy budget.
Since a lot of my driving is done in hot weather - we can have 100 degree Fahrenheit days in December, on occasion - I have used my AC a lot, and I still get approximately 46 to 48 mpg for most fill-ups.
Just to be clear, I am going by the estimate given by the monitor in the car. A friend scoffed when I told him that, saying it was probably inflating the mpg, so I used the old fashioned method of filling the car up, noting the mileage before the next fill-up, filling the car up again and dividing the mileage by gallons purchased ... and found that I was actually getting better mileage than the monitor said! Of course, that was just for one fill-up. I am sure the monitor is not perfectly accurate, but the test gave me a lot of confidence in its approximations.
September 30, 2008 at 9:55 am
I suspect it will be much more of an issue with the plug-and-drive vehicles hybrids where the engine is much more active, if the engine cycles on enough to keep things running it probably will work.
BTW the dash mpg gages, while useful are notoriously inaccurate, because they actually estimate consumption from a number of parameters and do not actually measure fuel consumption. So you are correct to use the 'old' way for confirmation
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
September 30, 2008 at 9:56 am
Steven Tahan (9/30/2008)
Steve, I make this comment, not out of vindictiveness or meanness, but to help you improve. If you are going to make part of your living writing, do a couple things: take a writing course somewhere; and, let someone proofread your column before you send it out. I've been reading you for some time and find you have interesting things to say. I've overlooked your obvious writing weakness, but this column was particularly gruesome (not the content). I'm sure others have been too kind to mention this, or maybe I'm just a butt hole.Good Luck,
Another Steve.
Don't believe him, SJ. When ST is clever enough to establish his own editorial/educational site he will have the right to complain about someone else's column.
Now when organizations have a big staff and they still misuse the language, that is when I complain. A couple of days ago I was reading an article on the front page of the LA Times, and the staff writer was trying to say that foreigners are joining together to take advantage of African resources. What he wrote, however, was that "Now foreigners are enjoined in a new scramble in Africa. "
Some editor missed that "enjoin" means to forbid or prohibit.
September 30, 2008 at 10:41 am
I feel a little like Ted Knight in Caddyshack (http://www.amazon.com/Caddyshack-Chevy-Chase/dp/B00004RF8A), not sure if I should have bought that hat.
I had a typo today, and apologies for that. Some of the phrasing perhaps could have been done better and I do try to catch those. I guess I'd prefer to be told or called out in private, but I try not to censor posts and won't do that here.
Criticism noted and accepted.
September 30, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I'm sure others have been too kind to mention this, or maybe I'm just a butt hole.
[p]I'm in awe of Steve's writing skills myself. His sentences are neat, not a spare word; he writes as he speaks. He never waffles, but just gets straight to the point. Perfect.[/p]
[p]I have many books and manuals on 'How to Write'. The authors would all have smiled on Steve's work. Writing is all about communication, and Steve communicates well. Maybe he could use a copy-editor occasionally, but that is a separate skill, and mistakes are simply due to the pressure of work: We're all in the same boat. [/p]
[p]My praise has nothing to do with the excellent cup of coffee he bought me in Boulder Co., though that certainly was greatly appreciated!.[/p][p]I would agree with Steven Tahan, however, if he was referring just to Steve's yearly Christmas day poem. [/p]
Best wishes,
Phil Factor
September 30, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Have to comment on the snow. I live in Widefield (or as my parents like to say, North Pueblo), and we get very little snow on average when compared to just Northern Colorado Springs. I've gone from white-out conditions on the north to just wet roads on the south.
Amazing!
😎
October 1, 2008 at 7:07 am
Diesels...
The US has some funky rules when it comes to emissions. Automakers have to meet certain quotas. Given GMC, Dodge, Ford and Chevy's huge large truck following they cannot afford to use diesels in smaller autos. What really gets me is that my 2006 Jetta Diesel (TDI) gets between 38 and 60 MPG depending on how nice I am to it. I am curious if mileage plays a role in emissions. Is it emissions per gallon of fuel burned per mile?
VW did not have a 2007 and frankly what they released as a 2008 diesel might as well be 2009 early release. They did not want to do Urea injection like BMW, AUDI, and and other automakers. They were smart... why would I want to by a midrange car and then refill the UREA at a hefty cost every few years. To avoid this they have several catalitic converters and recycle the exaust multiple times.
I really wish that people would forget about old diesel and give the new diesel a try. it is nothign liek the old. The 2008 Jetta TDI doesn't smoke, soot or even smell when started or running. QUite impressive.
October 1, 2008 at 7:09 am
ooo and not to mention it runs equally or better on biodiesel which is a far superior bio fuel than ethanol is. It is not near as lossy as ethanol in the US market place.
October 1, 2008 at 8:22 am
It would be good to see diesel come back, and more bio production. I was glad VW released a new one. We're looking at an older TDI of some sort for my son. He's worried about the cost, but with the high mileage, I think he might make out better.
October 1, 2008 at 8:29 am
Robert Hermsen (10/1/2008)
Diesels...The US has some funky rules when it comes to emissions. Automakers have to meet certain quotas. Given GMC, Dodge, Ford and Chevy's huge large truck following they cannot afford to use diesels in smaller autos. What really gets me is that my 2006 Jetta Diesel (TDI) gets between 38 and 60 MPG depending on how nice I am to it. I am curious if mileage plays a role in emissions. Is it emissions per gallon of fuel burned per mile?.
It does for carbon emissions. Not necessarily for others.
I really wish that people would forget about old diesel and give the new diesel a try. it is nothign liek the old. The 2008 Jetta TDI doesn't smoke, soot or even smell when started or running. QUite impressive.
Actually I'd like an old diesel in my Jeep, without thousands of dollars of government mandated crap, just to make a small change in emissions. Caterpillar has simply abandoned the US truck market because the standards are becoming too problematic to meet (Trucking companies have actual cost records that show that even the recent--not 2010-- are already much more expensive to maintain than those of a few years back.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
October 1, 2008 at 8:31 am
Robert Hermsen (10/1/2008)
... I really wish that people would forget about old diesel and give the new diesel a try. it is nothign liek the old. The 2008 Jetta TDI doesn't smoke, soot or even smell when started or running. QUite impressive.
I really like what diesel does as far as fuel economy goes, and I recognize that modern diesel technology is nothing like the cloud-belching 18 wheelers. My only problem is that I don't find Volkswagens comfortable to sit in. I wish some of the other makers would bring that technology across so that I'd have a little more variety to select from. New diesel tech also seems to be a European thing, not a Japanese thing, I find Japanese cars to be a lot more comfortable for me. I used to drive around 25,000 a year, so a reasonably comfortable car that is also reasonably fuel efficient are major points for me, my 4WD Toyota Matrix has averaged just under 29 over the three years and 66,000 miles that we've owned it and almost 30 over the last 10 tanks (data junkie here, I have every gas purchase for my five most recent cars going back to 11/87 in a spreadsheet).
-----
[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 53 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply