News from the IEEE Spectrum
by John Voelcker
"Your mileage may vary." Yes, indeed—it could be as much as 30 percent lower than government ratings, as some new owners of hybrid-electric vehicles discovered, to their dismay, last year.
If 2004 began with drivers in the United States and a few other places giving hybrids a heartfelt hug, it ended with a more subdued embrace. One of the reasons was disappointment over real-world mileage. Official ratings for fuel use, based on the outdated driving patterns of U.S. government tests, turned out to be a poor predictor for what typical buyers could expect.
But if the hybrid honeymoon is over, the marriage is still in solid shape. In some areas, a buyer must wait months for a Toyota Prius. Toyota plans to build 100 000 Priuses in 2005, up from 67 000 last year. Waiting in the wings is the Lexus RH 400h luxury hybrid sport utility vehicle, now scheduled to go on sale 15 April in the United States. As of December 2004, buyers had already paid deposits for half of the year's production of 20 000.
- Eliica: Eight Wheels, Eight Motors, No Tailpipe
- 2005 Land Rover Discovery/LR3: Switch-Hitter
- 2005 Acura RL: All-Wheel Drive That Handles Like Rear-Wheel Drive
- 2005 Toyota Vitz CVT4: Lithium-Ion To Go
- 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI: Feel The Pressure
- 2005 Venturi Fetish: Makes Ferraris Seem So Common
- 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid: The Invisible Hybrid
- 2007 Saturn Vue Hybrid: A "Value Hybrid"
- Michelin "Concept": It's All In The Wheels
- 2006 Infiniti M Series: More alert than you are?
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