NO MO MILES
I first heard about the overestimated efficiency of hybrid cars from Kristi after she attended a lecture on "green" products at the Field Museum. Apparently, the cars use a similar amount of fuel as regular cars across for the first few miles of driving.
But, Wired reports that even the long trip fuel efficiency is bogus. Consumers have found the cars, which were reported to get nearly 50 miles per gallon, seldom top 30 miles per gallon.
30!!!
The Toyota Prius is on the high end at a still disappointing 35, while the Honda Civic Hybrid gets only 26!
For comparison purposes, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) for passenger cars is 27.5 mpg; it is 20.7 mpg for light trucks (SUVs, etc).
The problem - and you can read about this in the Wired article - is that the EPA standards measure waste substances from fuel consumption not the actual use of fuel. I'm no physicist nor automotive expert, so I can't tell you why that throws off the tests for hybrids... but needless to say, it apparently does.
Input by Mike at 10:59 AM
Monday, May 10, 2004
Saw Okkervil River (aka Coner Oberst With a Soul) at Schuba's on Saturday night. I can't say enough about this band, but that's not going to keep me from trying.
Seeing a band that's emotionally involved in their music at a live show after months of their being on the road is exhilirating, and that's what the Okkervils provided to an - to be polite - eclectic post-midnight crowd. As tired as the image of a rocker breaking crap on stage is, you can't deny that you love seeing it, especially when there's some honesty to it.
The amazing thing about the outbursts of raw musical emotion for the Okkervils is that their music is heady and introspective. The centerpiece of the new album is a song about empathizing with war criminals for instance. Yet there we were, rocking - by the true sense of the word - to the lyric "While you gasp at my bloody crimes, / please take the time / to make your heart my own." And we could feel it; there was nothing ironic about the moment.
This is a band that in another life would be overly pretentious crap; indeed, opener and spin-off project Shearwater pretty much is. But somehow, it works right through a balance of tranquil calms and torrid rapids.
Input by Mike at
10:59 AM
