Corolla v Civic v Hyundai/Nissan moeds

CVTs.

I doubt it's engine would have enough torque for less revs at 80 mph. That's not a legal speed anyway.

Yes, those batteries are expensive as well as being dangerous in an accident.

In spite of the weight hybrids do very well. There are many reasons for this, and some of the technology can be applied to mild hybrids to get much of the fuel savings, without having a huge battery.

I live 1km from Ballard, a fuel cell developer. A few years ago a tanker delivering H to their plant developed a leak and fire at the hose fitting. The area 0.5km around was shut down for

IMO the new diesels, developed in Germany will be the next fuel saving hot vehicle. Over 50% of people in Europe are now buying them. The 2L VW diesel performs very well in the small mid size cars.

That depends on where you are. There are a few states with speed limits of 75, which means 80 would be a pretty normal speed. In some parts of Texas, the posted limit is 80.

I'd agree, though, that the engine would be able to provide enough torque to keep the car going 80 @ 2000 RPM. Just not a big enough engine.

I would have agreed with you in the past, but diesel is selling for $1 a gallon more than regular right now. At current prices, a gas engine at 40 mpg costs the same in fuel per mile as a diesel at 50 mpg. I don't know if it has changed in Europe, but gas and diesel were just pennies apart per liter last year, diesel was 1.16 Euro gas was 1.22 per liter.

Fuel oil cost was exactly the same as diesel too. In milder climates it is not uncommon for homeowners to buy 5 or 10 gallons at a time at the filling station as needed.

"Josh S" wrote

Thanks for the report. :-)

Ha!

I agree with you that if diesel is selling for too high premium, using diesel doesn't make sense. Here in Canada diesel has recently crept a bit higher than regular gasoline, but I believe it's more of a supply situation as diesel use is increasing. In the USA you seem to be facing more variability in fuel pricing than here in Canada.

For urban driving a properly sized diesel gets about 30% more MPG than an equivalent performance gasoline engine. The Jeep Cherokee 2 wd EPA figures are: Gas 3.7L- 15/20 Gas 5.7L- 13/19 Diesel 3L- 18/23 Performance is close to the gas 5.7L.