Comments on: Green Car of the Year: A Diesel?!

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:12:11 +0000

@Megan: How do you like it? How’s the power? What’s your actual mileage been (if you know)

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:33:13 +0000

Yay! That’s my car. :)

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:49:12 +0000

@Dan: I’ve long said if Subaru ever did that, I’d get it tomorrow!

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:50:04 +0000

Good point, well put.
Have you heard of Faurecia? That’s exactly what they’re working on. Though I’d want more progress then they’re aiming for. But it’s a start. I met with them last week at the LA Auto Show. I wrote them at the end of the article here http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/la-auto-show-three-under-the-radar-ways.php

By: Chris R. Ladner

Chris R. Ladner — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:20:07 +0000

Lighter, lighter, lighter. See RMI’s information on vehicle weight and the use of carbon fiber. The manufacturers need to stop focusing all the attention on the drive mechanism and start focusing on the fact that 90-98% of the horsepower goes to moving the car, not moving the passenger.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:09:04 +0000

Diesel plug-in hybrid?

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:12:49 +0000

Agreed. No single solution is it, but improvements could be made in each.

By: H Mitchell

H Mitchell — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:40:29 +0000

Another point worth making: mot only are do diesels beat hybrid mileage and emissions ratings, they're also (in my personal opinion) a lot more fun to drive. I've always felt a little hesitant towards hybrids because they lack the "pep" of your typical car (just look at the dismal "fun" scores at the carfun footprint site) -- granted, when the environment is at stake we have to look at what's truly important, but this seems like a situation where we could have both the aesthetics AND the conservation if we'd just invest in the right technology (by the way, a metblog writer recently made this point much better than I) But, as far as directions go I don't think we should count hybrids or EVs or any technology totally out. Let's allow each one to develop and go from there.