Ever feel embarassed filling up a hybrid
Created May 1, 2006, at 7:24 pm by Anonymous
Just interested,
Do any of you fellow hybrid car owners feel a little embarassed filling up, especially alongside gas-guzzlers filling up too?
While I do love 46 MPG in my 2004 HCH, and I fill it up only once a month for a meager $25, I always feel like I must come in the middle of the night to refuel; maybe someone won't notice I'm filling up my Honda Civic...heaven forbid, it's a hybrid.
advertisement
Free Email Newsletter Sign-up
All the latest news in a free and engaging bundle. Totally free!
Are you kidding? I LOVE filling up my hybrid next to these fools, knowing that these "awful" gas pains cost me about $15 a week - I do have a hefty commute. Too bad the joy's a rare one.
Everyone in their big expensive $40,000 SUV thinks they are the cat's meow. Give it to OPEC, suckers!
I drive a vw diesel. I get low to mid 40s mpg. I do not feel embarassed filling up my car. I brought my car to lower our dependce on import oil. what other people drive is up to them. one does what one can. I am happy you like your car. If one want to see a list of cars which get 40mpg or better go to www.40mpg.org take care everyboby Don
I recently filled up our Jetta wagon diesel, after running 1306.7 km (817 miles) on a single tank of fuel, at 48 mpg, and in daily commuting on top of that, not just some special economy test run.
Embarassed? Heck no, I felt proud of my contribution to reducing fossil fuel consumption.
Embarassed? Not at all! I look on it as an opportunity to do a little missonary work, loudly complaining "Boy, I only got 47 MPG for this tankful!" And then sweetly asking "How many miles per gallon do you get with that thing?" Rub their noses in it - it's good for them.
I guess you guys have a point...
Next time I have to fill up, I have to think proudly and laugh at the Guy in the Suburban or Explorer next to me.
However, I am proud that I last filled up when gas was $2.45/gallon, now it has been over a month, I've driven 300 miles, and I have alot of gas left (more than half a tank), and I have successfully "rode out" $2.80+/gallon gas.
Don't you just wish you had a plug-in hybrid. Then you could ride out any gas price increases.
I dont have to go in the middle of the night because
I never go to gas stations with my Jetta TDI unless
I am more than 300 miles from home. In my garage there is a 275 gls tank that hold heating
oil or diesel. Diesel delivered today is about
$2.80 a gallon and heating oil is about $2.10.
The choice of which one is not difficult as both
fuels are the same. They just have different names.
My TDI gets 45mpg at leased based on writing down
GLS(the electric pump has a meter and same nozzle as gas stations) and miles.
Sorry to embarass the hybrid owners.
Don't forget that the reason the heating oil is cheaper is that no road tax has been paid on it. It is illegal to drive with it. Road diesel has a dye in it.
Of course, one of the reasons proposed that the CA govt killed the ZEV initiative was that electricity isn't taxed either. That's also given as one of the reason Europe is so anti-EV and pro-diesel.
Then again, if you had a bio-diesel convert, you would only have to pay for a few gallons of regular diesel (in order to heat the bio-fuel) every so often. But yes its true, road-taxed diesel is red (I believe), and the non-taxed stuff is pink. If a cop tests the fuel in your car and its not the proper color, you could be heavily charged, as that is highly illegal.
Ex EV-1 driver. There is no such thing as a
"European" way of dealing with EV cars and many
other things. Some European countries promote
EV by letting them use HOV lane with one person o/b.
As far as untaxed heating oil it is ok as long the
tax owed is sent to the government.
The "European" way of dealing with EV's is to stick people with a diesel. I don't know of any serious European EV's. Can you enlighten me?
Doesn't heating oil/diesel have a butt-load more sulphur in it than regular, on-road diesel, thus contributing to particulate matter emissions and acid rain.
If that's the case, you're not doing anyone any favours by using that fuel in your vehicle.
European countries does not try to stop EV cars.
On the contrary many encourage them by letting
them use the HOV lanes. Electricity is taxed anyhow.
Of course we see no enlightment as asked. Europe wants the tax income. It is iinteresting that someone is avoiding taxation, but it is unlikely anybody is gonna check. Very Interesting information though.
AS far as filling up, since I am only at a gas station for like 3 minutes-- there isnt anytime to be embarrassed-- its basically-- see ya in a few weeks--b-bye.
The 'cats meow' huh...lol
Embarassed no, Smug yes ;)
http://autos.aol.com/article/hybrid/v2/_a/hybrids-save-gas-lose-money/20060309093909990001
In spite of subsidies it fails. Diesel is the winner.
Ex Ev driver
Want to be enlightened. Read the link below.
Please read all of it especially EV in Norway.
EV there are allowed to use HOV lanes with
one occupant. Diesels are not.
Can you clearify "stick diesels to the people in
Europe". Do u just go ahead and write from the
top of your head. My relatives over there cant imagine buying a gasoline car again.
To Ex Ev driver..sorry here is the link
http://www.mst.dk/udgiv/NyViden/2005/87-7614-619-7-eng.htm
Ex EV...more links to prove you are wrong about
electric cars in Europe. I think the US government
is killing the EV
http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/AFP/2004/09/16/580358
Bjorn,
Thanks for the links. Unfortunately, they were nothing new to me and as is typical for Europe, they were all talk but I don't see any mention of any real cars.
One of the links describes the Norwegians 'saving' the Ford Th!nk. That is 2 years out of date. The company has gone under since then as lip service won't make a company go. Another mention is a sale of 150 Citroens and 20 Th!nk Electrics in a 4 year period. 170 cars certainly won't cause a traffic jam, even in Denmark. I admit that I don't know much about the Citroen but I do know that the Th!nk barely qualifies as a car in my book since it tops out at 55 mph (~90 kph).
I'd say that these articles fully back up my assessment that Europeans talk green but continue to build the same old dirty stuff.
As I've mentioned in other (probably more appropriate topics), I fully support diesel as my preferred ICE technology if one must 'burn dead dinosaurs' in order to go anywhere. I would just prefer that it be built with a plug-in hybrid electric drivetrain to boost performance, increase efficiency, and enable even more energy alternatives (solar, wind, hydro, bio, etc).
The problem is that incumbent auto manufacturers (US, Japanese, Korean, and European) refuse to make anything that is significantly different from what they already have in production so we don't have those options.
If you think it is the US government that is killing alternative fuels, I won't disagree that they are a part of it but you should check out "Who Killed the Electric Car" ( see www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com for where it is showing). It looks at a lot of suspects and I pretty much agree with its assessments.
In the mean time, enjoy your diesel. Having spent most of last year in Europe, I've driven a lot of diesels recently. None of them could come close to the performance and convenience of my EV1 but I won't disparage them. I couldn't imagine driving anything that wasn't electric when I had my EV1. You're lucky that no one is going to take your diesel away from you and crush it like they did all of the EV1's.
In addition to what Ex EV stated, surprisingly the USA's emissions standards are actually more stringent than Europe's. Thus VW can't sell '07 diesels because they cannot meet the new EPA standards, a comparision that is not seen in Europe.
I usually get questions from people about my HCH when I'm at the gas station. People want to know about the gas mileage and such. Always makes me feel good.
Are you kidding? The smug self-righteous moral superiority is one of the best perks of driving a hybrid! :)
Sara
Post a new comment