A Hybrid RR Evoque

I see in one of the UK car magazines that the RRS Hybrid and the SDv8 (4.4 twin turbo diesel) have gone on sale at £81,000 each. The Hybrid has same performance as the SDv8 yet has only a 3.0ltr TDv6 engine so the electric bit gives it a good bit of extra poke for all those extra £££££££'s

(12-11-2013 10:01am)speary Wrote:  I remember on top gear some years ago they did a consumption test between a BMW M3 and a Toyota pious on a track. All the Poius had to do was keep up with the M3. At the end of the test the M3 did 16 mpg, the Prius did 15

I have to say I have plenty of friends with Prius cars and they get fantastic mileage. In the real world. One couple I know loved the mileage so much, they bought two. Personally I think the crew at Top Gear are the biggest pile of bone-heads that ever found their way behind the wheel of a car. They're constantly staging tests to produce a predetermined result. I remember when they wanted to compare mileage on an a/c equipped car vs one w/o. So the geniuses drove around a parking lot at about 20mph for an hour to "prove" the car w/o a/c would win. Top Gear is the Fox News of the car world.

(13-11-2013 04:54pm)scrannel Wrote:  I have to say I have plenty of friends with Prius cars and they get fantastic mileage. In the real world. One couple I know loved the mileage so much, they bought two. Personally I think the crew at Top Gear are the biggest pile of bone-heads that ever found their way behind the wheel of a car. They're constantly staging tests to produce a predetermined result. I remember when they wanted to compare mileage on an a/c equipped car vs one w/o. So the geniuses drove around a parking lot at about 20mph for an hour to "prove" the car w/o a/c would win. Top Gear is the Fox News of the car world.

Not a Clarkson fan then
Take Top Gear for what it is. A bit of light hearted fun aimed at winding people up who are easily wound up

My wife has a focus 1.6 diesel estate and she can get 65 mpg with just 1 engine and no batteries. My gripe is that everybody seems to forget the additional co2 from making electric motors and batteries and shipping them all over the world. Not to mention scarce lithium supplies. It isn't a level playing field when comparing conventional cars with hybrid/electric cars

TG used to be a serious motoring programme way back in the 1970's and 80's but now it's an entertainment show for massaging the ego of Clarkson

Thanks for all your replies guys, I'm really grateful and impressed. I've appealed to many a forum before for various ulterior motives, but I think this has been the most generous response I've had

Personally, I agree with a lot of what you've said; although they have great potential advantages, hybrids are a bit of a gamble at this point in their development, and it's likely as not a better investment to buy an efficient diesel. But that's apparently not good enough for our project, for some reason..

The point about lithium is very real. It's a scarce resource and there isn't enough of it to seriously change the automotive world. Besides, I need it for my iPhone and iPad.

(13-11-2013 05:52pm)speary Wrote:  My wife has a focus 1.6 diesel estate and she can get 65 mpg with just 1 engine and no batteries. My gripe is that everybody seems to forget the additional co2 from making electric motors and batteries and shipping them all over the world. Not to mention scarce lithium supplies. It isn't a level playing field when comparing conventional cars with hybrid/electric cars

I often thought the same when I was getting the same out of my focus; no pious prius for me

Hydrogen fuel cell. Its the future

The motoring magazines have been saying for a long time that there is a huge question mark over just how economical hybrids are and that modern really good turbo diesels and petrol engies are actual less poluting over the lifecycle of the vehicle and they are much more efficient in their use of materials than hybrids or ZEV's (purely electric cars) which of course may not emit themselves but we have to make electricity and that is hugely poluting. When was the last time you saw a Tesla hooked up to one of the recharging points all over the country or a Nissan Leaf plugged into a free power point in a multi-storey car park. I saw my first ever Vauxhall Ampera on Monday on the M1, I wondered if it was a coincidence that I was also passing Luton and the home of Vauxhall in the UK......

I think it is a bit shortsighted to say that just because they are not, right now, as good as standard petrol/diesel, that universities and/or commercial enterprises should no longer invest in R&D in these areas.

Someone has to make the breakthroughs.