8th Generation Honda Civic Forum - View Single Post - California musician sues Honda for overstating fuel economy of Civic hybrid

xcopx · 07-09-2007, 01:25 AM

http://www.mercextra.com/blogs/vindu...-civic-hybrid/

California musician sues Honda for overstating fuel economy of Civic hybrid
By Vindu Goel

Southern California musician John True has never gotten close to the fuel economy advertised by Honda for his Civic hybrid. Instead of the 49 mpg city/51 mpg highway listed on the sticker, the jazz pianist says he averaged just 32 mpg in 6,000 miles of mixed driving.

Rather than just complain about it, True has filed a class action lawsuit against Honda, reports MediaNews. (AutoblogGreen has also published an interview with True in which the Ontario, Calif., resident discusses his experience with the Civic hybrid and why he filed the suit.)

I think True faces an uphill legal battle, since Honda’s ads clearly stated that “mileage may vary.” But the discovery process could open up a lot of interesting documents about hybrids and just how hard or easy it is to achieve the stated fuel economy.

True’s suit also intensifies the already spirited debate over hybrids’ fuel economy advantages. (The last time I wrote about the topic, I got 48 comments from readers, second only to my post about the iPhone. And the version of the MediaNews story on the Mercury News Website has already generated 33 comments, some supporting and some opposing True’s position).

The official fuel-economy ratings advertised on the sticker of every new car are calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has long used unrealistic driving patterns to test auto mileage. Starting with the 2008 model year, the EPA has modified its test patterns to reflect real-world driving by today’s drivers – reducing the listed fuel economy of every car, but especially hybrids. (The Civic hybrid drops to 40 city/45 highway under the new system.)

Hybrid fans say you can achieve or even exceed the EPA fuel economy if you change your driving patterns, including slowing your acceleration. Driving the speed limit also helps tremendously.

But skeptics say that hybrids, which run on a mix of gas and electric power, just don’t have a big enough advantage over gas-fueled cars to justify the higher price tag. (True says he paid $7,000 more for his hybrid Civic than a comparable conventional Civic.)

Consumer Reports, whose auto ratings are followed closely by millions, says that it got 37 mpg overall for the Civic hybrid during its last round of testing, compared with 28 mpg for the automatic and 31 mpg for the manual gas-fueled versions.

If a driver got CR’s mileage, it would take an awful lot of driving to make up for the difference in cost, especially since the upfront tax incentives to buy hybrids are drying up. (The cash cost excludes other hybrid benefits, such as reduced greenhouse-gas emissions, which might make people willing to pay more.)

Rather than posting a single mileage number, I wonder if the EPA or automakers could be more helpful to car buyers by giving them a range of fuel economy numbers, with the low and high ends defined by specific driving patterns. Or clearly state that actual mileage may be 20 to 30 percent less (or whatever is accurate) than the listed number based on individual driving habits.

07-09-2007, 01:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
xcopx Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: from NorCal, stationed in NC Age: 25 Posts: 217 Nee-kon Squad! #4 iTrader: 0 / 0%	California musician sues Honda for overstating fuel economy of Civic hybrid http://www.mercextra.com/blogs/vindu...-civic-hybrid/ California musician sues Honda for overstating fuel economy of Civic hybrid By Vindu Goel Southern California musician John True has never gotten close to the fuel economy advertised by Honda for his Civic hybrid. Instead of the 49 mpg city/51 mpg highway listed on the sticker, the jazz pianist says he averaged just 32 mpg in 6,000 miles of mixed driving. Rather than just complain about it, True has filed a class action lawsuit against Honda, reports MediaNews. (AutoblogGreen has also published an interview with True in which the Ontario, Calif., resident discusses his experience with the Civic hybrid and why he filed the suit.) I think True faces an uphill legal battle, since Honda’s ads clearly stated that “mileage may vary.” But the discovery process could open up a lot of interesting documents about hybrids and just how hard or easy it is to achieve the stated fuel economy. True’s suit also intensifies the already spirited debate over hybrids’ fuel economy advantages. (The last time I wrote about the topic, I got 48 comments from readers, second only to my post about the iPhone. And the version of the MediaNews story on the Mercury News Website has already generated 33 comments, some supporting and some opposing True’s position). The official fuel-economy ratings advertised on the sticker of every new car are calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has long used unrealistic driving patterns to test auto mileage. Starting with the 2008 model year, the EPA has modified its test patterns to reflect real-world driving by today’s drivers – reducing the listed fuel economy of every car, but especially hybrids. (The Civic hybrid drops to 40 city/45 highway under the new system.) Hybrid fans say you can achieve or even exceed the EPA fuel economy if you change your driving patterns, including slowing your acceleration. Driving the speed limit also helps tremendously. But skeptics say that hybrids, which run on a mix of gas and electric power, just don’t have a big enough advantage over gas-fueled cars to justify the higher price tag. (True says he paid $7,000 more for his hybrid Civic than a comparable conventional Civic.) Consumer Reports, whose auto ratings are followed closely by millions, says that it got 37 mpg overall for the Civic hybrid during its last round of testing, compared with 28 mpg for the automatic and 31 mpg for the manual gas-fueled versions. If a driver got CR’s mileage, it would take an awful lot of driving to make up for the difference in cost, especially since the upfront tax incentives to buy hybrids are drying up. (The cash cost excludes other hybrid benefits, such as reduced greenhouse-gas emissions, which might make people willing to pay more.) Rather than posting a single mileage number, I wonder if the EPA or automakers could be more helpful to car buyers by giving them a range of fuel economy numbers, with the low and high ends defined by specific driving patterns. Or clearly state that actual mileage may be 20 to 30 percent less (or whatever is accurate) than the listed number based on individual driving habits.