The title is an actual quote from an article in
The Capital Times on Hybrid 'Hypermilers' -
http://www.madison.com/tct/archives/index.php?archAction=arch_read&a_from=search&a_file=%2Ftct%2F2007%2F07%2F23%2F0707230299.php"Jerad Parish.....last year he only managed 74 mpg in his 2005 Toyota Prius. This year, with some new techniques under his belt, he won his division with 110 mpg."
This is a commercially available vehicle.
So this is what's possible when there is an incentive. In this case the incentive was a contest. What if the incentive was gasoline at $5.00 or $6.00 per gallon? A lot more people in the U.S. would be getting a lot better mileage.
The best way to increase your mileage on the highway...slow down. (I didn't say it would be popular with most.) Wind resistance increases by the square of your speed. The difference in wind resistance between 60 mph and 70 mph? 60 x 60 = 3,600 ; 70 x 70 = 4,900. The increase = 36%. Yes, there goes your mileage down the tubes. So you're getting where you're going 17% faster, but your wind resistance is up by 36%.
For those bicycle riders that can go 21 mph, but would like to go 24 mph -- the price? Overcoming
30% more wind resistance. Makes me appreciate the power that professional cyclists and triathletes can generate. By the way, even the top pros can't generate anywhere near 1 horsepower for a sustained period. But, I digress...
Here's a great quote from Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist.
Americans have every right to shop for groceries in vehicles built for hunting elephants, but then they should stop whining about the inevitable oil price crunch that follows.He is a proponent of higher gasoline taxes. Unfortunately, I've never seen him mention the regressive nature of energy taxes and that we'd need to address that for the nation's poor. I don't think he cares.....
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Would we rather slow down and/or drive smaller vehicles to pay less for energy (including new energy taxes)
OR have global warming? Slow down/drive smaller vehicles
OR be at war over oil? I recognize it's not that simple, but raising energy taxes and returning that money in the form of lower income taxes is a significant step in the right direction.
