fuel efficiency
-
Umbra on picking the right car
Dear Umbra, In 1981, I bought my first car, a Honda Civic. It was a great car, and despite what certain congressional leaders say about car size and safety, an excellent vehicle for handling winter snow and ice in mountain driving in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The problem is that now, living in Pennsylvania, my husband […]
-
Umbra on cooling your car
Dear Umbra, Is it more efficient to drive down the highway with my windows down or the air conditioner on? I know the air conditioner decreases gas mileage, but I bet having my windows down at 75 miles per hour produces pretty good drag. Thanks, Sara Dearest Sara, This is July’s Question of the Month […]
-
Umbra on hybrid cars
Umbra, hi, With Honda having just released its gas-electric hybrid Civic in the U.S., many enviros are scrambling to buy one. But one question that hasn’t been answered to my knowledge is whether the total amount of energy, pollution, mining, etc. involved in making a new car — even a hybrid — constitutes a greater […]
-
A breakdown of the CAFE standards yeas and nays in the Senate
By a vote of 62 to 38, the U.S. Senate decided yesterday to remove from the energy bill a provision that would have increased Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency vehicle standards. Instead, the Senate opted for an industry-backed proposal to give the Bush administration two more years to study the implications of raising CAFE standards. You […]
-
![]()
![]()
The Big Three are talking a good game, but reality does not match the rhetoric
Judging by the media hype over Ford’s and General Motors’ early January announcements on “hybrid” vehicles at the North American International Auto Show, one would think that automakers have seen the light and are finally matching their professed concern for the environment with deeds. Hybrid cars deliver better fuel efficiency by using two power sources […]
-
Zen and the Art of Fuel Efficiency
This column is not a Honda ad, though it will start off sounding like one. This is an ad for feedback. I’ve had a Honda Insight, a gas-electric hybrid car, for less than a month. It has taught me a whole new way of driving, thanks to feedback from its instrument panel. An Insight instrument […]
-
A Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
They are intrepid: Navigator, Explorer, Expedition, Blazer. They are virile and exotic: Bronco, Cherokee, Laredo, Tahoe. They are your friends: Amigo. They are even, on occasion, honest about themselves: Suburban. SUVs are huge and getting huger by the model year. One need not pore over market statistics (SUVs now represent about 20 percent of the […]
