"I'm sure I can get a regular Ford Mustang
   to give me higher gas mileage [than a Honda
   Insight] with the more accurate wide-band
   O2 sensors.'

And I'll bet not.

Because 1) *you're* not incorporating regenerative braking
and recovering otherwise waste energy and 2) your power
plant's efficiency will be a lot less given any particular
cruise speed ... the Insight's electric motor *augments*
the gasoline engine when required to get up to
speed/climbing small hills ...

RF Jim


    "Our ability to manufacture fraud has exceeded
     our  ability to detect it."

     - Al Pacino as Viktor Taransky in the movie 'Simone'


----- Original Message -----
From: "Pic Dude" <picdude@PILOTTOOLS.COM>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [OT]: Gas & taxes (was Online electronics store)


> The lower used price says something strong about resale
> value ... or lack thereof.
>
> To achieve high gas mileage, they use very high-end
> components to get very accurate & efficient fuel control.
> For example, the Insight uses wide-band O2 sensors, rather
> than the regular O2 sensors most current EFI cars use.
> However, when it's time to replace these, it costs >$600
> a piece.
>
> I'm sure I can get a regular Ford Mustang to give me higher
> gas mileage with the more accurate wide-band O2 sensors.
> Even more if the body were made with the same composite
> materials, the wheel-wells covered, the car size shrunk
> down and streamlined, etc.
>
> My point here is that this is still not an
> apples-to-apples comparison.  "Regular" combustion-engined
> vehicles can gain a noticeable increase in fuel efficiency
> using the similar technologies or level of technology that
> the Insight uses, diminishing the apparent benefits of the
> Insight.
>
> Cheers,
> -Neil.
>
>

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics