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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Carlos, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It sounds like 40 mpg is considered some sort
of breakthrough in the USA - have I misunderstood? My wife's regular diesel Audi
A4 consistently averages 50 mpg across city and open road, better than cars used
to be, but we don't think it's anything special. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think this just reinforces your point about
clever (or sneaky) "green" branding by the auto industry.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With best wishes, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brendan.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>_____________________________________________________________________________________<BR>From
Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : <A
href="mailto:etts@indigo.ie">etts@indigo.ie</A> tel :
+353.87.2530286</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=carlos.pardo@sutp.org href="mailto:carlos.pardo@sutp.org">Carlos F.
Pardo SUTP</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=carfree_cities@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:carfree_cities@yahoogroups.com">carfree_cities@yahoogroups.com</A>
; <A title=WorldTransport-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:WorldTransport-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com">WorldTransport-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com</A>
; <A title=NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com">NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com</A>
; <A title=sutp-asia@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:sutp-asia@yahoogroups.com">sutp-asia@yahoogroups.com</A> ; <A
title=sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org
href="mailto:sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org">'Asia and the Pacific
sustainable transport'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 17, 2006 12:01
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [sustran] Hybrid cars- article
from IHT</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">A nice, centered article about the
reality of hybrid cars and their “fuel
efficiency”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=FR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=FR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Source: </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/16/opinion/edkitman.php"><SPAN
lang=FR>http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/16/opinion/edkitman.php</SPAN></A></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=FR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=FR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<H1><FONT face=Georgia color=#333322 size=5><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt">Life
in the green lane <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=text3><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><A
href="http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=Jamie%20Lincoln%20Kitman&sort=swishrank"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Jamie Lincoln Kitman</SPAN></B></A> The New York
Times</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><IMG id=_x0000_i1028 height=5
src="cid:002f01c663ba$451f64b0$0100007f@finn" width=5 border=0><BR><SPAN
class=text21><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt">MONDAY,
APRIL 17, 2006</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=#555544><SPAN
style="COLOR: #555544"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If you've gone to any auto show in
the last year or so, you'll know that hybrid cars are the hippest automotive
fashion statement to come along in years. They've become synonymous with the
worthy goal of reducing gasoline consumption and dependence on foreign oil and
all that this means for a better environment and more stable geopolitics.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And yet like fat-free desserts,
which sound healthy but can still make you fat, the hybrid car can make people
feel as if they're doing something good, even when they're doing nothing
special at all. As consumers and governments at every level climb onto the
hybrid bandwagon, there is the very real danger of elevating the technology at
the expense of the intended outcome - saving gas.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Few things these days say
"environmentally aware consumer" so loudly as the fuel-sipping Toyota Prius.
With its two power sources - one a gasoline- powered internal combustion
engine, the other a battery-driven electric motor - the best-selling Prius
(and other hybrids sold by Honda and Ford and due soon from several other car
makers) can go further on a gallon and emit fewer pollutants in around-town
use than most conventional automobiles because under certain circumstances
they run on battery power and consume less fuel. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">But just because a car has
so-called hybrid technology doesn't mean it's doing more to help the
environment or to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil any more
than a non-hybrid car. There are good hybrids and bad ones. Fuel-efficient
conventional cars are often better than hybrid sport-utility vehicles - just
look at how many miles per gallon the vehicle gets.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Being a professional car-tester,
which is to say a person who gets asked for unpaid car-buying advice
practically every day, I know these distinctions have already been lost on
many car buyers. And I fear they're well on their way to being lost on our
governments, too. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Lately, people have been calling me
and telling me they're thinking about buying the Lexus 400H, a new hybrid SUV.
When I tell them that they'd get better mileage in some conventional SUVs, and
even better mileage with a passenger car, they protest, "But it's a hybrid!" I
remind them that the 21 miles per gallon I saw while driving the Lexus 400H is
not particularly brilliant, efficiency-wise - hybrid or not. Because the Lexus
is a relatively heavy car and because its electric motor is deployed to
provide speed more than efficiency, it will never be a mileage champ.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The car that started the hybrid
craze, the Toyota Prius, is lauded for squeezing 40 or more miles out of a
gallon of gas, and it really can. But only when it's being driven around town.
On a cross- country excursion in a Prius, the staff of Automobile Magazine
discovered mileage plummeted on the Interstate. In fact, the car's computer,
which controls the engine and the motor, allowing them to run together or
separately, was programmed to direct the Prius to spend most of its highway
time running on gasoline because at higher speeds the batteries quickly get
exhausted. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Indeed, the gasoline engine worked
so hard that we calculated we might have used less fuel on our journey if we
had been driving Toyota's conventionally powered, similarly sized Corolla -
which costs thousands less. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For years, most of the world's big
car makers have shied away from building hybrids because while they are
technologically intriguing, they are also an inelegant engineering solution -
the use of two energy sources assures extra weight, extra complexity and extra
expense (as much as $6,000 more per car.) The hybrid car's electric battery
packs rob space from passengers and cargo and although they can be recycled,
not every owner can be counted on to do the right thing at the end of their
vehicle's service life. And an unrecycled hybrid battery pack, which weighs
more than 100 pounds, poses a major environmental hazard.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So the ideal hybrid car is one that
is used in town and carefully disposed of at the end of its days. Hybrid taxis
and buses make enormous sense. But the market knows no such distinctions.
People think they want hybrids and they'll buy them, even if a conventional
car would make more sense. The danger is that the automakers will co- opt the
hybrids' green mantle and, with the help of a government looking to bail out
its troubled friends in Detroit, misguidedly encourage the sale of hybrids
without reference to their actual effect on oil consumption.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Pro-hybrid laws and incentives
sound nice, but they might just end up subsidizing companies that have failed
to develop truly fuel-efficient vehicles at the expense of those that have had
the foresight to design their cars right in the first place. And they may
actually punish citizens who save fuel the old- fashioned way - by using less
of it, with smaller, lighter and more efficient cars. All the while, they'll
make a mockery of a potentially useful technology.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt"><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(Jamie Lincoln
Kitman is the New York bureau chief for Automobile Magazine and a columnist
for Top Gear, a British magazine.)</SPAN></FONT></I><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P><BR><BR>================================================================<BR>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS
is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable
transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). Because
of the history of the list, the main focus is on urban transport policy in
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