Give a big hand to this year’s winners of the MPG Challenge. For the third year running, the competition has had drivers at Hybridfest keeping their eyes on their fuel consumption.

36 drivers competed in the 2008 challenge, and drove a course of 26 miles. Here are the winners:

Division 1 - Honda Insight

William Kinney of Kennewick, WA
2002 Honda Insight
109 MPG

Division 2 - 2nd Generation Prius

Jerad Parish of Madison, WI
2005 Toyota Prius
99 MPG

Division 3 - Honda Civic Hybrid & 1st Generation Prius

Wayne Gerdes of Wadsworth, IL
2008 Honda Civic Hybrid
73 MPG

Division 4 - Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Accord Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Lexus GS 450h & Lexus LS 600h L

Rob Colucci of Shorewood, IL
2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid
53 MPG

Division 5 - Chevy Malibu Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h, Saturn Aura Hybrid, Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid

Richard Krueger of Warren, MI
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid
44 MPG

Division 6 - Chevy Silverado Hybrid, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, GMC Yukon Hybrid

Richard Krueger of Warren, MI
2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid
28 MPG

Division 7 - Non-hybrid vehicles

Mike Sefton of Winnipeg, Manitoba CA
2001 Volkswagen Golf TDI
82 MPG

Congratulations to all the drivers! Hybridfest will continue through Sunday, July 20, as part of the Dane County Fair. More info available…

Source: Hybridfest

Quite a few bloggers have been commenting lately on “green” marketing - how replacing older items with new supposedly environmentally-friendly version doesn’t make sense, how many of the natural or eco-friendly products aren’t … how certain hybrids aren’t much better for the environment than their significantly cheaper gas-only counterparts.

Now, according to Slate.com, the image of the hybrid car is changing … but not - in my opinion - for the right reasons:

the rising cost of oil and the current recession, which started among subprime consumers and is steadily eating its way up the economic ladder, may combine to change the hybrid vehicle’s image from a white-collar status symbol to a blue-collar money-saver.

Financially we know this doesn’t make sense for most people. Gas hasn’t reached the price where driving a hybrid is going to be less expensive than payments, insurance and gas for a different model, but the perception of savings (and of value) are making hybrids more popular.
I like it, but I dispise it, too. That evil monster, “marketing,” that convinces us that lies are truth. Are hybrids wonderful? Hells yes, but are they financially sensible options? Most often the answer is no.
The last thing I want to do is convince someone struggling to pay for gas to add a hefty car payment to their burdens. Try buying a less expensive electric car. Use ride share or car share options. Bike, or drive on down to the bus station and pick up a map and a month’s pass. Take our Earth Day Challenge. (Yeh, I’m pimping that.)

They’re dishing about batteries over at Green Energy News.

The basic gist here is that Toyota and Honda have a reputation for making cars that, when cared for properly, can get upwards of 250k before giving up the ghost. Batteries may not last that long, and we’ll end up trashing cars that could have been kept on the road.

They also bring up an initiative by PA-based, Axion Power International, to develop less expensive replacement batteries … for now, limited to Honda models. That’s important, and you can bet I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

What I won’t be keeping track of are ways for you to drive a car to death. Especially not to your own. ;) Besides being unreliable, older cars’ worn components impact fuel efficiency and give off more pollution. As we’ve stated before, it’s better environmentally to buy a newer, more efficient model than to drive a car past it’s reasonable lifespan.

More people complaining that hybrids (and electrics) are too quiet. How seriously should we be taking this? Well … consider these points:

1) If you don’t know the car is on, you’ll try to start it again. Repeatedly cranking your engine can’t be good. If you buy or rent a hybrid, please familiarize yourself on what it sounds/looks like when it’s turned on before you cost yourself a bundle in repair fees.

2) Pedestrians and drivers have to be more careful in situations where they’re close to one another. (Which is usually a great idea anyway, but - as they say - common sense, ain’t.

3) Legitimately, blind pedestrians face a challenge when it comes to quieter cars. We need to support the National Federation of the Blind in their campaign to equip cars with continuous noise emitters. Yes, it would limit the reduction of noise pollution to a degree, but it wouldn’t have to be significant. The safety of people with disabilities must remain a priority.

*** DON’T FORGET THE “NAMING THE CAR OF TOMORROW” CONTEST ***

Introducing people to better practices when they are young is a very effective way of helping them making better choices as adults. I’m so happy to hear that school districts are taking this approach to eco-friendly driving. Using revenue derived from a traffic ticket initiative, Leon County school leaders purchased a fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids for their new driver’s education program.

Not only does driving a hybrid mean fewer gas bills and less pollution for the area, but instructors will be able to use the advanced technology in the Prius to demonstrate how safer driving techniques lead to better fuel efficiency.

More here…

I stumbled onto this excellent website that pays you $2, $5 or $10 for product reviews on video. I already have appointments to go to nearby dealerships and get their hybrids on tape. :) Why didn’t I think of this before? I don’t know, but money sure is a motivator.

One reason I like hybrid cars is because they’re changing the way people think of being environmentally friendly. It doesn’t take a ton of work to make a difference. Being ecologically-minded has a bad rap for being unrealistically difficult for most folks to pull off. Hybrids, especially ultra-cool ones like the’08 Pruis in Spectra Blue, have been able to lessen our impact without making people feel put-out about it.

As this blogger points out, they aren’t the biggest change or even the most cost-effective change that people could make, but IMO, at this time, for the masses they are one of the most realistic. More importantly, they’re changing people’s attitudes toward their abilities to live with the Earth in mind.

From ComputerWorld:

“I was speaking with Eric Carlson, executive director at Carbonfund.org this week about Dell’s program that allows PC buyers the option to purchase carbon offsets when the this topic came up. The nonprofit acts as an intermediary between customers who want to buy carbon offsets and reforestation programs that plant trees that remove carbon dioxide(a total of 2,000 lbs per tree) from the atmosphere. (To plant the trees, Carbonfund.org works with Environmental Resource Trust and Rainforest Alliance. Third-party verifiers audit the programs.) Buying carbon offsets with an energy efficient PC is one way to compensate for the carbon emissions directly related to the PC’s consumption of electricity during its useful life.

That was all fine and good. But then, somehow, we got to talking about hybrid cars…”

ZAP has a tree planting initiative that takes no work on the part of their customers without additional expense. It makes me wonder how hard it would be to convince major automakers to take the leap.

 Can we talk about the blind for a moment? There’s all this hoopla over hybrids being too quiet that more hybrids on the road mean streets will be more dangerous for the disabled.

I’ve heard a few people say that as long as drivers and pedestrians obey current laws, there shouldn’t be a problem. But what about the other places that we walk as well as drive … like parking lots. How many drivers aren’t going to realize the blind can’t hear them coming?

From the above article:

“One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel economy and low emissions, is quiet performance. Not only does it not pollute the air, it doesn’t create noise pollution,” [Bill] Kwong [spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA] said. “We are studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance.”

And now this, from the same article:

Officials with two separate arms of the U.S. Department of Transportation — the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration — said they are aware of the problem but have not studied it.

Shouldn’t this be the other way around? I mean, come on folks! The American government isn’t as worried about our safety as Toyota Motor Sales? There’s a problem here. I know we all enjoy that quiet ride, but people’s safety is more important.

I like this article because it’s debunking the hype pushed around online. Most blind people don’t expect hybrids to give up their ability to lessen noise pollution. They just want some way of telling when a car is coming. It’s not written off as some remote possibility. It’s used studies to back these ideas up. Blind people’s needs aren’t being met by today’s hybrids. They deserve for this problem to be fixed. If I were blind, I would be very frustrated by people who would fight that.

AUDI

BMW

- Hydrogen7

CHEVY

- Equinox Hydrogen Fuel-Cell

- Malibu
- Silverado
- Tahoe

- Volt plug-in hybrid (2010)

DETROIT ELECTRIC

- Alias all-electric sports car

DODGE

- Durango

FORD

- Escape

GMC

- Sierra
- Yukon

HONDA

- Accord
- Civic

HYUNDAI

- Elantra LPD hybrid (2009)

- Elantra hybrid (2010)

- Sonata hybrid (2010) 

KIA

- Borrero SUV (2010) 

- Optima (2010) 

LEXUS

- GS 450h
- LS 600h
- RX 400h

MAZDA

- Tribute HEV

MERCEDES-BENZ

- S300 BlueHYBRID (late 2009)

- s400 BlueHYBRID (2009) 

MERCURY

- Mariner
- Milan

NISSAN

- Altima AT-PZEV

PORSCHE

- Cayenne

SATURN

- Aura Green Line
- Vue Green Line

TESLA - all-electric

- Roadster (2009)

TOYOTA

- Camry
- Highlander
- Prius

VOLKSWAGEN

- Golf diesel hybrid (2010)