Consumer Reports on Hybrid Hype
Well, I got my new copy of Consumer Reports (April 2006) and they have a “Hybrid Hype?” story on page 18. The rotten guys say that hybrids are not worth it in dollars and cents, using the old comparison to “equivalent” non-hybrid.
For the Prius they repeat the Prius to Corolla comparison. A lot of people have trouble with that because the EPA classifies the Prius as a “midsize” and the Corolla as a “small car.” That’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
Even more bizarre is that Consumer Reports is a little schizo about what the Prius actually is. On page 16 they put it in a box called “Small Cars.” On page 19 they compare it with the Corolla. But on page 23 they call it a “midsize” … while calling the Corolla a “small car.” On page 24 the Corolla is a “small car” and is grouped with small cars. On page 25 the Prius is a “sedan” and grouped with other sedans.
Ah well, for me it is the mountain bike capacity that matters, and I don’t think the Corolla has it.
To be open minded though I will lay out the details and leave it to the reader:
| Model | EPA Class | Passenger Space | Cargo Space |
| Prius | midsize car | 96.1 cu ft | 16.2 cu ft |
| Corolla | small car | 90.3 cu ft | 13.6 cu ft |
| Camry | midsize car | 101.8 cu ft | 16.7 cu ft |
Why didn’t they compare the Prius to the Camry? That’s obvious. It’s because then the “hybrid hype” would have been proven wrong.
I hope Consumer Reports gets lots of letters on this, but I’m too disgusted to write them myself …
March 6th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I wrote them. The other inconsistency is that they have a HUGE figure for “extra depreciation” for the Prius vs. Corolla, but then later in the same exact issue, they rate “depreciation” for the Prius as “much better than average”, but for the Corolla, merely “average”.
Sigh.
March 7th, 2006 at 4:55 am
Man, I didn’t catch that depreciation contradiction. It’s amazing that they try so hard to make their data fit their answer.
March 7th, 2006 at 9:02 am
OK, I posted it here:
http://mdahmus.monkeysystems.com/blog/archives/000281.html
for the 8 readers I have. Maybe somebody else will notice it in technorati, but I doubt it.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:21 am
That looks good. Maybe my 6 readers will jump over there ;-)
By the way, did you see:
link
Should help the “fair” comparisons ;-)
March 7th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
I’m staying on the conservative end — my insurance company (USAA) has yet to offer a hybrid discount.