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Originally Posted by djellison
Last weekend on the BBC show Top Gear, going toe-to-toe, flat out, around a race track, a Prius got 13 mpg. A BMW M3 - a massively fast sports saloon, matching the pace of the Prius, got 15 mpg.
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Flat out. Those are the key words. You don't drive a Prius flat-out. They're not made to do that. They're made to have optimal gas mileage in stop-and-go traffic.
The comparison is a lot like ripping on Porsche for making cars that can't carry a half tonne payload over unplowed roads.
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On a long journey, the Prius might get 35-40mpg. A small diesel will get 70mpg (and yes, I know and have seen first hand that Diesel can be hard to find, and more expensive than petrol in the US - but when you're getting 50% more mileage, a 25% price premium still nets you a financial gain )
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1) Again, TDIs are built to have optimal mileage while holding at their cruising speed. This is not the same sort of road situation in which the Prius was designed to be optimal.
2) Volkswagons have a reputation for being more expensive to maintain, especially in North America. If it costs you $500 more per year buying gas over diesel, but average $500 more per year in maintenance over the car's lifetime, you haven't saved a thing. Total cost of ownership is a better measure, overall, I think.
3) Volkswagon apparently recently announced they were making a TDI-hybrid. It was still in testing, so they didn't release a gas-mileage figure in that press release. This is, however, second-hand. I didn't see the press release, only a description of it.
The "rightness" of one's choice of car depends significantly on the specific road conditions one will encounter. As an Eastern Canadian, I'm best served by a car that cruises well, that starts reliably in very cold weather, that can take 15in rims (reasonable negotiation of snow drifts), and is inexpensive to maintain over its lifetime. My manual-shift, gasoline-powered Corolla meets my needs very nicely, thanks all the same.
In any case, yes, the hybrids aren't "the solution" in the long run, but they're a step in the right direction. The only cure for not-enough-innovation is more innovation.