Car and Driver EV Comparisons for Feb 2014

[Richmond72]

Anybody else read this hit piece on EVs? The FFE came in second behind the Chevy Spark EV. I don't really have an issue with the results, some of the categories were subjective and that always leads to non-scientific results. What I do have an issue with was some of the details and comments:

..."as Senior online editor Ron Sessions says, 'cars with one-gallon gas tanks that take five hours to fill'"
------Um, even if the range is 64 miles (worst case scenario), which ICE car out there gets 64 miles to the gallon. Comparing to a car with a case tank, that would be a car with a 3-4 gallon gas tank.

..."absurdity of a $37,000 Ford Focus with a 64-mile driving range"
------It's not a $37,000 car, price should have been stated less the Fed Tax credit and less the $6,000 rebate that is available through the end of next month (unless it is extended).

..."We could only drive them about 100 miles over two days without risking a long walk, which gave us a lot of time to think"
------Realistically they could have tested over 200 miles in two days.

I'm not really surprised at these comments, I've been reading stuff like this since I got my first Ford Escape Hybrid (cost benefit, unrealistic MPG projections, etc.). It just drives me crazy when I see such blatant disregard for facts in a legitimate magazine.

 

[Gigi]

Yeah, I read it. It reminds me of what "everyone" was saying when Michelin radials were first introduced in the US, "You don't want to buy radials, they ride rough." At the time, the American tire manufacturers were all making bias ply tires and only Michelin was making radials. People saw the bulge where the tire met the road and thought they always looked like they were going flat.

Who buys bias ply tires today? We have gotten used to the bulge and auto manufacturers have made the adjustments in suspensions that make driving on radial tires better than on bias ply. Since gas mileage became a concern, eking a few more mpg out of a car by driving on radials rather than bias ply became the rule rather than the exception.

The article sounds like it was written by someone who just hasn't gotten their mind around the whole idea of driving on electricity. The writer's perspective is limited by the assumptions of the predominant view of motor vehicles.

 

[dmen]

Yeah richmond I had a similar response to the article. It almost seemed like a spoof comparison. I think the target audience was motorheads who want to get a good laugh at how limited these things are rather than people actually interested in an EV. I don't think it means much that the FFE was second best as decided by a group of guys that have no previous experience with EVs, came to the task with preconceived notions, and looked more at what an EV can't do as well as an ICE rather than what it can uniquely do better.
Not only do they ignore the incentive, tax credit and state rebates in considering the price, they ignore the dramatically lower cost to fuel and maintain EV vs ICE vehicles.

 

[unplugged]

Anybody else read this hit piece on EVs?

Yes, there is a thread on this article in the NEWS segment of this forum that was started on February 5th. You can check it out here: http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1778

Please move over to this thread so we don't have two overlapping subjects on different sections of the site. Thanks.