Thanks for your feedback Rich. It is a well known fact that walking or biking is infinitely cleaner than driving any car no matter how efficient. That is not up for debate.

Articles like the ones above are intended for those of us who must drive, or who simply enjoy driving. Millions of people around the world drive cars as part of a daily routine, and if any real success is to be made in reducing carbon emissions, this fact must be taken into account as we move to reduce our overall carbon footprint.

You are right when you state that 35mpg in and of itself is no remarkable achievement. However, this is the first car of its kind that offers V6 engine power, with the efficiency of a small 4 cylinder engine.

In terms of emissions, the car the car is extremely clean. At idle, the car uses only electric power, and thats when it puts out zero emissions. A good percentage of dangerous auto emissions occur during idling or at very low speeds during acceleration. It has been rated a PZEV vehicle in the state of California, and only 5 other cars have achieved this stringent rating for near zero emissions.

numbers wise, driving 15000 miles in an accord hybrid will produce 5.9 tons of green house gases. By comparison a Toyota Camry puts out almost 8 tons.

The 51 mpg diesel engines you describe are a far worse alternative for the environment. in fact, diesel engines are one of the worst polluting vehicles on the road. While they use less fuel, the burning of deisel produces large amounts of nitrous oxide, an extremely harmful greenhouse gas. In fact, in the state of California diesel passenger vehicles are all but prohibited. New diesels are showing promise, but your European diesels would definitely not be legal in the state of California, known for having some of the most stringent emissions standards in the world.

If more people drove cars like the Accord hybrid, the net effect on carbon emmisions would be a reduction of almost 30 percent.

hi there. i haven’t done an incredible amount of research on the subject. but my girlfriend was just recently looking for a car. she considered the accord hybrid, also. however, the accord 4-cylinder actually gets better gas mileage than the V6 hybrid. she went with the 4-cylinder, and is extraordinarily happy. i’ve driven it, and it has an incredible amount of zip and pep, to use highly technical terms.

i know having a car that says “hybrid” on it is a great beacon of being environmentally friendly. but sometimes non-hybrid vehicles are actually better than those that are hybrids. you may want to consider looking into a 4-cylinder. you may find that it’s better aligned with your eco-chick-ness than the hybrid, after all.

she had to ask specifically for the 4 cylinder, and they looked at her a little funny, but she’s very happy and saved quite a bit of money also.

happy car-hunting!

Hi guys. thanks for your comments. very enlightening and good to get a discussion going on the subject of personal transportation choices.

I agree with you Richard and applaud your ideals. If you don’t have to drive you shouldn’t, and a lot of people don’t HAVE to drive. I for one work from home, completely abolishing a commute. I also purchase trees to be planted in order to further offset my carbon. In the end i guess what im trying to say is that I am trying, and if more people did we would see a BIG drop in carbon output in a very short period of time, without sacrificing as much as people think they have to.

In Los Angeles and San Diego where i spend most of my time, public transportation is not up to par with the needs of most people.

To convince masses of people to make cleaner choices is a major undertaking that cannot be done overnight. I believe this car is a major achievement in that it represents the transition to a truly green vehicle that maintains the current standard that most people high incomes are used to. i refer to people with high incomes, because those are the ones who tend to leave the biggest footprint. If we are to dismiss a vehicle like this because it is not 100 percent clean, or even 50 percent clean, then we will only be further encouraging the affluent to continue to drive their fast 15 mpg conventional cars.

There is huge room for improvement and limitations that need to be enforced on personal transportation, but we need to start somewhere.
As i undertand it, this site is not just about completely eradicating our current way of life in favor of green choices, but also about making the right choices when few others are presented.

Also thanks Kate for your 4 cyl accord suggestion. I am still looking for a high performance car and that particular model doesn’t fit the bill. yes i realize that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but I am trying to find the balance. If it means i have to plant more trees this year, then thats what i’ll do :)

PS im an eco stud! nice!

Hello! I’m new to this and I was poking around and stumbled accross this blog. I found the comments on PT very interesting.
I agree that they are not up to par for a lot of people. I for one live in the rural part of town. There is one bus that comes by only twice a day. I have 2 kids and we have no sidewalks. So not only is it inconvenient ( I can’t always go into town at 8:15 am) it’s not safe because of the excessive speeding along my road.
I would love to use it more, but would not move into town just to use the public transportation.
Living in the country, I am able to keep the land I own from being developed, I can grow my own fruits and veggies. I can raise my animals, (chickens for eggs, and a sweet Jersey cow for milk). If there was one more change I could make it would be to own a hybrid mini-van. I wish they made one. (but I own a toyota, and I’m looking into biofuel conversion).
we all try. we are all hypocrites in one way or another. and looking for a little bit of vroom-vroom is not a bad thing.
Keep planting trees, Greg, and don’t feel guilty for wanting a little speed out of life!

Sadie Rose