Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
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So why would I choose to buy a Hybrid Diesel vs a non-Hybrid one ?
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I'm a great believer in the right tool for the right job and the wide selection of vehicles and local requirements means there is an optimum solution for each case:
- less than 12,000 km (7,500 miles) per year - it doesn't matter as long as it can handle the largest number of passengers, luggage and any towing requirements.
- 12,000 -24,000 km (7,500 to 15,000 miles) per year - it dependes upon the mix of urban, extra-urban trips and their relative frequency along with relative fuel costs.
- over 24,000 km (15,000 miles) per year - it depends upon the mix of urban and extra-urban travel.
Factors leaning towards a hybrid:
- mostly urban travel - where slower speeds, the engine ON/OFF cycling and regenerative braking improve vehicle efficiency
Factors for diesel (or gas)
- mostly long distance, extra-urban, travel above 110 km/hr
Factors leaning toward an electric:
- exclusive urban travel of daily distances under 40 km.
Factors leaning towards gas:
- frequent, rapid accelerations needed and no concern for fuel costs (aka., the Top Gear solution.)
Understand the original question had to do with why a diesel hybrid versus a smaller or larger diesel. But when the scope expands to why any one individual should go with one vehicle versus another, we have to go back to requirements and let them drive the optimum solution. Sad to say, there are many often obscure and non-financial requirements and these have to be weighted too. This is a much more complex problem.
One side comment, there is no single mileage number for any vehicle that accurately predicts 'in service' performance. For example, this is my constant speed, MPG vs MPH (fuel consumption versus speed) chart:
But in reality, this is the distribution of mileage in service:
It varies by temperature and activities so I don't get too worried about individual tanks. I'm reasonably happy with my current 52 MPG and am working on the next step.
Several years ago, some Jetta TDI diesel advocates came to a hybrid site claiming the Prius mileage was rubbish and we should all go get diesels. But it turns out there is a USA government web site where individual owners can record their mileage and collecting the data, we found these user mileage values:
Notice there are some areas of overlap. There may be individual cases where someone would get better mileage with a Jetta TDI than an NHW20 Prius. It has to do with the specific driving profiles. What I'm suggesting is we can craft any set of requirements to dictate the answer. The better answer is to look at the requirements and let them dictate the best answer.
Bob Wilson
ps. We had one diesel advocate claim the Jetta TDI was getting a falsely low "official" mileage number. So I looked at the data and sure enough, they were right:
However, the differences relative to the "official mileage" did not make up for the relative, in-service performance. The Jetta is a compact car compared to the Prius, full-size, hatchback.