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Originally Posted by Old Mechanic
Why does it use more fuel to accelerate at higher rates?
You are doing more work to increase the inertial state of the vehicle.
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No. From a pure physics POV (neglecting engine inefficiencies, etc) you're doing exactly the same amount of work to accelerate to a given speed:
Work (physics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You're using a greater power, but applying that power for a shorter time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(physics)
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My Insight would use 12 times the fuel at maximum acceleration than it did at lower constant speeds.
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Sure, but what about fuel consumption vs rate of acceleration? Then with the Insight, there's still another factor, which is that if you accelerate hard enough, the electric assist comes on, using energy that you'll (partially) recover in the next braking. But if your battery charge is below about 3/4, the engine will be charging the battery, and thus using more fuel...