I have zero posts but I wanted to put in my two cents and see if there are any alternatives to this vehicle wrap because my dealings with the company have not been so great.
I have been hypermiling for a few months now- have a profile on fuelly which I dutifully update -
SS Choco Cat (Honda CR-V) | Fuelly - I read the posts on ecomodder but have not been compelled to participate until today.
I was interested in MPG-Plus to wrap my bumper and perhaps my hood myself- basically I wanted the raw material to experiment.
I was given a prompt reply and told that they did not sell the material itself, and only self-installed full wraps, not partial wraps. The gentleman gave me a quote for my 2008 CRV of $3400: I sent this email in reply which I thought would be informative for you all to read. This product might be worth it for some people if it delivered what it claimed, but I dont think its right for me. I invite you to make your own conclusions:
Well Jason, you make a compelling argument, but I just don't know if this would be right for me given that you must install the material yourself. I wonder what the data would look like when comparing a partial wrap to a full wrap- there must be a point of diminishing returns...
I understand where you are coming from- you have a unique product that you wish to carefully introduce to the market. Where I'm coming from is an intelligent, discriminating community of drivers who have an intense DIY ethic and know when something is worth their while.
Based on the numbers available, I have scratched out a quick cost-benefit analysis of purchasing an entire wrap. It may not be entirely accurate, and it is only for my personal vehicle, but I hope it is illuminating to you.
I drive my CRV about 30,000 miles per year. Honda claims a fuel efficiency of 22 mpg on average. This translates into 1363.64 gallons used per year. MPG-Plus claims upwards of a 20% increase in fuel efficiency (according to the treehugger article) - great! Now my CRV gets 26.4 mpg and consumes 1136.36 gallons per year- a savings of 227.28 gallons.
Multiply this by 2.00 per gallon, the average price of gas in my area, and I'm saving $454.56 per year. Your estimate for a full wrap is $3697.50 with tax included. This means that the wrap pays for itself in a little over 8 years, or 250,000 miles later- at which point the car will most likely be at the end of its life, if it hasn't died already. This does not look too appealing...
What also worries me is that your website claims at least a 5 year lifespan on the wrap. Well what does this mean exactly? Do you claim it will maintain the same MPG savings for five years? Will it buckle or crease or bubble at all, thereby reducing fuel efficiency? Is this a warranty? What happens to the product after 8 years, when it conceivably would start paying for itself?
As you can see, after this analysis I am highly suspect of the benefits of your product, especially given that the data you give on its performance is only anecdotal.
If your company makes some changes to make MPG-Plus more appealing to the general market, I will consider purchasing it. Until then, I wish you luck.
-Michael Colombo
CC: Ecomodder Forum