[extropy-chat] Hybrid cars not fuel economic in real world driving

[Spike]

BillK:
 
> This is very true. In Europe and UK they have annual competitive car
> economy runs where the drivers achieve unbelievable mileage figures,
> just by using careful driving techniques. BillK

True.  If one is ever in an emergency sitch where one
has enough fuel to go 20 km and one knows the next 
fuel station is 40 km away, i'll offer an old motorcyclists
trick to get you to the station without walking:
Accelerate to speed steadily, not too hard, put her in 
neutral, switch off the motor and coast to a stop.  
Start the motor and repeat.  It takes a looong time 
to get there that way, but it beats pushing the car.  
One can double the fuel economy on a typical car.

Motorcyclists, you can easily prove this by riding along
at highway speeds, reach down and shut off the fuel.
Note how long you can go on the gas in the carburetors.
Now stop, shut off the fuel, and do the above trick,
see how far you can go.  Betcha it will be over twice
as far.

The effect on a motorcycle is even more than twice
the fuel economy because bikes use a larger percentage
of their gas pushing air out of the way.  Recall that
the energy use increases as the square of the velocity.

Next time you run short and need to limp into the station 
on fumes, recall this post.

spike