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czechplastik · 9th July 2007, 15:49

Read this on Topgear.com

Civic litigation

God bless the Americans and their insatiable addiction to lawsuits.
In the latest round of 'heck, who can I sue today?', a Californian has issued a lawsuit against Honda over the fuel economy of his Civic Hybrid.
Honda claims a combined US economy of 50mpg for its electric/petrol hybrid, but John True says he has averaged a mere 32mpg in his first 6,000 miles of driving.
His lawsuit is thought to be the first legal challenge of hybrid mileage claims and, unsurprisingly, Honda isn't too happy about it.
A Honda spokesman pointed out that the Civic's mileage figures are produced by the EPA - the US equivalent of the DfT, which regulates and recognises British fuel economy claims - not Honda. The EPA test hasn't been revised in two decades, but it does at least provide a benchmark for comparison.
So it's your standard case of throttle-happy punter unimpressed with standardised testing, then? Perhaps not.
Andrew Frank, the US engineer who pioneered the plug-in hybrid, says that a hybrid's economy is more sensitive to driving style than conventionally powered cars.
Which is bad news if you're a heavy right-footer: even a hybrid ain't gonna save your gas bills.
We'll keep you posted about who emerges victorious in this hybrid war. The lawyers, presumably.

9th July 2007, 15:49	#1 (permalink)
czechplastik King of the rodeo Civinfo guru Join Date: 24th October 2006 Location: Belfast Posts: 4,492 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hybrid lawsuit.... Read this on Topgear.com Civic litigation God bless the Americans and their insatiable addiction to lawsuits. In the latest round of 'heck, who can I sue today?', a Californian has issued a lawsuit against Honda over the fuel economy of his Civic Hybrid. Honda claims a combined US economy of 50mpg for its electric/petrol hybrid, but John True says he has averaged a mere 32mpg in his first 6,000 miles of driving. His lawsuit is thought to be the first legal challenge of hybrid mileage claims and, unsurprisingly, Honda isn't too happy about it. A Honda spokesman pointed out that the Civic's mileage figures are produced by the EPA - the US equivalent of the DfT, which regulates and recognises British fuel economy claims - not Honda. The EPA test hasn't been revised in two decades, but it does at least provide a benchmark for comparison. So it's your standard case of throttle-happy punter unimpressed with standardised testing, then? Perhaps not. Andrew Frank, the US engineer who pioneered the plug-in hybrid, says that a hybrid's economy is more sensitive to driving style than conventionally powered cars. Which is bad news if you're a heavy right-footer: even a hybrid ain't gonna save your gas bills. We'll keep you posted about who emerges victorious in this hybrid war. The lawyers, presumably. Last edited by czechplastik; 9th July 2007 at 15:54.