I followed an Insight up Parley's Canyon for a little while a few weeks back, just for laughs. Right lane, struggling along behind the semis. I really felt sorry for the poor guy. I finally tired of the amusement, and blew past him in my 2 ton, 18 foot long Mercedes diesel.
Then I found out why he was having such a struggle. He was coming from the East, and therefore had crossed a lot of mountains, whether he took I-80 or U.S. 40. As I was crusing along down the other side of the pass with the cruise control locked on 70mph he blew by me doing about 90, and gave me a "look" as he went by.
VERY IMPRESSIVE! The downhill performance was blistering!
Of course, he was not getting any "regenerative braking" by doing that. If his behavior on previous downhill stretches was similar to that one he had no juice in his batteries, and no way of getting any. I mean...if you insist on driving a hybrid, you should at least know HOW to drive it! I imagine he was probably hauling the mail on level ground, too, so his batteries were simply never getting charged.
As for VW: The original "Concept One", that later became the New Beetle, was originally intended only as a test bed for all-electric and "hybrid" drivetrains. VW hasn't said much in public about their tinkering, but rest assured that they're looking into that stuff, too. All of their hybrids, though, have been based around TDI engines, not gassers. And since they already have a solution to the fuel economy question, while still maintaining levels of safety, room, handling and power that the average driver would find acceptable, it seems logical that they probably aren't spending as much effort on that stuff as some other manufacturers. Once you have a TDI, why mess with other options?
VW may have the crazy idea that they want to make a PROFIT. If the Insights get any cheaper I may have to buy one and use it for target practice! Maybe they'll throw in a free Insight if you buy a minivan or something. Or perhaps they'll put them in boxes of Froot Loops.
-mickey
