CBS News Tonight

Wow, anyone else catch the sig as a line from George Michael's song 'Freedom '90'? Cool!

I look forward to seeing this piece tonight... domestic carmakers got caught with their pants down so now they have to try to minimize their damage by attacking the more visionary companies like Toyota and Honda.

I ordered my silver #9 a couple months ago and I've been suffering slings and arrows from the grossly underinformed people I work with.

"Its 0-60 is too slow!" --- I had a Lexus SC400, so now I know I have no desire for a sports car.

"It's new technology!" --- Let's see, this is the third iteration of Toyota's hybrid tech and the Prius has been on sale in Japan since what, 1996? Plus, it's not like it's a typically poor domestic design.

"It's too small!" --- Yeah, compared to my current car (a 1995 Avalon XLS) it's small... but it's like Dr. Who's Tardis. Small on the outside, roomy on the inside. I don't need a full-size car anyhow; mid-size suits me just fine.

...and so on. Considering I work in the technology department of a school district, my cobitches are pretty flatheaded about cool automotive tech :lol:

 

Third iteration?

 

Yes, the 2004 Prius uses Toyota's third hybrid engine from the accounts I've read. I assume the first version never made it out of the labs or it was used in a very low-production Japanese car...

 

There was a version of the Prius that was only released in Japan, in (I believe) 1997.

That was the first gen; the Prius Classic is the second gen (2000); the 2004 Prius is the third gen.

 

Our local CBS station is showing a Baltimore Orioles game instead of the network news. I will be interested to read about the broadcast.

 

I think the prius story may have been dumped because of Shell pulling a large number of stations. If not I will extract from my Replay.

Peace,

Fr. Bill

 

Pete Blackshaw is the only hybrid driver they had on. He's on a crusade.

He has a website up http://hybridbuzz.blogspot.com/

 

Yep, Blackshaw is on a crusade. His mileage sucks with his Honda and he wants revenge, so he attacks all hybrids, or at least the advertised mileage ratings. From what I'm seeing here, a lot of us are coming pretty close to what EPA estimated now that the weather has warmed up. EPA estimates are lousy anyway - my wife's Corolla is getting 31-32 MPG right now with mostly highway driving, which is nowhere near the EPA estimate. I'm averaging 48-52 with my Prius, 80% highway driving, and that's pretty darned close to what was advertised.

Perhaps Mr. Blackshaw has a lemon? Perhaps he is a poor driver? The possibilities are endless.

 

The clip with the Prius on the CBS evening news was interesting. It looked like they were driving it like they stole it. Could have been a shot from an English touring car race. Then they showed the milage display showing something like 9.5 mpg (didn't quite catch it). So----who's behind all the trashing of Hybrids that has been happening in the last Month or so? :cussing:

 

I emailed CBS with the exact observation. I suggested they talk to real Prius owners about the mileage and satisfaction instead of just talking to Consumer Reports. I find it absurd that CS only got 35 mpg in the city, and also pointed that out to them.

Jeff

 

That's why it's up to us as Prius owners to inform as many people as possible about the misinformation campaign going on. Unfortunately, large US corporations own our media and control our government through lobbying. It really sucks that you can't even expect to stay correctly informed by watching/reading the news.

If Detroit automakers want less strict fuel efficiency standards, they just lobby congress and get their way even though it's clearly not in the public's best interest. If they want people to think hybrids suck, even though the truth is the COMPLETE opposite, they get CBS to air some lies and everyone believes it because, well, they saw it on the news so it must be true and unbiased!!!

Makes me so mad that corporations can do whatever they want to screw the public and no one can hold them accountable................ grrrrrrrr.... ok, end of rant.

 

simple the media sells negtivity.

 

That's why it's up to us as Prius owners to inform as many people as possible about the misinformation campaign going on. Unfortunately, large US corporations own our media and control our government through lobbying. It really sucks that you can't even expect to stay correctly informed by watching/reading the news.

If Detroit automakers want less strict fuel efficiency standards, they just lobby congress and get their way even though it's clearly not in the public's best interest. If they want people to think hybrids suck, even though the truth is the COMPLETE opposite, they get CBS to air some lies and everyone believes it because, well, they saw it on the news so it must be true and unbiased!!!

Makes me so mad that corporations can do whatever they want to screw the public and no one can hold them accountable................ grrrrrrrr.... ok, end of rant.

 

That's why it's up to us as Prius owners to inform as many people as possible about the misinformation campaign going on. Unfortunately, large US corporations own our media and control our government through lobbying. It really sucks that you can't even expect to stay correctly informed by watching/reading the news.

If Detroit automakers want less strict fuel efficiency standards, they just lobby congress and get their way even though it's clearly not in the public's best interest. If they want people to think hybrids suck, even though the truth is the COMPLETE opposite, they get CBS to air some lies and everyone believes it because, well, they saw it on the news so it must be true and unbiased!!!

Makes me so mad that corporations can do whatever they want to screw the public and no one can hold them accountable................ grrrrrrrr.... ok, end of rant.

 

Look on the bright side: in spite of the misrepresentation, the truth will come out. The huge waiting list for a Prius suggests that not everyone is buying the reactionary b.s. from the news, and the Big Three. It would be interesting to watch Ford try to downplay hybrid technology while leasing same from Toyota for the Escape. In the last few days, I've had several people comment on how lucky I am to own a Prius and how they wished they had thought that far ahead. Duh? It doesn't take a genius to see the petroleum future.
Another bright side: the negative advertising may dissuade some on-the-fence buyers and allow those committed to getting a Prius a better shot at actually getting one. Frankly, when I'm driving down the highway, I could care less what GM thinks of the Prius. I know what I think of GM.

 

What issue was the Prius reviewed in Consumers Report? i value their
opinion greatly and would most definitely like to see what they had to
say.

 

The most recent is May the Prius against several conventional cars but I believe that it was quoting a earlier article.
Henry Drygas