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Thread: Journalist sees 2015 Micra as reason to avoid hybrids & electric cars (Globe & Mail)

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    Journalist sees 2015 Micra as reason to avoid hybrids & electric cars (Globe & Mail)

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    Check this out: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle16896589/

    This article starts off with a pretty grand compliment:

    The most interesting car I have yet to see at the Toronto auto show is the 2015 Nissan Micra -- $9,998 to start when it goes on sale this spring.
    But then the writer goes off track and uses the Micra to have a go at his favourite punching bags: hybrids & EV's.

    [With a $10k car available,] now who wants an electric car, or a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid or a hydrogen fuel cell car? If fuel efficiency and a light footprint are your goals, the teeny, tiny Micra is the perfect antidote to electric vehicle (EV) madness.
    I've read lots of Cato's work - his pieces on hybrids & EV's tend to be of the "rant" variety.

    I think this is a dumb piece, because there's nothing new about the Micra that makes its "footprint" any lighter than the other city cars available. So this is not "news" -- it's just an excuse for another rant. Maybe it's just click bait.

    And Cato surely knows his argument that tiny city cars are the solution to fossil fuel use reduction is ridiculous. People are not going to flock to Nissan dealers to trade their Malibus for Micras. He also must know that the vast majority of buyers aren't going to get the base, $9998 car -- hardly anyone knows how to drive stick any more, for one thing!

    He also mixes up two separate arguments: environmental impact and cost. (And he's actually wrong that a Leaf doesn't have a smaller overall "footprint" than even a Micra.)

    On financial prudence, it's just dumb to argue that the $10k car is better than a $20k hybrid. Because you can just as easily argue that a $4k used car is a better financial choice than the $10k one, and we don't see him doing that. And why stop there? Heck, a bicycle and a transit pass is a far better choice than a $4k car.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Micra S manual: 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.5 mpg (Imp) ... 20.0 km/L ... 47.0 mpg (US) ...


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    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Haha, just another "journalist" with a biased grudge against something for some reason or another.

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    I'm glad to see cars being down scaled and cheaper like they were in the 80's and 90's. Small cars can be both fun and economical! I think the best analogy would be the 90's CRX's which the Micra is nearly same weight. Light, small and powerful makes for a zippy car.

    As far as hybridizing. The CRZ gets less mileage and is considered less fun to drive than the CRX because of bloat. But that could be said to be just their poor application of hybrid tech. I see a lot of promise in the 48volt hybrid systems coming out. The Micra would be perfect for that. But i suspect the Micra has more SI, than HF running in it's motor oil.



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