In the hybrid, as soon as AC goes on, gas engine goes on. That is why EPA
test results are a joke.


"General Schvantzkoph" > wrote in message
news
> On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:02:45 +0000, Art wrote:
>
>> AC is off during tests. That is why hybrids results are ridiculous. As
>> for
>> the Hemi, perhaps it was optimized to turn off extra cylinders during the
>> test and your driving habits do not mirror those test circumstances.
>
> Hard to believe that AC makes a 25% difference in a 4000lb car. The flat
> surface for the government tests could be the reason for the huge
> difference. 300Cs are very heavy and New England (where I live) is very
> hilly even on highways. Lugging a 300C up a hill probably puts enough
> strain on the system that all 8 cylinders are engaged which means that you
> are going to use much more energy going up a hill then you get back going
> down the other side because the engine is operating in it's less efficient
> mode on the upside of the hill. I wonder how hybrids behave on hills. On
> the one hand a true hybrid like the Toyotas will have to engage it's
> gas engine more on the other hand they recover more energy on the down
> side of hills because of the regenerative breaking.