Honda's new hybrid: the spy photos

Many thanks " Engineer" for your comments. My worry is you wont come back to this article again, but just in case: So test runs for 6.7 miles and takes 20 mins. So average speed of 20.1 mph. Now convince me that doesn't favour a hybrid. Secondly, every car has to go through the test cycle the day before. So doesn't that also ensure the hybrids battery is at least still highly charged,after all 6.7 miles at 20mph isn't going to kill it is it. Come on, if these tests were real they would cover 500 miles at town and motorway speeds surely. So lets save the time on the mickey mouse warm up the day before and flog it properly on the test day. I know these tests never approximate real life consumption but we could get a lot closer and make comparisons between vehicles more realistic.

Jonesg - the fuel consumption test (Directive 80/1268/EEC ammended by 2004/3/EC) measures the fuel consuption over 11km (or 6.7miles)lasting 20mins (1180sec to be exact). The drive cycle has a low average speed and very gentle accell's. The test is run from a cold start and the car must be driven throught the drive cycle teh day before soits not possible to fully charge the batteries prior to teh test. We run this test daily and have tested a Prius, we got very consistant test results from the Prius. So, whilst I know yuo can't the published figures I do know Prius isn't a "cycle beater" and its test results can be compared to other cars runningthe same test. On road, real life testing, is a different story! I personally don't rate it's technology.

A couple of questions on Hybrids. Is it true that the EU fuel consumption figures are based on a total test that covers less than 10kms?. If so does Toyota / Honda arrive at the test with a fully charged battery thus negating the value of the test from the start?. Does anyone know the real life fuel consumption figures of these cars? Given I read in car two months ago comments by AMG engineers that the batteries start to deteriorate after 2 years what effect does that have on consumption and emissions?. If the batteries only last 5 years and cost thousands to replace why isnt that included in running costs and form part of fuel consumption costs?. Whats their depreciation like given the battery replacement costs?.