"Mo Miles" Hybrid Car Stolen!

Hard to believe this, but my beloved "Mo Miles" Honda Civic hybrid car was stolen this past weekend. Apparently, the police recovered the car somewhere in the middle of Cincinnati. I plan on picking it up sometime tomorrow, and I'm hoping the damage is minimal. At one level, I'd like to believe folks are so crazy about hybrid cars here in Cincinnati that they want to steal them, but the reality, I think, is that "Mo Miles" was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, actually, it was right in front of my house. Losing this car would have been tragic. This car has been the subject of so much drama throughout it's brief, yet storied, career.

Mo Miles Attacked and Vandalized: Say It Ain't So!

Just when things started to improve with MoMiles (I went through a brief period this summer when the car started getting about 38-40 MPG), someone in my neighborhood vandalized my cherished "Mo Miles" license plate. I purchased this cool frame for the outside that read "Learn and Lead -- HybridBuzz.com" that was completely ripped to shreds. Can't figure it out. Either a reckless drunk college kid prank (lots of bars in my neighborhood), or the early seeds of an anti-environmental backlash here in Cincinnati. Very upsetting. Although they tried to literally break the license plate in half, it still survivies.

Improved Tax Breaks for Hybrid Owners

Despite my ups and downs with my own hybrid car, I'm pleased to report that the government is getting more aggressive in creating incentives for consumers to test drive such technologies. More here.

USA Today on Hybrid Cars (Including This Blog)

This weekend's edition of USA Today includes a story on hybrid cars which features this author and this blog. What's great about the story is that it suggests that auto OEMs are starting to step up to the plate in educating buyers about how to optimize performance and mileage from Hybrid cars. To wit:

...last weekend, Ford engineers spent two days teaching 300 well-educated, well-connected technology lovers everything they can do to maximize the mileage on their gas-electric hybrid versions of the Escape SUV.

Hybrid Mileage Education?

Autoblog reports that hybrid car manufacturers are taking strides to better educate consumers around optimizing mileage. This is a very encouraging development. Kudos to those stepping up to the plate!

Hitting the 2-Year Mark

I've been driving my Honda Civic Hybrid for nearly two years now. I'm still quite proud of being part of the hybrid movement, and there are so many things I realy like about my car, but the low miles I'm receiving remain a source of deep disappointment. All in all, I've tried to make the best of the situation, and I even co-presented a case study on my experience with Forrester's Jim Nail, the person who encouraged me to buy Hybrid in the first place.

Consumer Reports Dives In

Consumer Reports recently published yet another piece taking a very hard look at EPA mileage estimates. Here's a link to the piece, along with a relevant soundbyte from the article:

"For years, automakers have been criticized for producing vehicles that get so-so gas mileage. But as gas prices climb and consumers seek more miles per gallon, it turns out that fuel economy is much worse than it appears--50 percent less on some models, a new Consumer Reports analysis reveals."