>The two major causes of high gas consumption at cruising speed are wind drag and pumping losses.

Yep. You're talking cruising speed now, and are quite correct. But before you were talking about acceleration. The faster drivers accelerate from a stop, the poorer their gas mileage.

"According to the news a week or two ago, Priuses are now available off the lot, without a backlog, and Toyota has expressed surprise and disappointment that they aren't selling faster. That's why I expressed dismay."

Hmmm....Toyota may be disappointed, but according to the numbers released today, Toyota has sold twice as many Prius this year as they did last. If it's anything like the way they market other products (Nintendo WII for example), the Japanese are experts at creating demand through limiting supply.(and they don't seem to have a problem meeting stricter CAFE standards.)

Detroit just hasn't made a product in decades that people care enough about to create that kind of buzz. Ignoring the coming gas price increases and inevitable shortages to follow will surely be the undoing of the American car industry. They are digging their own grave I'm afraid.

The two major causes of high gas consumption at cruising speed are wind drag and pumping losses. If an engine is perfectly sized so that it requires maximum HP to cruise at some speed, the throttle will be wide open and pumping losses will be minimized. However, no one would want such an underpowered car. There are two ways to reduce pumping losses, the first being used by some cars is to shut off some cylinders. This requires a wider throttle opening to produce the required HP, reducing pumping losses. The other way, which is superior, is to have additional ratios in the transmission to reduce RPM's to a low level. In order to maintain the required HP the throttle has to be open more. Many cars now have 6-speed or even 7-speed transmissions for this purpose. So, by having variable valve timing, which allows the engine have lots of torque over a wide RPM range, an engine can comfortably operate at a very low RPM, where the maximum HP is minimized, and the throttle is open quite far. So despite your high school physics expertise, you really can have lots of power and good gas mileage. We'll talk about engine friction losses some other time.

you wrote:

I only drive maybe 7000 miles per year. At that rate, even if I was to buy a new car, it would take me years to make up the $10,000 price difference between a Prius and a Ford Focus (or something similar).

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the main reason I bought a prius was to reduce the amount of pollutants my vehicle was spewing into the air. I'd like to have an electric car and spew *no* direct pollutants at all, but the Prius is the best I can do in the here and now.

Cost is not the only reason to buy a Prius...your calculations comparing to your Saturn go into a cocked hat if you include toxic emissions.

c5kolb, I hope you get a star for that post.

A gas tax would drive consumer behavior and create bottom up demand for more fuel efficient cars. Any manufacturer would have to respond to that or lose market share.

Regulations, such as CAFE, on the makers creates top down supply for which there may be little demand.

Taxes may distort the market, but not as much as the externalities of the war, environmental damage, national security, and all of the other things that are not paid for in the gas we purchase.

A gas tax would allow entrepreneurs and investors to start technology ventures to help solve some of these problems without their worrying that the oil producers will drop their price for just long enough to put them out of business (it has happened before).

A gas tax could be used to start paying for the war in Iraq (why else do we care about the middle east, but for oil?), or it could offset an income tax cut, thus transferring tax revenues from income to fuel consumption.

I view a gas tax as the best and really only solution to the problem.

I own a Prius. I am very happy with it. I did not get it to impress my friends or to demonstrate any sort of moral superiority. I also did not buy it to save money over the lifetime of the vehicle, though I won't spend much more and odds are actually pretty good that I will save money if gas prices go to where I think they are going in the coming years (think of the demand from China, India, Eastern Europe, ...).

I bought it so that I could be less of an impact on things that I don't like. I bought it so that I could give less money to oil producers and more money to a visionary auto maker that took a huge risk.

I would rather that my money end up in Japan producing even better cars than in the middle east producing "better" terrorists.

I don't judge anyone else, but I do control my own actions and purchases and when I buy something I am placing a vote for and against.

I got tired creating a demand that sends other people's children off to fight in foreign wars in order to keep our energy supply safe.

I got tired of sending money to people who fund the people who fly planes into buildings, blow up nightclubs, and otherwise kill innocent people all over the world.

So far I get 48 MPG. That means that I create one third the demand to be in foreign wars and I send them one third the money to fund terrorists than I did with the my previous vehicle.

Is my Prius saving the world all by itself? No. I do what I can, when I can. So do others. You can do whatever you want. I am not passing judgment. If anything, I have had to defend my purchase to friends. It is amazing how much hostility a car can produce.

What would happen if everybody got 48 MPG?

Lastly, thank you. For you are helping to subsidize my Prius through Federal and State income tax credits. You also subsidized my wife's Prius. :^)