Paul McCartney’s Lexus Hybrid Gets 4 MPG
In a perfect example of why Cliff’s Notes don’t substitute for reading the whole book, the method by which Paul McCartney’s new luxury hybrid was delivered to him has ruined any environmental gains that might have been made by driving a hybrid in the first place. Indeed… his brand new Lexus LS 600h hybrid was flown to him by cargo plane. Questions of whether or not a 5.0-liter, V-8, 19 mile per gallon luxury behemoth really exemplifies the spirit of a “hybrid” aside, the judgment involved in shipping cars by airplane is enough to cringe at.
Doing some of my own napkin calculations (below) I came up with a fuel efficiency for the 5,966 mile trip from Tokyo to London of 4 mpg. That’s assuming the cargo plane burned 5 gallons of fuel per mile and there were 19 other cars in the plane. I’m not so sure there were 20 cars on that cargo plane, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. What this means is that the former Beatle’s new Lexus hybrid got 4 mpg for the first 5,966 miles of it’s life without ever starting up or even getting the chance to enjoy it’s V-8 glory on the open road. What a shame.
To be fair, we’ve all been guilty of this kind of inefficient transportation at some level (think bananas from South America), and Paul McCartney is simply an easy target. In fact, most new cars being bought off the lot will have a large “carbon debt” due to the simple act of manufacturing. This debt, even in the case of a Prius, will take tens of thousands of miles of driving to pay off versus something like a fuel efficient used car. In the end, the lack of wisdom here points out that we can deliver all the great new technology we want, yet without the conscious decision to change our habits we won’t make much headway in improving energy efficiency.
*Editorial Note: Nick Chambers is the newest writer on Gas 2.0: welcome Nick!
Posts Related to Fuel Economy and Carbon Emissions:
- The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
- 2009 Jetta BlueTDI Comes to US This Summer, Sports 60 MPG and Cleaner Emissions
- Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline
- A Truck That Runs on Coffee Grounds (and How Wood-Gas Powers Cars With Garbage)
- The Cleanest Cars on Earth: Honda Civic GX and Other Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)
[...] By flying his hybrid lexus to America, Paul McCartney reduced its overall mileage to 4 MPG. [...]
This is very insightful, Nick, and very creatively written and presented. High quality stuff! Keep it up!
[...] But beyond the immediate value in trading our Hummers in for Hyundais or switching entirely to bike, walking, or public transit, there are real benefits to buying hybrids or advanced fuel-efficient tech when we finally do absolutely have to buy — the market sees that consumer investment as a signal to continue research, development, and production of those types of vehicles. For this reason, it actually makes a great deal of economic sense to make investments in new hybrid or advanced fuel technology, as long as you do it in a smart way (say, for corporate auto fleets) and not in a stupid way (say, for a 4-mpg “hybrid” Lexus). [...]
Nice Articles Check out the Lexus LF-A
[...] utgangspunktet ikke veldig bensinsnål, men når man også regner med drivstoffet som gikk med til frakte bilen med fly fra Japan, blir regnestykket riktig ressursuvennlig. De første 9500 kilometrene brukte bilen nesten 6 liter [...]
[...] utgangspunktet ikke veldig bensinsnål, men når man også regner med drivstoffet som gikk med til frakte bilen med fly fra Japan, blir regnestykket riktig ressursuvennlig. De første 9500 kilometrene brukte bilen nesten 6 liter [...]
Editors note - Although I very much wish I could speak Norwegian, I’ve provided a rough translation into English for those of us that can’t. I think it goes something like this:
“Basically, not a very fuel efficient car to start with, but when one also includes the fuel used to carry the car by air from Japan, the math is correct. For the first 9500 km the car got about 6 liters per 10 km fuel economy.”
It’s interesting to read all the griping comments about this post. The major point I think some readers are missing is the extra “hidden” costs associated with purchases we make in our lives, whether or not we are trying to be green.
These costs need to be calculated if we are to really understand and reduce our carbon footprints. It applies to anything from how and where the milk you buy is transported, to how the car you buy is transported.
Yes, it seems a little trivial to point this out for one person who is trying to be green, but the point is we need to count all these extra carbon sources that we don’t think about if we are to do anything abouit our C02 emmissions.
Awww, c’mon guys,
do we really wanna go and add the cargo freighters MPG into the new Think EV’s when they arrive from Norway??
I’m green minded but that takes it too far!
The best way to conserve is to keep driving (and maintaining) the same vehicle. Keep the battery ores in the ground. Drive your SUV… only sparingly.