Chevrolet Cruze 2.0TD vs.Honda Civic Hybrid vs. Toyota Prius vs. Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid vs.Volkswagen Jetta TDI
Do you obsess over how much energy your car’s engine creates, and worry about the fuel being destroyed for your driving pleasure? (Why are you reading this magazine?) Actually, one of this universe’s immutable laws is that energy can never be created or destroyed. But it can change forms. Most cars lug around a tankful of potential energy disguised as gasoline (or diesel, E85, propane, etc.). Fed into a typical engine, the fuel is converted to a lot of waste heat and vibration energies, during what’s conceded in the auto biz as a hopelessly energy-inefficient but necessary-evil process. Oh, and the process produces some usable mechanical energy, too.
The gas engine is the people’s choice in the U.S., but it only goes so far … More