Whither the humble yardstick. It makes the abstract more understandable.
Think football field … Now think 100 yards.
There are similar means to judge a vehicle’s performance … Zero-to-60. MPG. And in the case of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, miles-per-gallon-equivalent, or MPGe.
This unique measure factors in the effect of an electric vehicle’s power consumption, representing the distance it can travel using a quantity of fuel containing the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. The Pacifica Hybrid’s 84 MPGe rating made history, establishing it as the most efficient minivan ever.
Yet, there are other ways to assess a vehicle, such as its potential impact on the environment.
For this, we have Global Warming Potential, or GWP. Calculated with industry-standard software, it paints a picture of a vehicle’s environmental impact by considering a vehicle’s own fuel consumption over 120,000 miles, along with the production and delivery of said fuel.
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
The Pacifica Hybrid’s GWP is 31 percent less than that of the previous-generation, gasoline-powered Chrysler minivan. Put another way, its emissions-savings are equivalent to:
- the average annual CO2 output of 22 American households
- 14 commercial flights from Detroit to Los Angeles
- driving the average U.S. passenger vehicle more than 50,000 miles
And that’s for a single Pacifica Hybrid.
How’s that for context?
