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| DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Although the Tesla Model 3 is shown leading the pack on the cover of Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue, the editors don't pick the upscale all-electric sedan or any other vehicle as the best of the best. |
Editors again ignore impact on climate,
pollution, 58,000 premature deaths a year
First EV in 2018
The first all-electric car that made the magazine's Top 10 list was the Chevy Bolt in the 2018 Auto Issue.
But in 2019, Consumer Reports editors reversed course, trashing Tesla and listing only three gas-electric hybrids in the Top 10 list.
Two years earlier, a 20-plus-year subscriber took the editors to task for ignoring the environment:
Climate deniers
Today -- three Auto Issues later -- the editors are campaigning for better gas mileage, but don't mention the environment, the climate crisis or air pollution as their chief concerns.
"A Trump administration plan to lower automotive mileage targets for future model years ... would result in hundreds of dollars in added costs for consumers, according to a new U.S. Senate analysis," CR's Jeff Plungis wrote in January.
On the welcome page of the April 2020 Auto Issue, the editors cite only their "preoccupation with safety and quality," not the environment.
Of course, when you ignore a vehicle's impact on climate, any warmed-over crap with a smelly internal-combustion engine can shine.
'Safety and quality'
The editors call their Top 10 Picks "the most exceptional new cars on the road today," but one look at the gas- mileage figures will have a Prius owner or a EV enthusiast like me howling with laughter at the suckers who fall for CR's hype.
Only 2 out of 10 gas-engine cars get more than 30 mpg: The Toyota Corolla (33 mpg) and Toyota Prius, a hybrid (52 mpg).
Toyota's Avalon, a large sedan, is listed at 42 mpg, but that's for the hybrid version mentioned in the text.
The editors don't even urge readers to buy the Avalon hybrid over the gas-engine version.
Subaru obsession
Long-time readers of Consumer Reports know how obsessed the editors are with all-wheel-drive Subarus, despite noisy engines, poor gas mileage and the lack of a gas-electric hybrid in the model lineup until recently.
The 2020 Top 10 list includes the Subaru Forester, a small SUV; and the Subaru Legacy, a midsize sedan, both of which get a pathetic 28 mpg.
On the editors' Best + Worst Lists, the best 3 are Porsche, a small manufacturer of very expensive, gas-guzzling sports cars, sports sedans and SUVs; Genesis, a luxury model from Hyundai; and Subaru.
Tesla is listed in 11th place, an 8-place improvement from the 2019 Best + Worst Lists.
The bottom 8 of 33 brands listed are: GMC, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Cadillac, Land Rover, Jeep, Mitsubishi and Fiat.
Under Best Owner Satisfaction, Tesla's Model 3 leads all sedans for $45,000 to $55,000.
The Tesla Model S leads sedans over $55,000, and the Tesla Model X is 5th on the list of SUVs over $55,000.
Marketing and hype
In the editors' welcome to the 99-page issue, they write:
"Marketing claims abound, but CR is uniquely qualified to advise you because we never accept advertising, and we anonymously buy every vehicle we test, to the tune of $2 million each year.
"We've also made changes to address the fact that the world is in the midst of an automotive safety revolution," a reference to advance driver-assistance systems that can "automatically brake to avoid hitting another car or a pedestrian."
But when Consumer Reports ignores the tremendous impact of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks on the environment, air pollution and premature deaths, the nonprofit fails readers and makes a mockery of its investigative tradition.
CR is no different than Motor Trend, Car & Driver and other fan-boy magazines or YouTube channels like Redline Reviews, all influenced by free car loans, junkets to exotic locations to see new models and other forms of bribery.
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- To Beth Gardiner, an environmental journalist writing in The New York Times, "the acceleration of climate change" is "frightening."
But in this year's Auto Issue from Consumer Reports, the only concern is how fast cars, SUVs and pickup trucks accelerate.
As a longtime subscriber, I'm shocked by how the editors of the leading consumer publication in America continue to ignore the impact of Big Oil and millions of gas-engine vehicles on the environment.
Nor do they ever acknowledge that tailpipe emissions cause 58,000 premature deaths annually in the United States alone.
This year's Top 10 picks include only one zero-emissions vehicle -- Tesla's Model 3 -- and no preference is expressed for gas-electric versions of two others on the coveted list, Toyota's Camry and Avalon, over the conventional gas versions.
But in this year's Auto Issue from Consumer Reports, the only concern is how fast cars, SUVs and pickup trucks accelerate.
As a longtime subscriber, I'm shocked by how the editors of the leading consumer publication in America continue to ignore the impact of Big Oil and millions of gas-engine vehicles on the environment.
Nor do they ever acknowledge that tailpipe emissions cause 58,000 premature deaths annually in the United States alone.
This year's Top 10 picks include only one zero-emissions vehicle -- Tesla's Model 3 -- and no preference is expressed for gas-electric versions of two others on the coveted list, Toyota's Camry and Avalon, over the conventional gas versions.
First EV in 2018
The first all-electric car that made the magazine's Top 10 list was the Chevy Bolt in the 2018 Auto Issue.
But in 2019, Consumer Reports editors reversed course, trashing Tesla and listing only three gas-electric hybrids in the Top 10 list.
Two years earlier, a 20-plus-year subscriber took the editors to task for ignoring the environment:
"I am writing ... about something troubling that I just realized," Charles Dunn of Fairfield, Conn., said in a 2017 letter.
"Nowhere in the past 10 years have I read anything in CR about climate change and the effects that the products reviewed ..., namely automobiles, among others, have on the environment.
"This bothers me even more because while mileage ratings have gone up in some classes of vehicles, they are still very poor for SUVs and pickups, which a majority of consumer are buying.
"If CR cares about our global climate future, it's imperative that CR hold manufacturers accountable for improving mileage standards and offering more hybrid-electric vehicles."
Climate deniers
Today -- three Auto Issues later -- the editors are campaigning for better gas mileage, but don't mention the environment, the climate crisis or air pollution as their chief concerns.
"A Trump administration plan to lower automotive mileage targets for future model years ... would result in hundreds of dollars in added costs for consumers, according to a new U.S. Senate analysis," CR's Jeff Plungis wrote in January.
On the welcome page of the April 2020 Auto Issue, the editors cite only their "preoccupation with safety and quality," not the environment.
Of course, when you ignore a vehicle's impact on climate, any warmed-over crap with a smelly internal-combustion engine can shine.
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| OVERALL SCORES: The Tesla Model 3 gets an overall score of 80, but Consumer Reports gives higher marks to other Top 10 picks, notably the Toyota Avalon, a large sedan (93); Kia Telluride, a 3-row SUV (92) that gets only 21 mpg; the Subaru Legacy, a midsize sedan (87); and the Subaru Forester, a small SUV (84). |
'Safety and quality'
The editors call their Top 10 Picks "the most exceptional new cars on the road today," but one look at the gas- mileage figures will have a Prius owner or a EV enthusiast like me howling with laughter at the suckers who fall for CR's hype.
Only 2 out of 10 gas-engine cars get more than 30 mpg: The Toyota Corolla (33 mpg) and Toyota Prius, a hybrid (52 mpg).
Toyota's Avalon, a large sedan, is listed at 42 mpg, but that's for the hybrid version mentioned in the text.
The editors don't even urge readers to buy the Avalon hybrid over the gas-engine version.
Subaru obsession
Long-time readers of Consumer Reports know how obsessed the editors are with all-wheel-drive Subarus, despite noisy engines, poor gas mileage and the lack of a gas-electric hybrid in the model lineup until recently.
The 2020 Top 10 list includes the Subaru Forester, a small SUV; and the Subaru Legacy, a midsize sedan, both of which get a pathetic 28 mpg.
On the editors' Best + Worst Lists, the best 3 are Porsche, a small manufacturer of very expensive, gas-guzzling sports cars, sports sedans and SUVs; Genesis, a luxury model from Hyundai; and Subaru.
Tesla is listed in 11th place, an 8-place improvement from the 2019 Best + Worst Lists.
The bottom 8 of 33 brands listed are: GMC, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Cadillac, Land Rover, Jeep, Mitsubishi and Fiat.
Under Best Owner Satisfaction, Tesla's Model 3 leads all sedans for $45,000 to $55,000.
The Tesla Model S leads sedans over $55,000, and the Tesla Model X is 5th on the list of SUVs over $55,000.
Marketing and hype
In the editors' welcome to the 99-page issue, they write:
"Marketing claims abound, but CR is uniquely qualified to advise you because we never accept advertising, and we anonymously buy every vehicle we test, to the tune of $2 million each year.
"We've also made changes to address the fact that the world is in the midst of an automotive safety revolution," a reference to advance driver-assistance systems that can "automatically brake to avoid hitting another car or a pedestrian."
But when Consumer Reports ignores the tremendous impact of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks on the environment, air pollution and premature deaths, the nonprofit fails readers and makes a mockery of its investigative tradition.
CR is no different than Motor Trend, Car & Driver and other fan-boy magazines or YouTube channels like Redline Reviews, all influenced by free car loans, junkets to exotic locations to see new models and other forms of bribery.
Read: Can writers be objective
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| LONGEST EV RANGE: Teslas top the list of 2019 and 2020 models. |
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