Would you drive/purchase a hybrid car?

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Yes I would DRIVE one…

No I would not BUY one. I cannot afford it 😦 Plus the (Canadian)Federal Government just took away the rebate or whatever program they had to get people to buy them.

Hopefully they come down in price soon.

I dunno about the hybrid SUVs though… sort of an oxymoron.
 
The real solution is for many/most to get moderately sized motorcycles…in the range of 500-650cc. They get very good gas mileage, they don’t take up alot of room on the road, they don’t have blind spots, you don’t kill a family of 8 if you hit their vehicle and they’re much fun to ride…
I would not buy a hybrid…way too expensive and don’t have the power needed for the serious 4-wheelin’ I like to do.

for whoever asked about what a hybrid is, it is basically a car with both gas powered and electric powered motors. the gas powered charges the batteries for the electric motor and drives the car when more power is needed than the electric can provide.

for the person who said there might be a plug in to charge the batteries, that would be absolutely defeating the supposed environmental benefits. How do you think the electricity for charging the batteries comes from? There has to be something making that electricity and that something is almost always causing polution and using some kind of fuel source…that’s why electric cars are just something to make the owner feel good about themselves…they have no actual benefit to the environment.
 
No. The hybrid car costs more than you’d ever pay in gas for a regular car.

Pay $10K more for a hybrid car, save $500-1000 a year on gas. Unless you’re going to be driving that car for 10 or 20 years, it’s a rip.
 
There sure are a lot of opinions on the hybrid cars. A co-worker has a current edition Prius and gets an actual average of 48 mpg (lifetime), 2/3 of that on the highway. IIRC, that was a $26,000 car fairly loaded.

By contrast, I have a brother in law who has a Civic hybrid that he uses exclusively in suburban driving and he has yet to top 36 mpg.

If your goal is REALLY to minimize your impact on the environment, the current hybrid tech is (IMO) NOT the way to go. Instead, learn to drive stick shift and get a conventional low option Civic, Corrola or Focus. When driven modestly, these cars can get 28mpg suburban and 40 on the highway. They can be had for $16,000 and the stick is downright FUN once you get good at it (note my screen name?). Granted, at that price they won’t have all the fancy googas that come standard with the hybrids (NAV, power seats, electric mirrors…), but WHY are those trinkets needed? Plus, they don’t generate the extra tens of thousands of pounds of toxic nickel mining tailings like the hybrid battery packs do. (dirty little secret)

I disagree with an above poster on the coming plug-in hybrid technology. When that gets viable I’ll join the hybrid bandwagon. Plug-ins are a dream come true for power companies. For decades their problem has been that power demand peaks during the day, then drops off dramatically at night. Nuclear and coal fired plants can’t be turned on and off like that, so they typically run all night and energy is simply wasted waitng for demand to spike again when the sun comes up. Plug-ins will mostly get used for work commuting and will be charged mostly during the time when electric companies have a LOT of excess output going to waste. Even coal powered plants these days are a cleaner source of energy than the automotive internal combustion engine (in average condition on a watt-to-watt basis). When the plug-ins arrive, they’ll be a huge improvement.

For now, go retro: get a stick shift!
 
Now that I’ve been driving the Prius for a few days I feel like I can comment that it feels like driving a go kart. Seriously, it does. I haven’t taken it on the highway yet but the way it is now I’d be a bit nervous because the acceleration is horrible and its so compact. I hate the way the back window is…if it didn’t have a back-up camera I wouldnt be able to see behind me at all when backing up…talk about a horrible blind spot. I also get a better turning radius in my mom’s Ford Escape suv…you would think it would be better in the tiny little Prius. Its fun to drive, but I don’t think I’d buy one…but I’d happily drive it if it were given to me. Its a cool little car…but I’m not very impressed.
 
Hi there,
I wouldn’t rule out buying one due to the rise of Gasoline prices. I think if the US drilled in their own country for oil the gas prices would come down and in the meantime work on alternative h20 fuel like they now have in Iceland. Hybrids might be obsolete in a few years.
 
No I wouldn’t. We have a 2002 Ford Focus, and on a trip, 50 miles or more, it gets 34 mpg driven at interstate speeds. We also have a Ford Escape, a 2005, and it gets 24-26 mpg on the average. It is really nice for a long trip, and I can’t imagine anybody driving a Prius or a Focus on a very long trip. The few extra mpg would not be worth the extra expense. If gas get really out of sight, we’ll just stay home and travel less. That’s helping the environment and our pocketbook at the same time.
 
Ilroy said:
The real solution is for many/most to get moderately sized motorcycles…in the range of 500-650cc. They get very good gas mileage, they don’t take up alot of room on the road, they don’t have blind spots, you don’t kill a family of 8 if you hit their vehicle and they’re much fun to ride…
I would not buy a hybrid…way too expensive and don’t have the power needed for the serious 4-wheelin’ I like to do.

for whoever asked about what a hybrid is, it is basically a car with both gas powered and electric powered motors. the gas powered charges the batteries for the electric motor and drives the car when more power is needed than the electric can provide.

for the person who said there might be a plug in to charge the batteries, that would be absolutely defeating the supposed environmental benefits. How do you think the electricity for charging the batteries comes from? There has to be something making that electricity and that something is almost always causing polution and using some kind of fuel source…that’s why electric cars are just something to make the owner feel good about themselves…they have no actual benefit to the environment.
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a motorcyle?:eek: 😛 Yeah, that’s convenient when I’m grocery shopping or needing to take my kids to their respective sports practices…😃 Teasin ya;)

Re: the battery comment you make above–I have also wondered…where’s the electricity coming from? It would seem that we are just ‘robbing’ peter to pay paul, so to speak? I agree with the poster who speaks about using our OWN resources instead of relying on the greedy international oil industry – and just get over it already. I consider myself very much an environmentalist, but if we keep using corn, for an example, for an alternative fuel source–then we will soon be paying $10 for a box of cornflakes, or other groceries that are made using corn. (which are a lot by the way!) I am not sure some of the greenpeace powers that be, thought through the whole using-corn-as-fuel idea. :o
 
whatevergirl said:
a motorcyle?:eek: 😛 Yeah, that’s convenient when I’m grocery shopping or needing to take my kids to their respective sports practices…😃 Teasin ya;)
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Hey, in good weather, I manage to carry hockey gear and sticks to the rink on a motorcycle (and yes, I do get weird looks!), so it’s not totally out of the question! And if I’m not getting too much, I just carry it in my backpack (of course, then I can just use a regular bicycle).
whatevergirl said:
Re: the battery comment you make above–I have also wondered…where’s the electricity coming from? It would seem that we are just ‘robbing’ peter to pay paul, so to speak? I agree with the poster who speaks about using our OWN resources instead of relying on the greedy international oil industry – and just get over it already. I consider myself very much an environmentalist, but if we keep using corn, for an example, for an alternative fuel source–then we will soon be paying $10 for a box of cornflakes, or other groceries that are made using corn. (which are a lot by the way!) I am not sure some of the greenpeace powers that be, thought through the whole using-corn-as-fuel idea. :o
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Well, if there is more usage of solar and wind power, those are renewable sources. In fact, I saw on the History Channel - I think it was yesterday - that some company has solar panels on their parking garage, and potentially that could be used to power plug-ins (if it is not already being used to power experimentalo plug-ins).
 
Norseman82 said:
Hey, in good weather, I manage to carry hockey gear and sticks to the rink on a motorcycle (and yes, I do get weird looks!), so it’s not totally out of the question! And if I’m not getting too much, I just carry it in my backpack (of course, then I can just use a regular bicycle).

All I can reply to this is with----->:eek:

You’re just so ambidextrous!😃

Well, if there is more usage of solar and wind power, those are renewable sources. In fact, I saw on the History Channel - I think it was yesterday - that some company has solar panels on their parking garage, and potentially that could be used to power plug-ins (if it is not already being used to power experimentalo plug-ins).
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That is interesting–the panels being over the garage…hmmm…
 
I already drive a Civic and I get great gas milage. I can’t afford a hybrid. I’d walk to work if I wasn’t afraid of getting mugged or bitten by a dog.
 
WG, I would agree with others, that say the economics of hybrid purchase price and additional fuel savings vs just buying the model with the smaller Horse Power engine does not add up right now. If you guys want the lowest total cost of ownership, meaning purchase price, maint, fuel, etc. pick the model vehicle you like, standard gas engine, and chose the package with the lowest HP engine with 4-5 gear transmission.

Or any of these sites, which also have Forums if you really want to dive in to it.🤓 And are not afraid of Forum overload.😛

clarkhoward.com/inside/about_us.html

consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm

caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/home.xml

edmunds.com/

kbb.com/
 
Norseman82 said:
Originally Posted by whatevergirl
a motorcyle? Yeah, that’s convenient when I’m grocery shopping or needing to take my kids to their respective sports practices… Teasin ya

Hey, in good weather, I manage to carry hockey gear and sticks to the rink on a motorcycle (and yes, I do get weird looks!), so it’s not totally out of the question! And if I’m not getting too much, I just carry it in my backpack (of course, then I can just use a regular bicycle).
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I agree here…I always packed the groceries on when I was riding years ago…and if ya really need to, have a car for the trips that require storage room for kids and whatnot…you can only strap 2 or 3 kids on a bike…😃
Well, if there is more usage of solar and wind power, those are renewable sources. In fact, I saw on the History Channel - I think it was yesterday - that some company has solar panels on their parking garage, and potentially that could be used to power plug-ins (if it is not already being used to power experimentalo plug-ins).
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Problem with solar and wind power is the cost to set them up too…I checked into it for my house and it’s around $20,000 to set up solar for just one household. Haven’t checked into wind power much yet, but suspect it isn’t cheap to set up either…and I would LOVE to get off the grid…tired of paying the power company hundreds a month…
 
Ilroy said:
I agree here…I always packed the groceries on when I was riding years ago…and if ya really need to, have a car for the trips that require storage room for kids and whatnot…you can only strap 2 or 3 kids on a bike…😃

Problem with solar and wind power is the cost to set them up too…I checked into it for my house and it’s around $20,000 to set up solar for just one household. Haven’t checked into wind power much yet, but suspect it isn’t cheap to set up either…and I would LOVE to get off the grid…tired of paying the power company hundreds a month…
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we have a lot of groceries every week…maybe we would need a few motorcycles in our family:D
 
whatevergirl said:
we have a lot of groceries every week…maybe we would need a few motorcycles in our family:D
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Actually, they make small trailers to hook up to motorcycles for the groceries and sidecars for extra seating…one for you, one for the ole man, each with a sidecar and trailer and you can probably fit the whole family…and, if you’re in the right state, you can have the wind rushing through your hair whilst riding…👍
 
On the same thought, I was at the Mall and saw the new Smart Car that is all the rage in Canada. I might be able to get into it by myself and I am not a large Man. It had no storage and looked like a go cart. My Toyota Truck that gets almost the same miles per gallon with a V-8 can tow a boat. I do not Know how this is a smart car at almost $19000. Plus as an added bonus I do not feel like a dork in my truck.😃
 
dprewett said:
On the same thought, I was at the Mall and saw the new Smart Car that is all the rage in Canada. I might be able to get into it by myself and I am not a large Man. It had no storage and looked like a go cart. My Toyota Truck that gets almost the same miles per gallon with a V-8 can tow a boat. I do not Know how this is a smart car at almost $19000. Plus as an added bonus I do not feel like a dork in my truck.😃
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I spent time in England and in Tuscany and saw this SmartCar everywhere in Italy. I wouldn’t spend $1,000 on one. I’d buy a bicycle first…if someone hits you from the rear, you might as well be hit on a bicycle. Kathie
 
I am all for better fuel economy but that thing looked like a death trap and it only got like 30 mpg
 
kathielee said:
I spent time in England and in Tuscany and saw this SmartCar everywhere in Italy. I wouldn’t spend $1,000 on one. I’d buy a bicycle first…if someone hits you from the rear, you might as well be hit on a bicycle. Kathie
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We may see a lot more bicycles on the road by summer if gas keeps going up.:rolleyes: Now if we can just get someone to build Bike Lanes on the road for us.
 
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