Prius owner whining

[Mark_88]

I remember watching that video a long time ago...and thought "I'd call the police and have her charged with harrassment..." and if they didn't show up in twenty minutes I'd just drive away...

Ah, the hybrid debate...the ecologist debate...and the hate debate all in one thread...only on TRS...

The only thing I don't like about hybrids is the price tag...and the low power...and the questionable reliability with a price tag that will offset all of your savings on gasoline in one repair or replacement (out of warranty)...

What we really need is a good discussion on what happens after December 21...if it is the end of the world...enjoy yourself now while you still can...if it is the age of enlightenment and a new world order...start praying...if it is just another pipe dream of the Y2K crowd who love to see us skittering around trying to figure out what to do and where to go when all the fit hits the shan...then have a beer, chill out...and cheers!

 

[MrRangerSir]

You gotta wonder if the Prius driver understands that her emissions per mile contribution would drop dramatically if she lost some weight and shut up.

Seriously, elecrical power does not come for free and generating it is a messy business. Nuclear plants, well, they are their own special demon. Coal fired plants are heavy on emissions and hydro electric generation can be enviromentally damaging to fish habitat.

 

[Ty84]

well hybrids are a nice way to look like you're saving the environment and all, and some of the new supercars with the KER-S hybrid tech are pretty cool IMO. but if you want to save the environment, hydrogen is the way to go.... the most abundant element in the universe and it only puts water vapor through the exhaust pipe.... wont help global warming though, considering that the #1 greenhouse gas is WATER VAPER aka CLOUDS lol i just think that is hilarious for some reason...

 

[upnsmoke]

well hybrids are a nice way to look like you're saving the environment and all, and some of the new supercars with the KER-S hybrid tech are pretty cool IMO. but if you want to save the environment, hydrogen is the way to go.... the most abundant element in the universe and it only puts water vapor through the exhaust pipe.... wont help global warming though, considering that the #1 greenhouse gas is WATER VAPER aka CLOUDS lol i just think that is hilarious for some reason...

Oh man, you just opened a whole new can of worms haha. KER-S is fun, but that can be done with a flywheel. If you are worried about global warming worry about the cows. Cows emit more carbon dioxide than all forms of transportation combined. What might the future hold... cowlytic convertors, cow gas recirculation? Could be bad times for the cows.

 

[bobbywalter]

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Oh man, you just opened a whole new can of worms haha. KER-S is fun, but that can be done with a flywheel. If you are worried about global warming worry about the cows. Cows emit more carbon dioxide than all forms of transportation combined. What might the future hold... cowlytic convertors, cow gas recirculation? Could be bad times for the cows.

And they deserve more blame than the millions of bison, elk and moose they displaced?

Should be fairly close to a wash IMO.

 

[1986broncoiister]

HERE YA GO LOL

 

[Ty84]

hahaha thats very true about the cows! im actually not worried about global warming... something about "greenhouse effect" seems good to me, messes up life for the costal big cities and increases produce yeild on farms across the world.... not to bad

 

[exbass94]

Except that their supposed advantage over combustion engine vehicles is based on the concept of getting power for free. Putting a wind mill on top of the car would make it look sillier, but in concept and practice is no different than charging a battery with a gas engine that also drives the car.

Hybrids don't claim to get power for free. They are more efficient than conventional cars because they shut the engine off while sitting in traffic/at stoplights, and use only the electric motor at low speeds. They also recharge the batteries while the car is braking, converting the kinetic energy of the car into electricity. This energy is normally wasted as heat in conventional cars. That's not creating power for free, it's converting one form of energy for another.

 

[wildbill23c]

All the while the car is trying to decide if its supposed to be running on its electric motor or on the gas motor it got ran over by a real vehicle. What's going to happen in a couple years when the electronic control systems in these hybrid vehicle fail while one of these owner's is trying to merge into 75mph traffic on the freeway and the electronics decide neither the motor or engine should be running LOL.

 

[nb11]

To touch on the subject of prius's being inefficient when trying to keep up with traffic:

Almost any vehicle will be less efficient when you smash the pedal to the floor every time the light turns green. I get terrible looks driving in the city because I accelerate at what I believe to be a reasonable rate. I refuse to waste my gas.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Technology is growing and allways will. The fact is it is not there yet. Would I trust my life to get in a car that cant get out of its own way I think not. I was reading they are trying to figure out how to use the brakes to help charge the battery it takes more physical energy to stop than to go. Besides how much does it cost to fully charge the battery. I think it is just a fad right now time will tell if it is cost effective and with obamas war on fossile fuel the hybrids will win through attrition! not because of the technology.

 

[adsm08]

Chill, all of you. It's getting a bit hot in here.

That's not creating power for free, it's converting one form of energy for another.

I think that by "for free" he means without the combustion of fossil fuels or by doing something you were already going to do in a slightly different way (like a turbo gets you "free" boost), not that it is just magically created from no-where.


I think hybrids are a great idea for a car that never leaves the city. It you live somewhere like NYC or San Francisco and never go anywhere but around town, they are awesome. On the same note, if you are like my sister who spent 4 years driving from Nashville to Harrisburg every few months, or my mom who can easily drive 50 highway miles a day for work they don't even argue, they just get down on their little hybrid knees and suck. The list of reasons for both traits is the same.


My favorite hybrid owner conversation was with a customer at work. We were going for a test drive so I could hear a noise in his car and he was telling me how wonderful his hybrid Fusion is (they are actually nice cars) and how it was so great because it got 34 MPG. I told him about our V6 AWD Escape (GEH Fusions are all FWD) that averages 25 to 28 depending on the season and asked him how much he paid for his. He paid almost 50K to get 34 MPG with a 4-cyl 2wd. I paid 25K (after taxes) for a V6 AWD that gets high 20s. When he figured that out the smug look fell right off his face.

 

[livetoride21]

oh man. stupid hybrids. As much as the technology in most of them is encouraging, they will never fulfill they're supposed savings. let alone offset their increased effect on the environment their production has.

A great example is the honda civic hybrid vs the base model honda civic;
A base model honda civic sedan costs 15440$ in canada and is stated to get 7.2L/100km city and 5.4L/100km highway
A base model civic hybrid costs 24990$ in canda and is stated to get 4.4l/100km city and 4.3l/100km highway.
The average person does a 60/40 mix of highway driving vs city driving.
It comes with a 100000km powertrain warranty, a 3 year warranty on the batterys, and 160000km warranty on the integrated motor. So we will use 160000km as our baseline for calculations.

96000km highway
64000km city

Total litres used by civic Sedan for 160000km would be 5184+4608 = 9792L / 160000km
Total litres used by civic hybrid for 160000km would be 4128+2752= 6880L / 160000km
With average gas price in canada at roughly 1.20$/L 9792L would cost 11750$ and 6880L would cost 8256$.
Over 160000km the cost to date of the civic sedan would be 27190$ and the civic hybrid 33246$ .... So for savings in fuel costs, the hybrid has lost, even at 160000km on the odometer it still is about 6000$ in the hole over the regular counterpart. The break even point for the civic hybrid would be 447000km. Almost three times over the warranty period, and at this point you have for sure had to dip into the Overly expensive dealer specific hybrid maintenance. Similarly If one was to buy one of these to drive 100% city the breakeven point would be at about 274000km. Once again, long out of the warrenty period, and relisticly, who that drives ONLY city will ever even get it up to 274000km??

So as much as the fuel savings are a great thought, It just isn't cost effective, and in reality these cars probably have the same effect on the environment or greater than their gasoline counterparts due to the production increases involved (price of vehicle is directly related to production costs and therefor environmental effect). The thing that really needs to be done is make the switch to diesel powered vehicles. They're highly efficient, have a very long engine life, and can run on very clean fuels, such as those that can be produced from hydroponic algae farming. In this day and age, who cares about horsepower? torque is what's needed, and little diesels have got this in surplus.

Anyways that's enough for my little case study rant, I hope someone finds it interesting and entertaining.

 

[adsm08]

In this day and age, who cares about horsepower? torque is what's needed,

Yup, horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you move it when you hit.