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Does anyone on here have a hybrid car (Prius, etc)? Love it or hate it?

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Contributor: spiced spiced
We're car shopping and we're thinking about possibly getting a hybrid car. We know a couple of people who have them and love them, but I figured there must be more than a few Edenites who drive hybrids.

So...do you drive a hybrid car? What do you think of it? Would you buy it again?
02/18/2013
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Contributor: Gunsmoke Gunsmoke
Hybrid cars are a feel-good but worthless technology. The only advantage they have is something called regenerative braking. That is when you apply the brakes, electrical energy is stored for later use. However the electric motor (full of expensive copper) and lithium or nickle batteries cost more than the little bit of gas you would save.

If you drive in the city a lot - you get about 10-15% better fuel economy - however if you drive on highways - you will likely get 10-15% LESS fuel economy!

For this crap shoot - you pay more up-front and more insurance - so anything you might save on gasoline has already been spent for your car.

Your best bet is to get a conventional car that has the size and weight you need. If a Prius is large enough - a Honda Civic is a better choice. Many of us need larger cars - there are larger hybrid vehicles as well - but they are even less efficient than a Prius.

Last point - battery life reduces resale value. It's like buying a car with an engine that needs to be replaces every 5-7 years. My gas engine is 14 years old - and is good for another 5. Battery replacement for a hybrid would be about $3k-$5k.
02/19/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Interesting perspective, Gunsmoke. Do you know anyone who actually has a hybrid car? I'm mainly looking for personal experience here.

I have 4 close friends who love/loved theirs, mainly because of the fuel economy (mid 40s to low 50s) but I'm sure the feel-good aspect is there, too. I hadn't heard about the insurance thing, but here's what I found when I looked it up: link Seems any small, expensive car will cost more to insure, regardless of how it's powered.

We don't need a big car. It's just the two of us and usually it's just one of us (my wife) commuting to/from work. We're open to a gasoline car if we can get mpg in the 40+ range - but so far, we haven't found anything non-hybrid that fits the bill. We've looked at the Civic; it gets a combined 31 mpg. The VW Passat Diesel gets about 35, but diesel costs more than gasoline around here and it can be hard to find. Also, our mechanic, who we adore, doesn't like diesels (he likes hybrids; go figure).

The battery issue is a serious concern. We figure, if gasoline averages $4 a gallon over the next 6 years (which is about how long it'll take us to reach 100K miles), we'll save about $4500 in fuel costs with a car getting 45 mpg over one getting 30 mpg, which would (we hope) at least offset the battery replacement cost. I wouldn't be surprised to see $10/gal gas by then, which would make it a no-brainer.

We've also looked at electric cars, but we're thinking we'll wait a couple of years, until it's time to replace my car, for that. Hopefully the costs will be lower by then and I certainly hope the batteries will be better.

Battery technology is a MAJOR obstacle (maybe THE major obstacle) to moving on from fossil fuels. I hope there'll be some major advances in the near future. There are some promising contenders, and one of the coolest things about these is they're almost all happening in the USA!
02/19/2013
Contributor: Chelynn67 Chelynn67
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
We're car shopping and we're thinking about possibly getting a hybrid car. We know a couple of people who have them and love them, but I figured there must be more than a few Edenites who drive hybrids.

So...do you drive a hybrid car? ... more
no and dont know if I would like it
02/19/2013
Contributor: Gunsmoke Gunsmoke
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
Interesting perspective, Gunsmoke. Do you know anyone who actually has a hybrid car? I'm mainly looking for personal experience here.

I have 4 close friends who love/loved theirs, mainly because of the fuel economy (mid 40s to low 50s) but ... more
You've sold yourself on the idea - go for it, you should buy what you want.
02/20/2013
Contributor: LittleHouse LittleHouse
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
We're car shopping and we're thinking about possibly getting a hybrid car. We know a couple of people who have them and love them, but I figured there must be more than a few Edenites who drive hybrids.

So...do you drive a hybrid car? ... more
We have the BMW ActiveHybrid 5 - 23 City / 30 HWY. We have not had the car for too long (about 3 weeks) so we could not give a full review of the car.. but so far we love it. Would we buy another one? MAYBE.. once the Hybrid Technology becomes more popular, we hope to see more on the road.. We do find that we are at the pump less.
02/20/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by LittleHouse
We have the BMW ActiveHybrid 5 - 23 City / 30 HWY. We have not had the car for too long (about 3 weeks) so we could not give a full review of the car.. but so far we love it. Would we buy another one? MAYBE.. once the Hybrid Technology becomes more ... more
Thanks - that sounds like a really cool car!
02/21/2013