fatbrit

It's a dry heat.

elliep

I have no idea on the best conditions for a Hybrid in general but since I've had mine I'm getting about 38-40mpg highway and around 33-34 in the city. I traded a year-old Murano which averaged 14mpg for a Camry Hybrid as I now drive 500-600 miles a week compared to ~25 or so. It's by no means an exciting car to drive or look at but it does what I want it to, and there's not a huge amount of extra maintenance until you start to get into the high mileage.

Bob

Aye, but I was replying to FB, regarding the plug in variety...and it's not how it uses the power, it is the power that is sourced to juice the battery, it's still the same old dirty stuff so not great on the environment. Good in France where it's all nuclear and in Scandinavian countries who use green, or places like the UK who switch to nuclear at night time.

Here, it all boils down to the inefficiency and dirt of the power plant so your adding a x6-10 factor on top of the car.

Tom60

We're still in the early stages of this. Eventually, as technology and mass production ramp up, you won't need an electric outlet every 30 miles. But just about every hotel/motel, parking garage, etc. will be equipped with facilities. And maybe we'll have 500 mile batteries.

sarahlou145

We bought a prius last week, and we are currently running at 48mpg

I tend to drive hubbie to the station in the morning - 3 mile round trip, then i do two trips to the dog park - 4 mile round trips, then another trip to the station in the evening. i also go to the store a few times during the week.

At the weekend we drive 200 - 300 miles in it.

Only had it a week, but finding it fine, i can drive to the station (flat both ways) and be running on the battery 80% of the journey.

Steerpike

She weighs about 100 pounds . She drives to the nearby reservoir to go walking every day.

I just checked; I exaggerated - it's actually 11 miles to the reservoir round-trip, and then she stops off at the store/etc - so she probably does 20 miles a day.
I'm loving the weather in Scottsdale! 100F in Scottsdale is about the same as 90F in the Bay Area, and 65 in Florida! But she can't take the 90F days in CA, and once it gets over 100F in Scottsdale, it is brutal. So I plan to spend most of the summer months in CA, fall/winter/spring in AZ.

Surely, though - using power generated by a big power plant - however 'dirty' - can't be as bad as a personal gasoline generator, aka the engine under the hood?

I have several friends who have the Prius; they all LOVE IT unconditionally! They rave about the space, and how it drives. I commute a lot and am often passed by a Prius doing about 80 - it's no slouch!

Englishman in Eugene

I don't get you Bob.

The energy in the battery of any hybrid is manufactured within the car, not by plugging it into the mains and recharging overnight. Energy that would normally be heating up yor brake pads every time you slow or stop is instead diverted to recharging the battery.

Ultimately all the energy you pump into a Prius comes via the gas tank, but you get 48mpg or so from a Prius instead of 34 mpg or less from every other vehicle on the road barring some other hybrids.

Tom60

I can beat that. I drive a Chevy Metro. I average 50mpg on the highway. It's got a little 1 liter, 3-cylinder engine, so I'm not going to win any races, but I don't care. The Metro was discontinued in '95, and GM needs to bring it back.

fatbrit

It was a rebadged Suzuki Swift -- a mediocre supermini by world standards.

Patrick Hasler

Prius are crap and extreemely ugly, people but them to be 'green' but the fact is they are only green on long runs. I laugh every time I see a yellow cab prius in NYC cos they sit there idling and never leave the city, totally pointless.

fatbrit

It's the other way round! They're economical in the city, but pointless on long runs.

MrEmjoy

+1

Or a bike.

Or one of them pedal cars with a roof. 4 miles a day???


After reading the thread I think you may as well go with the hybrid,

Patrick Hasler

Not according to the NYC cab drivers I talk to. They say the electric motor takes over mostly when cruising on an interstate.

Whatever ....... they are still crap ..... The Honda Insight however seems a lot better.

fatbrit

Depends on how far you're cruising! More than 30 or 40 miles and either the gas engine kicks in on you're not going anywhere with the energy capable of being stored in current battery technology on the Pious.

Tom60

Well, this mediocre supermini is the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. It's never once left me on the side of the road in the 8 years I've had it.
GM was insane to discontinue this model. But that's GM.