Choose 2012 Prius Five or 2012 Elantra Limited?

I'm well aware of the environmental impact of everything I do, but I do not run around obsessing over how much everything I do pollutes, because everything in modern society we do, does.

I have 7,000 watts of solar on my house, so how's that for cutting down a carbon footprint?

 

It does look impressive! Upscale sedan interior, relatively decent technology package, nice three piece panoramic soonroof and lithium polymer battery technology. :drum:.

It even has an Infinity stereo and next year gets an upgrade to a rear backup camera and something called "blue link" which I guess is like an On Star kind of package. I wonder how good their ipod/phone integration technology is...........

This has me really considering. While my wife wanted a "cute" 3rd car with a lot of utility, something like this Sonata hybrid could potentially replace my Audi and become my primary driver.... as long as it can get around reasonably well with snow tires in the winter time.

 

That is awesome but there are many other pollutants besides carbon dioxide. Using solar energy is great but burning a bunch of extra fuel kinda negates the benefit you are providing for your community.

A nice plug-in vehicle would be a great match for you if you charge during the day.

 

There is no plug in vehicle that can handle my 80 mile round trip commute that is sometimes in heavy stop and go traffic. The Tesla would cut it but I'm not interested in spending $85K+ on a vehicle just to be green.

And, for your edification, my system reduces enough carbon to account for taking thirteen vehicles off of the road every year it is in operation. So even if I drive more than average I am still ahead in that department, by a mile.

 

But don't eat too much imported goods to fuel yourself or the Prius may still be more efficient. Eek! LOL

 

Again with the carbon. Do your have estimates for the other vehicle-emitted pollutants? This not an argument. I actually want to learn more about systems like yours.

 

Obviously, one would have to try it in the winter to know for sure. However, I bought a separate set of rims and winter tires for my Prius. The traction was very good on the hills around here. Based on that, the only drawback for the Sonata would be the same as for the Prius: ground clearance (I just do not drive the Prius in deep snow).:attention:

 

Thanks for the information. Do you know what the ground clearance is for winter driving purposes? In my A4 I have about 5" of ground clearance so it's not useful in heavier snow, but it gets around in moderate snow fantastically due to the Quattro all-wheel drive system.

 

Yeah, I am tempted to keep my nearly 8 year old A4 just for winter driving because the car is a tank in bad weather.

However, the maint costs, etc of a redundant vehicle don't seem like such a wise move (especially on a German car which has crazy high maint costs). I will have to think about it. What I pick for a commuter vehicle will probably determine it, if I get a compact ultra economy car then I will likely keep the Audi, if I get something that is more of a replacement sedan then it doesn't make much sense to keep another car just for a handful of crappy driving days every year.

 

When you say plugin did you mean battery electric vehicle or a plugin hybrid? For plugin hybrid, you can buy a descent Gen II Prius and convert it to a PHEV with either plugin supply or plugin conversion corp's 10KW kit. It does over 100 miles at 100+mpg per charge.

 

I was told that it is possible to order a five with solar roof option if you're go through the right channel and willing to pay for it

 

Just went and test drove the Hyundai Sonota Hybrid. Color me impressed. In a short 15 mile test loop in which I at times flogged the crap out of it, I averaged close to 40MPG. The interior is roomy and very upscale.

Unfortunately supply on this car is as tight as the Prius. The premium trim level one that has all of the goodies is in very tight supply.

 

It might be listed at Environmental Protection Agency but we need to wait for the site to go back up.

 

I drove the base model and the audio sounded decent. I was able to play my iPhone through to the car over bluetooth and the quality was pretty good (could not change tracks though, as that requires their Nav Package).

I would like to find a limited to look at to see if the extra equipment is worth the $5000 premium. In my experience factory Nav systems are always overpriced for what you get (outdated maps, overpriced traffic info that sucks, etc). However I would like the premium audio, leather, etc.

The new Blue Link system looks pretty sweet too. Remote lock/unlock of the car, remote start, look up directions etc. Not sure if it is worth the $20 a month.