My first time being approached at gas station

My Bimmer got about 25 MPG combined and took premium gas. Typical gas expense was $220-$300 per month.

The Prius gets about 46 MPG combined takes regular. Monthly gas expense is $80-$120

 

Totally agree. I am in the process of selling my truck and making due with borrowing my dad's truck for at least 3 years. I'm hoping by then there will be something on the market. Still not sure why they can't make a light duty small truck based on the chassis/drivetrain of the Highlander Hybrid.

 

Had a similar thing happen... I answered that I just paid x$ while he was stilly pumping. So I asked him where he went off road with his SUV. His answer was that he just drove around town. I told him that I was off to the beach for the day (300 rt miles) for $24 at the time. And left it that....

 

That's pretty good.

Could be the Fusion Energi's are getting lumped together with hybrid for 2013 since there's no separate category on fuelly.

 

I think something sized like the Honda Ridgeline, but with bit larger bed to make it a truer truck would be appealing to those who don't want or need a huge fullsize pickup.

 

Personally I hate everything about the Ridgeline. I would just want a basic mid size truck. The Tacoma with the HiHy's drivetrain would be sweet.

 

Ph

 

You drove off too fast and you didn't hear he yelled" I can do 0-60 in 7 sec.".

 

Of course I'm driving a regular Prius, not a plug in.

But I think we have kind of reached a point.

You've got people who "get" Hybrids, and may even own one.
People who understand and "get" hybrids, but for whatever personal reasons don't want one.

And the leftovers are people that still don't really understand what a Hybrid is, and at this point they have no desire to even attempt to understand.

I live in a very Prius filled neighborhood. But I've been surprised by the people I've talked to that even with a decade plus of Prius, and lot's of advertising, along with a high volume, mainstream level of Prius sales, still don't really get what a "Hybrid" is.

Because it seems to me, I don't often get that middle ground question. The one that shows a questioning but also a understanding of what a Hybrid is....

The few people that have approached me and asked about my Prius, really had no idea about a Hybrid. It's only been a few months (and we are only talking two people) but I was surprised to have to explain that NO...it wasn't a full electric and YES it needs gasoline.

I could speculate that might be common 10 years ago, but I'm surprised that pretty primitive level of non-understanding still exists.

But it may be a symptom of actually a better overall understanding. The only people left asking questions...are the people that are REALLY out of the loop. Everybody else, whether they like the idea of a Hybrid or Prius or not..at least have a rudimentary understanding of how they work and what they are about.

 

Half the people I know don't even know how a gasoline engine works let alone a hybrid. Vehicle evolution is shaped more by what's in fashion than common sense and logic. Even the Prius could be more aerodynamic if perception, fashion and style didn't enter into it. As an engineer, I think the shape of a typical pickup truck or SUV was designed by someone thinking inside the "box", butt ugly in my opinion. Also making cars "slanty" in front gives the perception of being aerodynamic where as a "slanty" tapered rear end is in fact the way it should logically be. I've hear of a few cars that are more aerodynamic if driven backwards.

 

I think they did a mythbusters on that. Of course they had to narrow the concept down a ton to fit in the allotted time and be understandable by most viewers.

 

We've had our Ford Fusion Energi for 3000 miles now, including two out-of-state East Coast trips. The pure hybrid MPG (you can set its computer to show either the hybrid or the combined hybrid + EV MPG) shows 46.2 MPG.

 

...and my Son, who is the usual driver, is not known for a feathery touch on the gas pedal.