Gas prices plummeting, and so are hybrid sales

I got over 30 MPG on the highway in my 2000 Chrysler LHS with a V6.

BEVs & PHEVs are the future. The Prius is becoming old technology and Toyota is struggling to keep up with their refusal to build BEVs.

The sad thing about low gas prices is that ppl begin buying gas guzzlers. Now is the time to raise the gas tax!

 

When the prices go up its the President's fault, any president any party. Well maybe not any party When they go down who gets the credit?

 

I have had vehicles that ranged from 8 MPG City/12 MPG Hwy to 22 MPG City/30 MPG Hwy, but now that I live in Georgia I need my city mileage to be the better of the two. So by getting 46-48 MPG City and around 44-46 MPG Hwy, I'm very happy and I don't want another vehicle that gets less than 45 MPG City.

My last vehicle was a 2010 Tundra and the only thing that Truck got me was multiple tickets for tint, speeding, reckless driving, and parking. The Prius keeps me out of trouble and makes my wife happy.

 

Yes most people are stupid and short sighted. I blame our education system.

 

Sorry to say this, but maybe it wasn't fault of the truck.

 

funny

 

It wasn't the trucks fault, I control the truck, lol.

I was just a wild and crazy driver, all those years of driving in Japan and street racing took its toll on me.

 

Im obviously the oddball then... Ive been looking at Volts for the past week!

Still trying to eliminate/minimize my gasoline usage as much as possible, even with local prices hovering around $2.90/g.

 

It costs less than $10 to go 150 miles, I'm loving it

 

It's just cyclical, both oil & gas prices, and hybrid sales.

Remember the Prius is at the end of it's life cycle (as we wait on the GenIV) and sales always tail off after a few years of a cars generation.

I've read that the OPEC countries are keeping production up to combat cheap Russian oil, and try to slow some of the burgeoning "green energy" initiatives (which tend to only make financial sense when oil breaks $XX per barrel).

Also, anyone buying or selling a car over a 50¢ change in gas prices is tripping over dollars to chase pennies. (I think I have that saying right)

 

fuel efficient cars had been around in late 1990 , especially for foreign small-medium Japanese and Korean cars.

I Owned 1996 Hyundai Accent, getting more than 30mpg was easy. well not automatic but manual shift-stick.
the good news on today, is emission is getting less than previous fuel efficient cars.

I always smile, when watch car ads for small-medium car that state balala 32(5) mpg Highways . this is already achieved in more than 10 years past.

Electrics car has been around, just was not politically supported in the past.
I am glad it got picked very well in recent years.

 

I know. I've been around awhile too.

Your comparison for fuel economy is misleading. Achieving high fuel economy in the 80's and 90s was only doable because of more relaxed emissions restrictions, less horsepower and less safety standards. The Metro and Accent were lightweight tin cans with low HP. Granted, the Prius is still a tin can but it crashes well! lol

 

Horsepower is a red-herring. If that's your priority, you will never be happy for long. One outfit I worked for had a fleet of trucks, and there was always a ton of complaints by drivers about some of the trucks being under-powered. When we looked into the actual economics of running them, they still made all their deliveries on time, but cost us less to operate.

 

is not misleading, emission is the key for current car <-- did I mentioned on my post?
safety basically not big improvement on today car. My old accent has safety bar inside the door. and other standard safety as today car, except... today car has better improvement...

Accent was not lightweight tin can . I own one and can compared with my Prius... my old accent had thicker metal ....
my old Accent was my workhorse to get some extra money during the weekend as delivery guy. it sustained harsh treatment and condition, hitting pavement, concrete fence, and many more.. during winter/snow too..

 

It's not a red-herring. More HP historically required larger engines. Larger engines were in turn less fuel efficient. Your reply doesn't really make sense in this context.

Simply put. People want more HP. It's cool, it's inefficient and doesn't make economic sense. Exactly why kids hate the Prius.

 

Yeah my bad. 2105lbs isn't lightweight..... What world do you live in? lol

It did receive a 4 star frontal crash rating for the passenger. The driver's side got 3 stars. :/

I don't doubt you get a lot of work done with the car. That wasn't my point, however. The 2013 version of your car is rated for similar fuel economy using today's EPA standard, has 46HP more, weights 294lbs more and is 10" longer (i.e. a bigger car) and is safer to drive. Some of that has a cost associated with it in the name of fuel efficiency.

 

We did that with some cabs. We got rid of the rather quick diesel automatics and replaced them with much slower manuals The drivers hated them but they also cut their fuel bills by 50%. Some people will always moan.

 

Never let the drivers have a say in purchasing the vehicles.

 

Yeah, I've noticed the big tank redneck trucks are selling like hot cakes off the lots again here in VA. Will they ever learn!

 

Someone probably could quantify it, but Hybrids have an effect in holding down demand for gas and helping to lower gas prices.