Featured As gas prices have dropped, so have owner's EV/hybrid loyalty

yup. no one wants to change, (almost) it will take cold dead bodies. most people i know live large, with no thought to their future, or posterity.

 

My first hybrid a honda civic cost me way more to buy, was boring to drive, have poor resale value an a pain to maintenance compare to a regular civic so I never save a penny even in hight Quebec gas price.
Buying a Prius for me have noting to do with saving money but to burn as less Fuel possible. Price of gas is only a bonus. My ultimate goal is to run as much on electricity as possible and not heard an engine run. I think many returning to regular car have bought there hybrid for the wrong reason. Many hybrid suffer from been expensive, boring, ugly and look cheap compare to a car the same price and now are not kool anymore so for most they make no sence.

I was really in the market for a Volt gen 2 ultimate saving gas car without any range problem. for me it was perfect in most area exept cargo space so the v wins

 

So, are the other 27% Prius & Tesla sales?

This is why I'm long on oil. They'll be back when they can't afford to fill the tank. The only green I care about is the green in my pocket.

 

Lot of sacrifices to drive a (3rd gen) Prius: Not very comfortable, not very powerful, unsteady ride quality and I'm getting slight clicking sound when braking and turning steering wheel. Wonder how much that might cost. Maybe a lot of people are saying, this car kinda sucks, don't want another. Our 2005 Accord 4cyl with 124k miles drives better than my 2011 prius with only 34k mi on it. Couple advantages Prius has is electric air conditioning and of course much better MPG, but other than that, it kinda sucks. And that's with it doctored up with a finagled piece of foam on seat and a home-made leg rest box.

 

no doubt. if it weren't for mpg's, who would drive one? kids, if they were cheap enough i suppose.

i hear the gen 4 has many more attributes though, i can't wait to take one for a spin.

 

While the mpg is a plus with my lifetime of 46+ on my 2010, I had an older Honda CRX that got 52 lifetime and have a friend at work that still drives a Metro with life time right at 51. The sole winning reason we bought another Gen III was the TCO. Even being maintenance proactive as I am, the Gen III Prius is the lowest Total Cost of Ownership vehicle I have owned from new due primarily to vehicle reliability. They are not pretty, but they just keep on going. Imagine I will unload the 2010 some time around 180,000 miles before the high dollar items need addressing though. As good as it has been, this is not a collector car I plan to take to the grave with me.

 

The word of the day is - "Shortsightedness"

 

We'll see how long the love affair with trucks lasts with the way gas prices have been creeping up around here.

 

still two bucks here.

 

Source: Despite Now-Cheap Gas, US Consumers Support Federal MPG Standards

A random national phone survey of 1,001 American consumers last month found a large majority are in favor of tightening Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets set by the federal government.


Although gas is now cheap, the respondents queried March 10 to March 13 by ORC International for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), showed they do not believe it will stay this way.

Among the findings, 81 percent overall said they support federal CAFE standards, with 52 percent strongly supporting them.
. . .
Specifically, Americans surveyed project gas prices to be at or above $3.00 per gallon in five years. The average response was $3.50 per gallon, and one-third of respondents think prices will hit at least $4.00 in five years.

The EIA’s projection for 2020 is $3.20 in nominal dollars per gallon, although a high price scenario of $4.84 projected by the EIA was much higher than the low price case of $2.72 projected.
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Bob Wilson

 

Paid $2.33/gal yesterday.

 

After having driven around a 2014 Chevy Volt for a few months now, I have no plans to ever go back to a gas-only car. It's so convenient to "fill-up" in my garage right after I pull in, and not have to worry about wildly fluctuating gas prices, and getting it during a freezing cold day, a hot and stick summer day, or during a downpour.

Plus I love how quiet electric cars are, and the zippiness of "instant torque" from electric motors. Sure, it won't beat raw horsepower in a race, but for driving around town and merging on the freeway, it's good enough. Definitely beats the Prius's sluggish acceleration.

Once they come out with semi-affordable plug-in SUV's and trucks with a decent EV range on them, you can kiss the ICE-only era goodbye. I'm sure it won't happen for at least another 10-15 years, but plug-ins are a very good way to meet CAFE regulations, and once the cost (and weight) of batteries drop enough that you can get at least 35-40 miles of EV on a truck, along with a more robust and expanded charging infrastructure, I don't think too many people will dismiss them anymore.

Especially if said trucks can also double as an onsite generator for a contractor's power tools. I know VIA motors makes one, but it's currently too expensive for the average joe, and their current intended target is company fleet vehicles. But it does have a lot of potential, provided politicians don't kill off renewable energy and alternative fueled vehicles of course.

 

most people are lemmings. idk how significant the survey is, but sales tell the whole story.

 

Onsite power supply was a selling point of the first Silverado hybrid, an early BAS system. You just might be able to get the truck to where you need the power on site.

 

Carpe diem ... I'm looking at upgrading our 2003 Prius to a used, BMW i3-Rex. The nice thing is I'm seeing some softening in the used car prices. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

the thing that cooled my enthusiasm for hybrids and especially EVs is the fact the batteries are sensitive to heat in southern or desert states. i love my prius, but not sure what my new car will be at this point. I considered Volt and Leaf in the past.

 

Waiting eagerly for you to get a Honda and go AWAY
But that's my opinion

 

If you're going for 180K, why not stick around for 186,300 (a full light-second)?

 

So people are trading in hybrids and EVs for larger SUVs and trucks, while at the same time supporting higher CAFE? They must think that (lack of) government regulation is the only reason an F150 with 400+ hp doesn't get 50 mpg.