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

solar?















































merged?

almost the same. can't wait for the bev.

 

My loyalty hasn't dropped because of gas prices. It's dropped because 2011 is so boring, heavy, numb and awkward to drive. Is there a car that is less fun to drive?
2 1/2 weeks, family visitors come and go and this thing goes on the market for sale.

 

Maybe my expectations are different, guess they've GOT to be, but I'm hunky dory with our 2010. It doesn't have any rough edges to speak of, has been very reliable, and the best gas mileage car we've ever owned. Fun, I do not know, not high on my list, as I said: different expectations.

 

Interesting article. Might it be low fuel prices per barrel? Might it be a lack of government incentives on current hybrids? Might it be the currently lease cycles that we are seeing from the big push a few years back? Interestingly enough the same car manufacture which make my beloved gen 4 prius also quietly sells one of the largest SUV vehicles. Sequoia with a big V8.

I'm looking at putting a 1k deposit down for a Telsa 3 to receive or maybe receive delivery in 2018??

But I'm a little skeptical about the "free for now" recharge stations see they are building an infrastructure now through out the US. But in the future there will be profit and fees to pay for using these charging station just like gas it's being set up now. Predictably we will move fossil fuel dependence to lithium ion and electricity.

For now I"m glad to stay in the middle one foot in fossil lowing dependence and one foot in to the EV idea.

It's safe for now kinda like sitting on the fence. Seeing where this whole power play will go.

Just my 2 cents. many of these great concepts like fuel cell vehicles Or cars that run on magnets or corn would be so out of our price range. The patents are bought and buried so we may never know..........

Yup I'm ok with my Prius for now. Am i saving fossil .... yes ...... but am I encouraging industry elsewhere with the laboring and depletion of lithium from brine pools in other countries who knows???

(just ramblings of some random dude) ...........................

 

I thought cars were meant to transport people.
You have given me a laugh just because you will need to transport people for more 2 1/2 weeks.
Go 2011 go! Drive safely, please.

 

If you had my commute, you'd appreciate the Prius for being easy to drive in heavy traffic. No car is much fun when you're average speed is 25 mph, and the Prius is easily the least annoying, mostly because it is happy to creep along on electric where "fun" cars are an exercise in gas/brake/gas/brake.

 

True.
Here in Europe most cars are still stick shifted, so the exercise is
clutch/stick/gas/clutch/brake/clutch/stick/gas/...
and some time lapsed, new clutch fitted. "Fun"...

 

Commuted many times in Bay Area stop and go in gen3, 25 mph avg. Still have to work accelerator / brake, back and forth. Burns little gas, but wow gen3 steers like video game, poor view out front.

 

hated driving the miata in stop and go traffic. leg pain unbearable after a while. the prius is a pleasure in that department.

 

We did two test drives: first drive in a level roughly equiv. to the US level IV, with the 15" wheels, and second drive in rough equiv. to US level V, with the 17" wheels.

The first drive was at night, and it was the first drive, those might have been factors, but I felt uncomfortable with the steering. The second drive, with the 17" wheels, revised steering setup, I felt right at home. We bought that one.

 

that's what makes gen 4 so difficult. most current users could care less about handling. so, to try and expand the market, they've made cycle happy, even though he's not going to buy one.

 

really wow ... so then, it must be shocking to you that cars actually have 'radios' ... 'electric windows' .... cruise control etc, after all, you don't REALLY need that power stearing, do you. Must seem really wacky to hear of cars like astin martin, bugatti, Dodge Hellcat etc, because after all ... they're 'just to transport'. (?)

genius in advertising? You mean, not advertising, don't you? Next time you're channel surfing - you may suddenly realize, " hey, I've never seen a Tesla commercial .... how in the world did they get over 400,000 pre orders with $1,000 deposit?!?" Something to think about.
.

 

The unfortunate greenwashing effort currently at play, attempting to undermine the success of Prime, is to disregard the benefit in stop & slow commuting.

They spin it to make people believe EV range must cover the entire commute to be effective.

In reality, there's a huge payoff where highways intersect and where bridges cross. It's a nice perk to have EV for full drive. But the 50 MPG without plug-supplied electricity is far more than what others get when cruising. And the 999 MPG when stuck in that heavy traffic from intersections & crossings is fantastic.

My commute includes recharging at work. That makes my capacity now in the PHV equal to what it will be with a single charge in the Prime. Averaging 125 MPG currently is great. How can that not be a selling point for Prime?

Of course, I'll continue charging at work. The 85 kWh solar-array is great for that. It will bump my entire commute to that 999 MPG.

 

wow! That's gotta be ~ 12,000sq' of panels! at 1st I thought you were talking about home ... until I did the math

.

 

Just checked, it is "only" 82. But the location & size makes that huge regardless. Here's a photo of it prior to construction completion...

 

Real pleasure, like the fun found in driving sports cars, sure you don't need radio/electric windows/cruise/PAS...as well as riding a motorbike.

 

That's it?
What about TV remote control?
Tivo & Blu-ray remotes?
flashlights
stud detector
sawzall
dust buster
mini circular saw
mini dremel
key fob(s)
cat toy (laser ptr)
landline cordless phone
razor
tire pressure gauge
IR temp gauge & multi-meter
digital calipers
PIP
Leaf

probably missing a few more.

 

right on! don't forget the fuel cell coffee maker.

 

That's nice!
But it isn't 85 kwh. Unless you are talking about how much it produces in a given amount of hours.
It is probably about 300 watts per panel. So that is about 24 kilo watts.
My system generates 4000 kwh, but it is only 12 panels so it takes a year to do that.

Mike