What would you have bought if not a Prius?

The first part is nosense.
The second part is true. FWD car with winter tires will be as good or better as AWD with all-seasons. Obviously AWD with winter tires always win in snow.

 

Yeah, Nora, that 'Tire Dealer' is a big Bozo,, especially if he really owns a Prius.
Do not believe anything he tells you in the future,, I guess except for the cost of the tires.
I would not buy from this shop.

Where you live, I would consider a second set of steel wheels and mount modern winter tires on them. These are not the same as old fashioned 'snow' tires.
But not from that Bozo. Look at tirerack.com for lots of good info on this subject. They will sell you the wheels and tires mounted, balanced ready to install and sent to your door.

 

Your tire dealer is in error. The rear wheels are unpowered on the Prius. The Lexus Hybrid SUV has an "option" for a rear traction motor, but not the Prius.

 

Lexus IS 350 w F sport in Ultrasonic Blue

 

1. BMW 4 Series Coupe
2. Audi A5
3. Lexus IS

 

Something that doesn't "virtually require" me to sit with only 2 inches headroom due to its "novel" seat and steering wheel arrangements. Yeah, I tried sitting low for over year and a half and forget that; don't like steering wheels pointing towards my neck / laying back in some weird style of zero gravity seating position.

 

I looked at a Honda insight, which I thought handled really well, but I didn't think the mileage was very good. I probably would have bought a Honda Fit. I later did buy a Honda Fit for my wife.

 

If the Prius didn't exist, I'd get a Volt. However, if the Prius didn't exist, there probably wouldn't be a Volt... As a matter-of-fact, there probably would be no Hybrids out there if it wasn't for Toyota starting this whole thing...

 

GM didn't have a hybrid but they did produce an EV called EV1, it was introduced at about the same time that the Prius was introduced in Japan. The GM dealers didn't want to sell them because it was not profitable for them. The only way you could have gotten an EV1 was thru a leasing contract. The EV1 didn't require any regular maintenance other than changing worn out tires and wiper blades. The dealers hated it so much that GM decided to scrap it.

 

Pretty sure the 2000 1st Gen Honda Insight was the first hybrid for sale in the USA.

 

john 1701a had one.
He bought a Classic Prius (hybrid-electric, fuel-efficient, super-ultra-low-emission vehicle) back on 9/9/2000 and drove it in Minnesota.
John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more

 

Unfortunately, the only EV1 in existence had all it's electronics removed by GM. So, they killed the car and we all know why... No maintenance for the stealership... In bed with big oil...

 

GM recalled all the EV1 cars and crushed them. Now they are in the game proclaiming to be the leaders. I'll believe that when they produce a car reliable as the Prius and have sales numbers to back up the claim.

 

Wanted to get a CMax, but they weren't delivering good mpg for the price

 

Ok, but it is true, the movie 'Who Killed the Electric Car' made no attempt to even estimate how much an EV1 might have cost for purchase ..... minor oversight methinks. What if an EV1 would have cost $50,000 at the time, how many except for some hardcore types would want that little 2 seater for that coin?

 

The reason GM stopped building the EV1 was they could make more money selling the rights to the large NiMH battery to Texaco. Texaco then sued Toyota and Panasoic forcing them to stop production of any autos with battery packs large enough to propel the car. Go look up the 2003 Toyota Rav 4 EV. GM and Texaco (bought by Cevron) set the entire hybrid & EV auto industry back by 10 years. Chevron literary tore down the plant that built the large NiMH battery pack that GM sold them the rights to.

 

Not all of the EV1's were scrapped. At least one still exists at Ohio State's Technology Center in Columbus.