(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Usually, when you point this out to someone, they will counter with "well, they pollute less." Which is only true if you're talking about specific pollutants, or comparing with a substantially different vehicle.
Take a Prius, remove all the hybrid gear, and it would likely get better fuel economy (thus less pollutants) overally.
The Honda Fit is coming to the USA March 2006.
Irony. I just love irony.
Of course, the hybrid gets its improved mileage primarily by recycling the energy used in decelerating which means that the more you drive it on highways, the less advantage you are seeing in gas mileage. To really benefit, you need to do a lot of stop-and-start driving which means more wear and tear on other automtive parts.
My liberal brother drove us around in his Prius during the holidays so I spotted an immediate advantage. When deciding who's vehicle to take, we always chose the one that used the least gas (i.e. the Prius), so my truck didn't need to be driven until it was time to go home. He spent the money for gas while I got free chauffering! ;))
"I am never going to buy a car that gets anything over 14 miles a gallon, on average, because it's going to be too small. It's going to be too risky."
That was Rush speaking, and while I agree with him about the Prius, he obviously does not know about another Toyota product, the Avalon. A full size car, it has all the luxury one could expect, tremendous safety, lots of power from its 260-70 HP V-6, and 31 mpg highway miles. The top of the line Avalon sells for about $35,000, not much more than the Prius, but twice the car.
While I agree with that for the first-generation version of the Prius sold here, the second-generation car--despite its bulbous looks--is actually quite practical. The interior is quite roomy (just as roomy as a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord!) and you can actually fold down the rear seat backs to creat a large cargo space accessed through the back hatch door.
It lowers our gas prices and if one of these things hits my van I'll just touch up the paint.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
BTTT!
My favorite vehicle is my supercharged 4WD V6 Tacoma. My Tacoma doesn't get the mileage the Prius gets, but it will go anywhere in any weather, can haul and/or pull a decent load and, work or play, it looks damn good whatever it's doing. It's deceptively quick, has a very good crash safety record, outstanding reliability and it is FUN to drive on the road, in the sand, out in the desert, up and down narrow mountain trails, on snow and ice or just on my daily commute. Oh, what a feeling! And for less money than a Prius.
When a Prius can do all my Tacoma can do, I'll buy one. Otherwise, why would I want it?
.....are fancy Yugos for liberals.....
This is a misconception.
I was driving upgrade on an interstate doing about 75 and a prius blew my doors off on the inside lane. It took me a while to get through the other traffic to catch up.
It was definitely a Prius and it was doing a good solid 85mph up the long grade.
No Hugo could ever do that.
130k miles????
I was led to believe that at 100k miles - guess what you need a new battery which don't come cheap at all. That to me is a huge disadvantage which seems to be underreported.
Unless it's economically feasible to put a new battery in when these things wear out you're basically looking at a big flower planter for the back yard - someone correct me if I'm wrong.
What? I thought the electric motor actually gave it some decent pickup? I mean, an electric motor makes a lot of torque at 0 RPM.
Publious has one and he seems to like it. The fact that they let them in the HOV lane is another benefit. Except for the ugly stickers they make you put on it.
The other auto manufacturers are envious because they don't enjoy Toyota's reputation for quality. This in turn provides Toyota with built-in goodwill that enables them to effectively market cars to different segments, including liberal egos.
Capitalism 101.
I won't buy this generation of hybrid, but the next will be attractive. I have read about an ultracapacitor capable of about the same energy density as NiCd - these capacitors are good for 100Ks of cycles and they will only get better with nanotech. If we can then eliminate mechanical connection of the engine to the wheels, we get a lot of flexibility in the fuel required by the power plant. Add a "plug-in" capability and most people will not use any gas on a typical day. For example, just based on the lights that we don't have on at night, we could dump the electrical equivalent of 2/3 gallon of gas into a hybrid. IOW even with no electrical infrastructure improvements, electricity can replace a substantial amount of oil consumption. With infrastructure improvements, we can do even better.
Earth First... we'll strip-mine Mars later this century.
Of course, the ultimate power answer is going to be nuc plants but given that most Americans graduate high school with a third-grade math and science education, it will be a hard sell. To a degree, energy is fungible.
There are now solar-powered (unmanned) aircraft that are being designed to stay up almost indefinitely and only come down for maintenance. But you can do that with a 200 lb. pilotless aircraft that flies above most of the troposphere, you can't do that with stuff that has to carry people around on the ground.
I like technology and so I find hybrids fascinating, much like I found the GM ev1 fascinating (and I would have bought one if they had sold them, but they didn't). As it is, I own three cars, and the best mileage comes from the pickup (doh) so you can imagine what my cars are like.
I don't need to fear being tailgated by a Prius when I'm in a hurry, that's for sure.
Toyota does make good cars. If they sold them here, I would buy the four-door diesel HiLux pickup that I used ovetseas. Several times, it bounced back from calamities that sidelined Unimogs or HMMWvs or other supposedly stout vehicles. Then when it did break, the village blacksmith could fix it. It ran on JP-8, kerosene, gasoline, and once, gasoline cut with vodka. It was the perfect machine for the third world, but they won't sell it here. Too utilitarian for us plush Yanks.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Someone should explain to liberals exactly WHAT goes into those batteries and where they are going to dispose of them.
Be far it from me to disagree with Rusbo, but the truth is that he is FLAT WRONG!! I've got a 2005 F-150 pickup sitting in my garage. If I don't get carried away I can get close to 20 but more often about 17-18 mpg. But I also had a 2003 Ford Escape that I bought new in 2003. I keep VERY CAREFUL fuel records and I think the highest I ever got was maybe 24 mpg. I just got a new 2006 Escape hybrid. 35.43 mpg on the first tank and 29.57 tonight with a full load traveling at highway speeds. Not only that, but it is more powerful than the V6 model. The gasoline engine doesn't kick in until about 25 mph and runs on electric power (has a 95 hp motor). Going downhill I've seen the rpms drop to 0 at speeds up to 35 mph.
I may not be a rocket scientist but I can add and subtract. I didn't buy this because I thought I was going to change the planet. I bought it because I liked driving it so much. And when driving in the city and stop and go, there is no noise (none, nada, zero) because the engine is not running. When I pull away it is on the electric power. The battery is warranteed for 8 years and 100,000 miles.
Yes, I paid more for it (than a regular model), but I wanted it. Not to save the planet but because I coveted it for the sheer pleasure of owning it. If I actually save money over the long haul, that will be a bonus but I won't be looking at the gas gauge going down like the 2003 I had. If I can't achieve at least 40 mpg, I'll be surprised. If I achieve 50 mpg, I won't be surprised.
Jenkins is full of it and Rush should keep to what he knows about. He once said on the air that there was this magic carburetor that could return 200 mpg but the oil companies bought up the design. That's a lot of bulloney. Most of what he says makes good sense but on this issue he is out to lunch. My $0.02.
When my '59 Cadillac was new, it got 15 mpg out its 390 cid engine. It's been a long time since it had a rebuild, but even so, with its MSD ignition add-on and the addition of a pint of tetraethyl lead to each 21-gallon fill-up with supreme, it gets 18 mpg combined city/freeway. Not bad for a 5,000-lb car. Rush doesn't know what he's missing.
If peak oil is here, a few years from now the Prius will be king of the road.