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Plug-in Hybrids May Not Go Mainstream, Toyota Says
mattnyc99 writes "Honda's challenger to the Prius — the Insight hybrid that we discussed so lividly a month ago — got its official unveiling today at the Paris auto show, with insiders confirming it would be cheaper than the world's most popular 'green' car while still hitting the same fuel-efficiency range. But the hybrid-electric showdown comes in the midst of a sudden rethink by Toyota about plug-in hybrids. Apparently all the recent hype — over the production version of the Chevy Volt, plus Chrysler's new electric trio and even the cool new Pininfarina EV also unveiled today — has execs from the world's number one automaker, and alt-fuel experts, questioning how many people will really buy electric cars, whether people will really charge them at night to keep the grid clear, whether batteries will make them too expensive and more. "
Yes, the same company that gave us the prius, is apperantly less reluctant to tap into the green car market, and seemed to realize that the american craze of huge gas guzzling SUVs wasn't going to last forever. I was talking specifically about american car companies, they're the ones that were gung ho to give us what we wanted when that was bigger and don't want to do that now that it's smaller.
GM saying toyota is wrong for pushing the hybrids, we have an american company naysaying the green car demand. Why are they questioning consumer demands for small and green rather than blindly rushing to meet it like they did when it was for big and inefficient?
Is it reluctance because they think this whole fuel efficiency thing is a passing fancy? They remember the money they were making by selling hummers, expeditions, and escalades, and want to return to the good old days? It's not that they don't want to give us what we want on principle, they were still making gas guzzlers full tilt when gas prices went up and no one wanted them anymore, even though it should have been obvious to anyone working in the industry what was going to happen.
I suspect it's because they're in bed with the oil industry and want to keep demand high by selling gas-guzzlers. There's no positive proof of that, at least not that I know of, but giving large corporations the benefit of the doubt when it comes to public interest is, well, stupid and naive.
Gas prices haven't been as high as they are since 2001.
Thank you Dave Raggett
When I say the battery is sufficient, i'm talking in the context of the true 'hybrid' way the Prius works now.
Here's what would be perfect, a Prius that had a "manual" mode that allowed the driver to select to be running on batteries (in the context of the prius, it would be the mode where your consumption meter reads '99 MPG' which, IIRC, isn't truely 100% on battery) and a plug in charger.
My dad is really good at keeping the Prius on 99% for miles and miles in the automatic mode now (and when I steal it, I'm not bad myself)...if he could manually control how the energy is distributed, he could look at how much battery life he has when he starts out from his house and then, if he's only going to the corner market, he can select to go on the 99% mode there and back (it would drain the battery pretty low), and then plug the car right into the wall and recharge for the next day.
It just gives you so much more flexibility if you can plug the car in...and it encourages smart driving!
Thank you Dave Raggett