Slashdot Mirror
Cheap Gas Fuels Switch From Electric Cars To SUVs
schwit1 points out news that's sure to clash with Earth Day narratives: drivers who bought hybrid and electric cars are switching back to SUVs at a higher rate than ever. Quoting:
According to Edmunds.com, about 22 percent of people who have traded in their hybrids and EVs in 2015 bought a new SUV. The number represents a sharp increase from 18.8 percent last year, and it is nearly double the rate of 11.9 percent just three years ago. Overall, only 45 percent of this year's hybrid and EV trade-ins have gone toward the purchase of another alternative fuel vehicle, down from just over 60 percent in 2012. Never before have loyalty rates for alt-fuel vehicles fallen below 50 percent. ... Edmunds calculates that at the peak average national gas price of $4.67/gallon in October 2012, it would take five years to break even on the $3,770 price difference between a Toyota Camry LE Hybrid ($28,230) and a Toyota Camry LE ($24,460). At today's national average gas price of $2.27/gallon, it would take twice as much time (10.5 years) to close the same gap.
This is very true. As someone with a Ford Focus Electric many people keep telling me I made a bad decision because of cheap gas prices. I tell them I enjoy the ride and it is working out fine having no fuel expense and as my company has chargers I fill up for near $0 each month considering I hardly plus in at home. However these people are purchasing large SUVs will complain bitterly when/if gas prices go back up.
Eliminate any exceptions to the CAFE standard for SUVs.
Background: The SUV class of vehicle only exists because it was a loophole in the CAFE standards. Automakers had to meet a 'fleet average' fuel economy for every vehicle they sold.
That meant Chevy needed to produce and sell a significant number of fuel-economical vehicles for each gas guzzler they sold. That requirement alone forced the Station Wagon almost entirely out of the market, because Chevy wants to sell heavily equipped pickup trucks to people who want them (will spend lots of extra $$) and not just to people who need them. Also to sell vettes and other crap.
The SUV loophole was that 'light sport utility vehicles' were exempt from the fleet average calculation, so the manufacturers sold the hell out of them.
Eliminate the SUV loophole and the big bloated turds would be gone quickly. Soccer moms ignoring the road because they're texting need to drive minivans with little engines, not pigiron.
Where I live (Vancouver, Canada) the purchase of an electric car is never about savings over gas prices. Even here, where gas costs ~$1.25 CAD per liter and hydroelectric residential power costs $0.0797 CAD per kWh for first 1,350 kWh ($0.1195 CAD per kWh over the 1,350), with a car like the Nissan Leaf you'll never save enough over the life of the car in fuel costs to offset the higher price for the car.
For the people I know with Leafs and Volts it's about doing their bit to reduce pollution and CO2 output, not saving money.
Let me know when Toyota starts shipping hybrid vehicles with batteries that actually retain their ability to recharge to a usable capacity for 10+ years.
They've been shipping those batteries... since 2001. See this 10 year checkup from Consumer Reports:
http://www.consumerreports.org...
Moreover, Toyota made it so that you can replace individual battery cells, instead of only being able to replace everything at once. My GF's Prius needed a few cells replaced, and the price was quite reasonable. ($250? I forget the exact number.)
Eliminate the SUV loophole and the big bloated turds would be gone quickly. Soccer moms ignoring the road because they're texting need to drive minivans with little engines, not pigiron.
You do realize most modern 'SUVs' are just hatchbacks with more ground clearance than a normal car and AWD, right? Oh, no, obviously not given your sexist, classist, knee-jerk rant.
Ours gets the same MPG around town as our Civic.
gas cars are getting really good milage.
Relative to what? A '98 Mercedes E-class gets 30 mpg on the highway, but that's still "good" for a small car in 2015? Meanwhile a diesel Fiat Panda had been getting 70+ mpg for like 20 years.
.: Semper Absurda
Because you do not name the SUV I do not believe you.
On average, car-based SUVs (which are usually classed as "CUVs") get almost car-efficiency, but truck-based SUVs, the only ones worth owning as true sport utility vehicles, still lag behind cars.
I think that the exemptions for SUVs and trucks need to be eliminated entirely when under a certain GVWR, and that basically "half ton" trucks in the form of Class 1 light trucks sold as lifestyle trucks need to meet this standard. "three quarter ton" trucks sold as Class 2 trucks need to meet a fairly stringent standard too.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I drive 40 miles each way on my commute. Up until September of last year I was driving a paid off 2006 Tundra, averaged probably 17mpg. While gas was high I was spending $75-100 a week. In September I traded it in and got a new Focus which averages around 33mpg. It now costs me about $20 to fill up, and I use roughly $25 worth of gas a week. I went from spending $100 a week to $100 a month on gas, and the savings more than cover the monthly payment ($125 a month for 36 months). Why spend significantly more for a hybrid/electric when this saves me plenty of money already? Especially considering the range issues of many hybrids (since a full tank gets me roughly 320 miles at $20 a tank).
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Your Imperial gallon is larger than a US Gallon.
So he Mazda 6 gets 46 mpg on gas in UK terms.
The Chevy Cruze Diesel gets over 55 mpg.
Also the US uses a different testing method than the EU so often the same car with the same engine will get better ratings in the EU.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
MSRP for a Prius is $25,000. People pay around 22,000. A RAV 4 (small SUV) starts at about the same price. A mid-sized SUV is going to be closer to 30,000 (on the low end).
You don't need to have a crystal ball. The price drop only happened because Saudi Arabia wanted to assert its dominance in the global market. With higher fuel prices, North American companies were investing in more expensive extraction methods that only become profitable when prices are high.
Saudi Arabia has been keeping its production down to drive up fuel prices and decided that enough was enough. They didn't even ramp up production to full capacity and it's been causing oil companies in North America to shutdown sites and lay off workers. Once Saudi Arabia decides that the oil companies get the picture, they will cut production again.
Then, even when prices rise, investors will think twice about risking their money to support oil extraction.
The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
Full of shit? In every case, I typed the model into Google, and took the lowest number. The rest of the weight are for options, so they are not relevant.
The ones I mentioned were because the Volt and CRV had already been discussed. I have an F-150, and it the best selling vehicle in the US for the past 32 years. (source: wikipedia) I chose the Tesla because some people cream their pants green whenever they hear that word.
Tough shit that Ford is making an aluminum F-150. Good for them. The Tesla is also aluminum, so it is an apples-vs-apples comparison.
That said, here are the numbers right from the manufacturers:
Ford F-150 4x2 = 4,050 LBS source: http://www.ford.com/trucks/f15...
(Note that even their tiny engine has 325 HP and 375 ft-lbs of torque, which is necessary for a truck)
-vs-
Tesla S = 4,647 LBS source: http://www.teslamotors.com/sup...
(If the Tesla has higher horsepower, it is only useful for making the owner's dick get hard.)
Honda CRV = 3358 lbs source: http://automobiles.honda.com/c...
-vs-
Chevy Volt Base Curb Weight = 3786 lbs source: http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-...
Despite what you want to believe, the numbers are what they are. And I just wasted a half-hour looking them up for you.
I paid $25,500 for my Prius plug-in after rebates. Gas is $30 a tank (and that's in California) and gets me about 640 miles. When I drove my Accord I filled up at $65 a tank and got about 475 miles. Just so we're clear, that's $250 a month for gas in the Accord, and $85 a month in the Prius. Not only did the Prius cost about the same as a Camry or Accord, but I save so much in gas every month that it offsets my car loan payments to something more like I purchased a Kia. So all you anti-alternative fuel retards had better get your math straight before you go shooting your mouth off about something which you are obviously very ignorant. It doesn't help your cause to be so vocally wrong.