Fair enough. But since it is the only option right now, why need it be so polarizing? It's obviously trying to make a statement, which is a turn off for a lot of potential buyers like me. Looks like its a 2010 Fusion Hybrid in my garage next though.
Well, like I said before, if my electricity bill goes up $200 a month in summer, just because I lower the thermostat two degrees, I'm a bit cynical that charging my cars will be less than $4 a night.
Yes, but I'm not the one claiming that an EV is "virtually maintenance-free". "EVs have much lower maintenance requirements than gas engines" is a responsible statement; "virtually maintenance-free" is not. That's a biased statement, made to mislead and further an agenda. Even if an EV has a lot fewer parts, they will still need maintenance, as strictly being an EV doesn't exempt mechanical parts from breaking.
There is currently only one "true" hybrid (the Prius) for sale in the US right now. Honda is bringing theirs back. All the rest of them (civic, malibu, camry, the ford ones) are all "hybrid-assist", employing varying degrees of electrical motor assist. They are the ones that are jumping on the bandwagon. On the flip side, they are the only option if you don't want to drive an ugly car (seriously, who said a true hybrid had to be ugly?)
A Toyota Prius would have cost me nearly $8,000 more than my Nissan Sentra.
A BMW 330i would have cost me nearly $20,000 more than my Toyota Prius. Don't you see the error in your logic? You can't pick random non-hybrid car and compare it to a hybrid car. I suppose if they made a Sentra Hybrid, your comparison would work.
To be fair to GM, the Prius is a "ground-up" hybrid and the GM models are all "hybrid assist" vehicles, and not true hybrids. Toyota has the same "problem" with their Camry Hybrid, Honda with their Civic "Hybrid". People fall for marketing and see "hybrid" and think they are getting a Prius-like return on gas mileage, when in reality, they are paying a lot of money for a few more mpg on top of the regular gas engine. I can reap the same benefits as hybrid assist cars (practically) with my manual transmission turbo-powered Mazda by shifting into neutral or keeping the clutch in, and using the clutch to engine brake.
A Prius has significantly different enough oil change intervals over an equivalent gas powered car? While I know the car doesn't use the engine when using electric power, the savings in oil breakdown can hardly be significant, could they? I changed my brakes in my 10 year old Ford recently and it cost $200. Divide that over 120 months and it doesn't even register as an expense to worry about.
If you switched your comparison from a Corolla vs. Prius to a Camry versus a Prius (or even better a Camry vs. Camry hybrid) I think you'd find the hybrid pays itself off much faster. Or I could be totally asinine and compare a 2010 Prius to the cost of a 1995 Honda Civic and see the Prius would NEVER make up the price difference. Or I could compare a Prius to a BMW M5 and see that the Prius pays itself off right away...
there is also the issue of american consumers, who will blindly buy SUVs while they send their sons and daughters to die in the middle east to fight for the oilfields needed to drive their precious SUVs
People make all sorts of wacky decisions when it comes to choosing a vehicle. Ego, safety paranoia, interior or cargo space needs (real or imagined).
We should tax the hell out of nonsensical vehicles, such as obnoxious SUVs and sports cars. And I myself drive an irrational sports car, and would have no problem paying a tax for my sins. What this sort of taxation WOULD do, however, is take the SUV out of the picture of the average blue-collar family's budget, and it would stop being a status-symbol and go back to the being a church-wagon for families of 15.
While we are at it, we should just tax trucks and SUVs out of the range of average families unless they can show they use that sort of vehicle for their livelihood (construction, whatever). I loves me some giant Ford F-350 taking up both lanes (and three parking spots) on a Sunday drive to the grocery store!
#4 -- Fiat is coming back to the US market (or is it Renault?) Unfortunately, the last time they where here, they made crappy cars, so that's what sticks in consumers minds.
Could be solved with a... gas tax
That doesn't seem very valid since there already is a gas tax but there seems to still be a problem, since you felt the need to offer the solution of a gas tax.
EVs are virtually maintenance-free because they never need oil changes, air filters, tune-ups, mufflers, timing belts, or emission tests.
Just like I'll never need a hysterectomy because I'm not a girl? Seriously, do EVs not have mechanical parts? Just because they don't have a muffler means the brake rotors will never need replaced? Awesome, where do I get one!? Why does my mountain bike require so much god damned maintenance? It doesn't need an air filter or emissions tests either.
That's why I prefer my hybrid to be "non-plug-in". The whole point of a hybrid is to get the benefit of electric power, by generating the electricity with its own power source (gasoline). I am not an electrical engineer, but I imagine 100,000 hybrid cars burning gasoline would produce far less pollution than the increase in coal burning that would be required to power 100,000 pure electric cars. Until we can switch to more nuclear, hydro, wind and solar power, I see no environmental benefit of electric cars over hybrids.
So did I back in 1992 with my gas-powered Honda Civic VX. Sure it was a tin-can, but if fuel efficiency were in higher demand, the auto makers would make more fuel efficient cars. However, most drivers would rather get 20-30mpg and have in excess of 150hp as opposed to the 60mpg and 90hp of my Honda Civic. People seem to neglect the fact that horsepower and mpg are generally inversely related.
Considering the internal combustion engine has made very modest technology progress over the past 50 years, I'm not so optimistic on battery technology getting better soon.
Ok, so I turn down my AC. How do I "turn down" the charging of my two cars at night? And for the record, the reason I don't turn down my AC is two-fold: I can afford to keep my house comfortable, and it is usually about 100 degrees with moderately high humidity in Austin, TX.
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oyota wouldn't cover it because he had oil changes done by a mechanic instead of the dealer
I can't believe that dealerships are still trying this highly illegal practice. Haven't they been sued enough to stop?
Fair enough. But since it is the only option right now, why need it be so polarizing? It's obviously trying to make a statement, which is a turn off for a lot of potential buyers like me. Looks like its a 2010 Fusion Hybrid in my garage next though.
Well, like I said before, if my electricity bill goes up $200 a month in summer, just because I lower the thermostat two degrees, I'm a bit cynical that charging my cars will be less than $4 a night.
Yes, but I'm not the one claiming that an EV is "virtually maintenance-free". "EVs have much lower maintenance requirements than gas engines" is a responsible statement; "virtually maintenance-free" is not. That's a biased statement, made to mislead and further an agenda. Even if an EV has a lot fewer parts, they will still need maintenance, as strictly being an EV doesn't exempt mechanical parts from breaking.
Just because you bought a crappy mountain bike...
Gary Fisher disagrees with you.
People are supposed to take your post seriously when you are advocating buying a better engineered economy car than a Toyota Corolla?
There is currently only one "true" hybrid (the Prius) for sale in the US right now. Honda is bringing theirs back. All the rest of them (civic, malibu, camry, the ford ones) are all "hybrid-assist", employing varying degrees of electrical motor assist. They are the ones that are jumping on the bandwagon. On the flip side, they are the only option if you don't want to drive an ugly car (seriously, who said a true hybrid had to be ugly?)
A Toyota Prius would have cost me nearly $8,000 more than my Nissan Sentra.
A BMW 330i would have cost me nearly $20,000 more than my Toyota Prius. Don't you see the error in your logic? You can't pick random non-hybrid car and compare it to a hybrid car. I suppose if they made a Sentra Hybrid, your comparison would work.
To be fair to GM, the Prius is a "ground-up" hybrid and the GM models are all "hybrid assist" vehicles, and not true hybrids. Toyota has the same "problem" with their Camry Hybrid, Honda with their Civic "Hybrid". People fall for marketing and see "hybrid" and think they are getting a Prius-like return on gas mileage, when in reality, they are paying a lot of money for a few more mpg on top of the regular gas engine. I can reap the same benefits as hybrid assist cars (practically) with my manual transmission turbo-powered Mazda by shifting into neutral or keeping the clutch in, and using the clutch to engine brake.
A Prius has significantly different enough oil change intervals over an equivalent gas powered car? While I know the car doesn't use the engine when using electric power, the savings in oil breakdown can hardly be significant, could they? I changed my brakes in my 10 year old Ford recently and it cost $200. Divide that over 120 months and it doesn't even register as an expense to worry about.
If you switched your comparison from a Corolla vs. Prius to a Camry versus a Prius (or even better a Camry vs. Camry hybrid) I think you'd find the hybrid pays itself off much faster. Or I could be totally asinine and compare a 2010 Prius to the cost of a 1995 Honda Civic and see the Prius would NEVER make up the price difference. Or I could compare a Prius to a BMW M5 and see that the Prius pays itself off right away...
Insightful my ass. What a ridiculous analogy, unless we were all using gas powered lamps yesterday and all suddenly decided to buy light bulbs today.
meanwhile, when you throw your beer can from your hunting blind, you're an asshole.
Mod +1, freakin' hilarious.
there is also the issue of american consumers, who will blindly buy SUVs while they send their sons and daughters to die in the middle east to fight for the oilfields needed to drive their precious SUVs
1991 called. It wants its Gulf War rhetoric back.
People make all sorts of wacky decisions when it comes to choosing a vehicle. Ego, safety paranoia, interior or cargo space needs (real or imagined).
We should tax the hell out of nonsensical vehicles, such as obnoxious SUVs and sports cars. And I myself drive an irrational sports car, and would have no problem paying a tax for my sins. What this sort of taxation WOULD do, however, is take the SUV out of the picture of the average blue-collar family's budget, and it would stop being a status-symbol and go back to the being a church-wagon for families of 15.
While we are at it, we should just tax trucks and SUVs out of the range of average families unless they can show they use that sort of vehicle for their livelihood (construction, whatever). I loves me some giant Ford F-350 taking up both lanes (and three parking spots) on a Sunday drive to the grocery store!
#4 -- Fiat is coming back to the US market (or is it Renault?) Unfortunately, the last time they where here, they made crappy cars, so that's what sticks in consumers minds.
Could be solved with a ... gas tax
That doesn't seem very valid since there already is a gas tax but there seems to still be a problem, since you felt the need to offer the solution of a gas tax.
It probably got modded troll because it is anti-libertarian in it's slant, which doesn't go over well in these parts, I hear.
EVs are virtually maintenance-free because they never need oil changes, air filters, tune-ups, mufflers, timing belts, or emission tests.
Just like I'll never need a hysterectomy because I'm not a girl? Seriously, do EVs not have mechanical parts? Just because they don't have a muffler means the brake rotors will never need replaced? Awesome, where do I get one!? Why does my mountain bike require so much god damned maintenance? It doesn't need an air filter or emissions tests either.
That's why I prefer my hybrid to be "non-plug-in". The whole point of a hybrid is to get the benefit of electric power, by generating the electricity with its own power source (gasoline). I am not an electrical engineer, but I imagine 100,000 hybrid cars burning gasoline would produce far less pollution than the increase in coal burning that would be required to power 100,000 pure electric cars. Until we can switch to more nuclear, hydro, wind and solar power, I see no environmental benefit of electric cars over hybrids.
And I've done 60 MPG when trying.
So did I back in 1992 with my gas-powered Honda Civic VX. Sure it was a tin-can, but if fuel efficiency were in higher demand, the auto makers would make more fuel efficient cars. However, most drivers would rather get 20-30mpg and have in excess of 150hp as opposed to the 60mpg and 90hp of my Honda Civic. People seem to neglect the fact that horsepower and mpg are generally inversely related.
The only things any of them have made that satisfied my efficiency standards have been cheap, poorly-made boxes with few amenities
That goes for pretty much any non-diesel economy car. Hence the term, "economy".
What's most offending is that GM *knows* how to make good turbodiesel cars
Just because GM bought Vauxhall/Opel et. al. doesn't mean that GM has the slightest clue on how to make a "good turbo-diesel car".
thanks to the loud, smoky GM and Dodge diesels of today.
FTFY
Considering the internal combustion engine has made very modest technology progress over the past 50 years, I'm not so optimistic on battery technology getting better soon.
Ok, so I turn down my AC. How do I "turn down" the charging of my two cars at night? And for the record, the reason I don't turn down my AC is two-fold: I can afford to keep my house comfortable, and it is usually about 100 degrees with moderately high humidity in Austin, TX.