Hi! I would like to ask if any of you guys/gals are familiar with the New Hybrids.
My dad is planning to purchas one (Hybrid Highlander) and asking me about the upside/downside of the Hybrids.
I am not familiar with these technology and would like to ask the forum to educate me about this.
Thank you very much!

All inputs are accepted!!!

 

With current technology, you have to replace the hybrid battery every 4-5 years or so. Make sure he asks about that. And also, the actual mileage varies quite differently from the EPA estimates. A lot of Prius drivers are finding themselves with only 20mpg due to a lot of freeway driving.

Other then that, Hybrids aren't that much different from regular gasoline cars. The motor will shut itself off sometimes, nothing to be alarmed about. And you will recharge your batteries under braking, so you get a cool new gauge to look at.

 

thanks! keep it coming...

 

well, my wife drives our prius on 280 (lots of hills AND freeway driving) from San Bruno to Palo Alto daily, and gets about 50mpg on a full tank.

It's not hard, you just have to LEARN how to drive your hybrid. It's not like driving a regular car. Understand that if you are doing it for money reasons, you won't be saving money by buying a hybrid to lower your gas bills. The premium on hybrid vehicles won't be offset by fuel savings unless you drive a LOT.

here:

http://www.hybridcenter.org/
http://www.greenhybrid.com/
http://www.hybridcarguide.com/
http://www.hybridcars.com/

 

this is the point. If you paying extra for the hybrid the difference in fule saving will not be recognised for years.

Plus I would not buy one either. Only lease. In 2-3 years those hybrids will have an even better technology and mileage. So at that point you switch to new version.

By the way the premium between a regular/hybrid Highlander is quite big (like 5-6k?) You need to drive a ton to mke up the money.

Cheers

Nick

 

Plus, with the 4x4 hybrid Highlander, they have already said to not take it off roading for fear of overusing and frying the batteries. Why the heck buy a 4 wheel drive then? Now, they may mean heavy duty four wheeling will cook it, but who's to say that light offroad (dirt roads, trail, Tahoe, etc.) won't damage it? Like eveyone else said above, the premium paid over the regular Highlander is not worth it at all. I'm actually going to buy a diesel as my next automobile, hopefully a Jeep Liberty. I can run it for free on waste vegetable oil! Plus it's got high and low range 4 wheel drive and almost 300 lb/ft of torque!

 

i test drove a prius 2 weeks ago with my gf. we loved it. technology-wise its awesome. i felt like i was driving a space ship and my name was Buck Rogers! its no sportscar. its slow and handles like crap.. but i would still buy 1 without a thought. too bad my gf's dad wont let her get 1.

i'm not sure about those suv hybrids tho

 

That was my thought as well.

Wasn't like someone selling an old Volvo diesel on these boards?
Convert it to vegi oil car and run for pretty much free. I would be hesitant to convert a new diesel vehicle. I am sure you are throwing your warranty out the door with the vegi conversion.

Nick

 

Some guy in the bay area has a truck that runs on the used oil. I was behind him in Burlingame and his exhaust smelled like fajitas and tacos.

 

thanks!
test drove the highlander.. feels weird driving it.
especially when the engines just shuts down when using the electric part.
And i feel like it doesn't have torque when using the electric part of it...
buttom line.. my dad is disappointed and end up not purchasing one..
thanks again ppl!

 

the ROI for a hybrid is pretty steep. 8-10years worth of saving gas to offset the price difference between hybrid and non hybrid. One of my neighbors was hooting and hollering about 48mph in his prius, when my mom's corolla-s gets 45mpg. You want to the nitty gritty, ride a bike(one with a motor). One of my buddies get about 80mpg on his pretend ninja(250). I get 45-50mpg driving like a bat out of hell on my R6. One of my buddies paid about $35k OTD for an accord V6 hybrid, he manages about 27mpg. So how long does it take to pay back $8k premium? Is it worth saving a few mpg over having a nicer car? The paulty gas savings made by hybrids will never be close to offsetting the gas guzzling SUVs for the tree huggers out there.

Personally a hybrid is a waste of time and money. Expensive maintenance to own(do not buy one), generally gutless(my buddies Accord V6 excluded), and just a complete waste. If you want to see some tapdancing buy tickets to see river dance, but pay no attention to the hybrid hype.

You want great gas mileage and good power, get a diesel. I got about 32mpg with an F350 TD 4x4 with upgraded turbo running about 500crank hp and 850lb-ft. Ran mid 14s and got 32mpg when I needed it, too bad everything except the driveline was falling apart. Imagine what economy a diesel will do without 3 tons of truck attached.

 

Actually thats more like 8 years, and is under warrenty, at least with the Prius for anything in the hybrid system.

Also, plenty of Prius owners are getting BETTER than estimated mileage. My girlfriends parents get around 65-75 putting around Tiburon/Sausalito. You'd need to prove to me that a Prius owner with a properly functioning car got < 30 MPG. We got 45MPG with 100% highway driving last trip we took in that car (averaging 60MPH).

'A lot' of Prius owners aren't getting 20. Alot are getting 45+.

 

Really? I don't have any direct knowledge, so I could quite easily be wrong. But there was a big flurry of articles a few months ago saying that "a lot" or drivers were seeing 25-30 on average. Mainly drivers who commuted on the freeway and basically stayed on the gasoline engines for 90% of their commute.

 

I remember that flurry of articles...I just looked them up, and they were all talking about people getting 35 instead of estimated 45. Not great, but not 20 either .

Now, I do agree with the ROI question raised above - its tough if you are looking at it purely financially. There is an environmental aspect that some find attractive as well, that a diesel doesn't solve.

 

What's cool is that Honda sells the Accord hybrid as a higher performance car. The Accord Hybrid is actually faster than the regular V6 Accord with more power and better gas mileage.

They use the electric motor to add horsepower. Could this be a new form of performance bolt-on?