[QUOTE=AtomicDog]
Yes there is. The fact that diesel fuel is way more expensive than gasoline.
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Depends upon where you live. Around here, it’s about $.50/gal. more. I’d be willing to bet that the added MPG offsets that, however. Some places, diesel is closer or farther away from gas, and biodiesel can be a lot cheaper than regular diesel.
I can’t speak for others, but I am leaning towards the Prius because none of the other hybrids can touch it in terns of gas mileage. The next best I saw was the Civic hybrid that was around 35mpg.
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Civic and Prius have comparable milage, as Chimera said. Civic still has a nice IRS Tax credit. Prius does not. You can get 45 MPG out of either, the Prius seems to be easy to get good milage out of.
The big disadvantage of buying a Prius is that that usually means you buy it from a Toyota dealer, who are the biggest crooks in the business, hands-down. Nice cars, though.
And there are no current inexpensive high milage diesels. Several coming out, some in the past- none here (USA) now. I don’t know why someone always comes by and suggest a diesle when dudes want info on a Hybrid- there are no current inexpensive high milage diesels in the USA.
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
No reason to build a gasoline hybrid when diesels already get hybrid mileage without all the added technology (expense)…
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So how are hybrids doing in Europe?
Someone was asking for hard mileage data… Here you go… Sorry the formatting didn’t work better. This is actual calculated mpg… I live in northern New England (3+ hours north of boston) so you’ll see that mileage does indeed go down in the winter. But, 47.6mpg average for the life of the car is pretty good in my book! Plus, we’re just coming off a serious winter, so, that average is going to inch up during the summer.
My driving is mostly highway (2-3 times a week commute one way is 40 miles highway and 6 miles “city”).
I’m running the original tires year round, so, snow performance can’t be that bad…
This is an 06 model year prius (I guess you can figure that out from the table below)…
This is our main vehicle (have a beater truck to haul stuff) and we love it… No complaints at all! BTW, this is no Corolla! It has tons of space (60lbs dog rides behind rear seats) and leg room (even in rear seats). I find the technology very cool… Ride & handling are great… It’s not a sports car, but, it’s not supposed to be.
On resale. A coworker just sold their 06 (older than mine - could be an 05) with 60miles for $20K! I couldn’t believe it! With the tax refund, I didn’t pay much more than that.
I’ve been driving a 2005 Prius for a couple of months now. I love the mileage! Yesterday I decided to start a spreadsheet. Obviously I need to collect more data before it means anything. One thing I’ve noticed is that the odometer does not match the GPS distance. On a 200+ mile trip it seems to be between .3 and .5 miles greater than the GPS reading. Also the MPG on the nav system does not seem to be accurate when I divide the displayed miles by the fuel added. (Method: I insert the nozzle and pull it out as far as it will go, and stop fueling when it clicks off. I refuel in the early morning.) Dividing the odometer miles or GPS miles by the gallons added seems to indicate the MPG reading is high by approximately 5%. I’ll have a better idea after several more refuelings.
EDIT: On my commuting days I drive around 206.7 miles by the odometer. I generally add 4.3 to 4.7 gallons. I assume mileage would increase slightly if I wasn’t ‘tankering’ half a tank. Hey, 30 pounds is 30 pounds. I’ve noticed mileage has improved with the longer, warmer days. No lights or heater using energy that must be replenished by the engine.
I meant to look this up when I first heard it about six months ago on talk radio (Dr. Dean Edell - he’s equilvalent to SDMB on the air, not a nut job):
Taking into account the total amount of energy it takes to produce a Prius, it’s low fuel economy on the road is offset by the production energy: - materials to extract the nickel ore, cost to transport the ore to the battery manufacturer (Europe?); cost to transport the batteries to the factory, etc. It came out to something like 12 MPG equivalent when done.
[QUOTE=Keweenaw]
The Prius is not a US domestically built Toyota, it comes to the US from Japan on a boat. If such a thing matters to you, none of your friends and/or neighbors were employed in it’s manufacture.
More likely you don’t care at all, like most people.
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[QUOTE=JohnGalt]
I meant to look this up when I first heard it about six months ago on talk radio (Dr. Dean Edell - he’s equilvalent to SDMB on the air, not a nut job):
Taking into account the total amount of energy it takes to produce a Prius, it’s low fuel economy on the road is offset by the production energy: - materials to extract the nickel ore, cost to transport the ore to the battery manufacturer (Europe?); cost to transport the batteries to the factory, etc. It came out to something like 12 MPG equivalent when done.
Anyone have a cite for this?
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And what are the equivalent calculations for other cars?
[QUOTE=MacTech]
personally, I’m not convinced hybrids are the answer, Diesel has been around much longer, and is a proven, reliable technology, if she can find a Biodiesel filling station in her area, so much the better
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A recent road test in The Times put a Beemer 520d up against a Prius and the diesel BM came out with better MPG overall. I’d go for a diesel too, but then its easier to refill them here in Europe than in the US.
[QUOTE=Pushkin]
A recent road test in The Times put a Beemer 520d up against a Prius and the diesel BM came out with better MPG overall. I’d go for a diesel too, but then its easier to refill them here in Europe than in the US.
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Article in question:
That’s odd. The article reports that Toyota claims to get 65mpg. My sticker (and every review I’ve read) said it gets 48/45, and I’m getting 48 mgp consistantly.
I only skimmed the article, but I have to question an article entitled "**Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d **.
That title implies the BMW gets significantly better mpg’s than the Prius and I’m not sure I believe that.
“because it’s the entry level car of the 5-series many buyers opt for “badge delete” so they don’t show other motorists they went for the cheapest option at £27,190.”
Or more than $40,000. At the cheapest.
(BMW) “Fuel used on test 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg)”
(Prius) “Fuel used on test 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg)”
My Conclusion: Is that 2mpg difference worth $13,000 and the difficulty of finding Diesel in some locations? Heck, the price differential between Diesel and Regular ($4-something and $3.639 today at the local place) means that the BMW actually costs you more to drive in the USA.
[QUOTE=Pushkin]
A recent road test in The Times put a Beemer 520d up against a Prius and the diesel BM came out with better MPG overall. I’d go for a diesel too, but then its easier to refill them here in Europe than in the US.
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My former boss (of Euro origin) told me that gas hybrids were rare in Europe due to the vehicle cost versus comparable diesels. Do you find this to be the case in the UK?
[QUOTE=Ca3799]
I only skimmed the article, but I have to question an article entitled "**Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d **.
That title implies the BMW gets significantly better mpg’s than the Prius and I’m not sure I believe that.
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When I was still reading the UK auto rags, they usually tested fuel economy at a constant 56mph and a constant 70mph; the 56 number is obviously much better than you’d get in any real-world scenario. It says “mixed motoring”, though, which is probably based on the euromix test conditions.
I suspect it’s just bad reporting.
Anyway, the 520 is much bigger and much heavier than the Prius. It doesn’t make any sense to compare the two - the 320d is a much better comparison.
[QUOTE=mlerose]
I’ve had many opportunities to drive a Prius through my work, and have had to drive it up over the Rockies and back several times. If your mom plans to do a lot of mountain driving, I would recommend against a Prius - the mileage and performance go waaaay down when dealing with altitude and steep grades.
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My Wife is an appraisor for County Gov. Central Colorado Rockies.
The County purchased four Ford Escape Hybrids to replace Jeep Cherokees as work vehicles.
They hate them. Not enough power is the main concern. One appraiser took a fleet maintenece guy for a drive. He ageed.
Take into account though, that we are looking at 9-10 g elevation.
[QUOTE=Ca3799] Johnny L.A., you don’t need the Smart Key in your hand to lock the door. There is a small black pad on the ouside door handle that you push after you have shut to door. If your smart key is within range, the doors will lock. If the Smart Key is out of range, the pad won’t work so that a smart aleck cannot lock you out of your own car. I only need my keys now to lock or unlock my house.
I have not tried “accidentally locking my keys in the car” yet, but I don’t think the car will allow it.
I also found that holding the “mode” button for about 2-3 seconds turns the stereo off quickly, and that there is an automatic “window down” function on the driver’s door window switch- just push the button all the way down until you feel it “click” and release, and the window will roll down completely without you having to hold the button.
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