FWIW, my previous 20+ years of daily drivers were also manuals (15 of those on the E46).
While I liked the shifting aspect to some extent, that wasn’t the whole reason for my preference for manuals. Other reasons included:
The feel of a direct connection between the engine and wheels, as opposed to a “slushy” torque converter. This feel continues with EVs since they have single-speed gearboxes.
Strong engine braking. In a manual, you can achieve “one foot driving” in a range of speeds. The same is true of an EV, except that it works at all speeds (down to ~5 mph) and has a more constant strength.
Even though automatics can generally shift more quickly than manuals, in practice they are worse because they aren’t predictive–with a manual I can anticipate taking a corner or passing someone, and downshift in advance. So effectively the response time is better than an automatic. But of course an EV has instant response and no shifting, so all this stuff is irrelevant.
I could go on, but the point is that many of the reasons for liking manuals just aren’t valid with an EV. And I certainly don’t miss the downsides, like inching through traffic or starting on a steep hill.
Less that the Nissan Leaf, even. I like the idea of the e-Golf, just in that it’s an EV that presumably has the handling characteristics of other VWs, but the range isn’t that great.
VW is coming out with their ID family (a retro microbus and a Golf replacement), which i’m sure will expand into additional models
and yes, the E-Golf is clearly a “band aid” car, I find it laughable, and I OWN a Golf (well, two, if you also count the '07 MkV Rabbit which is a renamed Golf)
My Prius is always first off the light by at least a car length if not several, even though I later lose that because I want to keep decent mileage: it would just be totally insane if I got a high powered Tesla and wanted to show off at a light.
The new range of VW electric vehicles will be huge, not just the two models you mention above, and probably represents the tipping point from “niche” to “normal”, especially in Europe. Off the back of that will come an expansion in charging infrastructure and a reduction in range anxiety. It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out but I’m anticipating a large uptick in EV acceptance post -2021.
Yeah, that instant zero RPM electric torque is huge, even on relatively low-performance cars like a Prius. You get used to it quick. A Prius is going to be power limited at a lower speed than the Tesla, so presumably the ICE has to pick up the slack at a relatively low speed if you’re flooring it, but obviously that’s not a problem on a Tesla.
I do tend to drive more slowly since getting the car, though. I’m no hypermiler but I do get some satisfaction from keeping the energy consumption low. I can easily beat the rated figures keeping an even 65 mph on the highway.
I bought a 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid a few weeks ago. I filled up the 20-gallon tank and drove it to and from work a few times. Now I have about 100 miles on it, and the gas gauge is down 25%. This means I am getting just 20 MPG! I know squat about cars, except they have an ICE under the hood, and maybe the Hybrids contain an additional electric motor? So what explains the low mileage on this one? Even if the electric motor battery is busted, the gas engine should still deliver at least 25-30 mpg.
Should I have the car looked at, and maybe the battery replaced?
Diesel is very common for passenger cars in Europe/Britain, but here in the USA, diesel passenger cars are relatively uncommon, especially after the VW “Dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal, before DG, the most common passenger car diesels available in the US were VW and some Mercedes vehicles
Chevy did have one version of the Cruze subcompact available with diesels, and Jeep had one of their SUVs as a diesel, and of course it is still common in trucks and ubiquitous in commercial vehicles, but as far as passenger cars, its rare in the States
I just picked up a used 1999 Yamaha V-Star Classic 650 motorcycle with around 25,000 miles on it, a gasoline vehicle, the inside of the exhaust pipes are jet black, if I wipe a finger in there, it comes out jet black, COVERED with soot/particulates…
My 2012 VW Golf TDI with 53,956 miles has NO soot/particulates in the exhaust pipes, the finger test comes out clean.
Hmm, which one produces less particulate emissions then?
No diesel isn’t completely flawless, but it’s not as dirty as some think, also, gasoline is dirtier than many may think, neither fossil fuel is particularly clean.
Do motorcycles have the same emissions control equipment as cars? I remember Mythbusters once tested whether riding a motorcycle was “greener” than driving a car. They found that while the motorcycle used significantly less fuel, it emitted significantly more pollutants than a gas powered car from the same model year. So I wonder if your observation is actually a motorcycle versus car thing rather than a gas versus diesel thing.
Well, the Golf TDI is, rather appropriately, “cheating “ here as well but it’s a good cheat…
The bike’s exhaust dumps straight from the cylinders, no catalytic converter, the exhaust also appears to be aftermarket, as the pipes have a large exit diameter and minimal sound deadening, I’m looking for ways to quiet them down without having to buy a factory exhaust, a local shop can check to see if the baffles were gutted, if so, they can be repacked…
Anyway, back on subject
The TDI has a Diesel Particulate Filter that captures the soot particles and burns them down to ash (regeneration), it’ll do that as it senses the DPF getting full, short low speed trips require more regents
So the TDI is cleaning it’s own exhaust as it drives, the bike is just dumping it out
Then again, the Rabbit has a similar sooty tailpipe and it’s gas with a catalytic converter
If the mileage doesn’t improve, it should definitely be checked. 20 mpg is low for a hybrid.
My daily driver is a Toyota Camry hybrid. I get a consistent 40 mpg in Eco Mode (limits the RPM), mostly city and suburban driving. It’s not the most exciting car in terms of handling or performance, but it gets me from A to B.
I’ve already decided my next car will be an electric vehicle.
I would first check the fuel mileage using the odometer & how much it takes to fill the tank.
Fuel gauges are not by any stretch of the imagination, designed to be used to indicate the actual volume of fuel used in gallons. They are notoriously inaccurate. If they are close to accurate when they indicate empty, you are fortunate.
To check the fuel gauge’s accuracy at 3/4, fill it up. You would think that the car used 5 gallons. I would guess that it used a bit less than that. Check it out.
From some time in 1990 to 1998, I drove a 1983 Datsun Nissan Sentra Diesel. It had to be the most cost-effective car I ever owned. Keep in mind these were the H.W. Bush and Clinton years when gas was under a dollar a gallon and diesel was cheaper. It got an honest 42 U.S. mpg in town and more on the highway. It would do 80 mph plus, it just took a while to get there. It was slow, smoked if I floored it, and the AC didn’t work. However, I was young and hardy, and AC was an expensive automotive frivolity to me back then. It died a miserable death, sandwiched between two Chevy pickups. I got $1100 for it which was probably about what I had in it over the years, excluding oil changes and fuel. I still miss it. I could actually forget when I bought fuel the last time before I filled it up again!
The mechanics just finished adding an auxiliary tank to my diesel pickup truck. Now with a real-world range of 1800+ miles, I wonder if I’ll forget sometimes too. Assuming current day-to-day use, I can go months now without refueling.
I would add this to the thread’s original question about life with different fuels. Due to diesel fuel’s easier long-term storage and lower volatility, it is much safer to keep large quantities onboard. The company that makes the aux tanks expressly forbids gasoline use in them, and doesn’t manufacture models for gas vehicles.
I used to drive a CNG Honda. I started a thread about it some years ago but it didn’t have legs. In sixteen years I put more than 330,000 miles on it and the only thing CNG-related that had to be done was the O-ring in the filler port had to be replaced twice at $50 a pop. There were lots of other bits and pieces that had to be redone over the years but none of them weren’t anything not found on a typical IC auto.
I moved from the county into Mesa-proper and a lot of the incentive was lost. In its infinite wisdom, the city has decided that it will supply all utilities and everything, water, electricity, trash pickup, and gas, costs more than it did in the county. Southwest Gas, the company I was buying from before, offered a lower rate for fuel natural gas than household natural gas, and Mesa offered the same break – if I paid $65 a month for connection charges on that line. The rate difference was not enough to make that up.
Resale value was nil so I gave it to a friend of mine who is driving fifty miles each way on his commute. So far he is delighted with it.
but it’s a good cheat…