My wife is needing a new vehicle to replace her 97 chevy. Since she drives about 50 miles a month I was thinking a green vehicle might be worth looking into on this purchase. Does anyone have any experience with the new hybrid/electric cars? The Nissan leaf electric is interesting as well as the Toyota prius if you can get over the somewhat unattractive design of these cars. I put 60k per year on my vehicles but I need a truck with offroad capabilities and there is nothing on the market that is fuel efficient available. Besides the company pays for the truck and fuel as part of my salary package...
It seems to me that the green vehicles are more style than substance. The Prius is way too expensive for what you get, esp for some one who drives the mileage you say your wife drives. I think that unless you just want to buy one to take one for the earth, there are a lot of good choices in traditional cars. Chevy Equinox, the Ford Focus, etc.
Ralph, A while back, I saw on local TV a report that said, in essence, that because of the cost difference between a hybrid car and the same model that uses regular gas, and because of gas prices at the time (mid $2.00 range?), you'd have to drive the hybrid for something around 6 years to break even. I don't know if that's still the case, but you might want to do that kind of cost/benefit analysis to see if it makes sense. Also, as little as your wife drives her car, and consequently as small as your monthly driving expense is, it might be hard to justify the cost difference. If she has driven her current vehicle for 13 years, she probably is going to drive her next one over the same number of years.
I hear what your both saying and it honestly lines up with my train of thought, my wife and I are such pragmatist when it comes to purchasing anything new. We have put this purchase off for the last five years because of other priorities. Add to the fact that my vehicle gets more mileage idling in the morning than she does in a month of driving. But if gasoline does hit $5.00 a gallon it would be nice to have a more fuel efficient vehicle knowing she will probably have this vehicle well into a time period where we hope to have grandchildren... A nice affordable fuel efficient BMW would be appropriate if I wasn't so cheap.... 8)
Most definitely will look at the volt....Here are the most interesting; Chevy volt hybrid with plug in capability $41k before $7,500 tax rebate Nissan leaf 100% electric $32k before $7,500 tax rebate currently available in only 7 states florida is not one of them. Range is 65-95 miles. Toyota prius hybrid $21k -$29k, 60% of all hybrids sold are the prius. Its 50 mpg is the best hybrid rating of all hybrids on the market. Next seasons 2012 model will have the plug in capability like the volt and may get 65 mpg.
Volt - everything i have read says it is the real deal. Leaf - your situation may be different, but i could never imagine having a car with arange of 65-95 miles. Prius - the first to make it legit. Reviews like the mpg but question highway merging acceleration. There are quite a few others out there. In fact, check out the Porsche 918 Spyder.
I really think one of the new 4 cyc engines in cars like the Focus, are the way to go. High mileage, not 65 mpg, but still high mileage, but 25 city/35 hwy isn't bad and I seriously doubt we are going to 5$/gal gasoline any time soon. Hybrids I believe only achieve their high mileage if they are driven in stop/go traffic, I don't think they do as well when they are on the highway and if you guys live in a rural setting and most of the driving is highway then you might not get quite the mileage you expect. But again, I think many people who will buy these cars will do so not because of any economic advantage but because they feel it is the right thing to do for the earth and the environment.
Well my decision on any car purchase is nothing as noble as what is right or wrong for the earth and enviroment. You have to remember I have worked in the dirt for over 30 years and battled the earth and what it throws at us on a daily basis from weather to pestilence. It is a cruel unforgiving creature as well as magnificent and bountiful... As with all decisions everyone makes I am just trying to make the smart one. It seems that the economics or politics of the moment has produced automobiles that are much more fuel efficient than say five years ago. And this interest me if it is affordable technology and not a fluke. You mentioned 4 cyl vehicles available on the market, my father gave my son a 97 Toyota Tercel as a first car that got 40 mpg. They are just more refined and expensive these days but they are available. The Tesla electric car is eye catching but I just don't have the want or desire to spend $90k on any vehicle...
Ralph, You might want to look at some of the small turbo diesels as well. They get ridiculous mileage, and you can beat the hell out of a diesel and not kill it for several hundred thousand miles. Volkswagen has them in many models, and they don't make much noise like the older ones did.
It's funny you mention the VW diesel Scott I was just starting to study those. I totally agree they are hard to kill, we have 35 diesel power units at the farm and six diesel tractors to boot that are usually a lot easier to diagnose than gas. I'll check them out. I wonder how hard it would be to bring home non tax offroad diesel.... Hmmmm :wink:
As you know, there is a dye added to the off road non-taxed diesel. If an on road vehicle is found with those stains... bad day.
:idea: re: $5 gas We WILL hit $4-5 per gallon. We've shut down new off shore drilling here and import most of our oil. Obama's policy is to weaken the dollar so that our exports cost less and our imports cost more. Oil is our biggest import. The less each dollar is worth, the more expensive every gallon will be...
Crap if we were still able to produce in the Gulf when the price gets to 4-5$ my area will have an economic resurgance and it will be esp helpful to me as I sit right in the "Engergy Corridor" of Houston. When they are doing well they are hiring bringing in new people with cavities for me to drill!!
Ralph my nephew has a Jetta TDI Sports Wagon, and he gets 40+ mpg on the highway. He has nothing but good things to say and while I forget what he paid for it, it was pretty reasonable. Jetta TDI Clean Diesel
Just playing devil's advocate here: Keep in mind that for the past 3 to 4 years, Diesel prices have been rising at a higher rate than gas. It does somewhat offset that higher MPG rating... not enough for most to write off the diesel though.
:idea: The problem is political. Thirty-five years ago, our country stopped making nuclear reactors to "save" the environment. In that same period of time France built 60 nuclear reactors. The French now EXPORT more electricity than any nation on earth and they have the lowest cost of electricity in Europe. If everyone is building nuclear reactors except us, how is our neglect saving the environment? Natural gas and coal can also solve the problem and solve it quickly. Houston is indeed the energy corridor for more natural gas than the rest of the world combined. T. Boone Pickens and others have correctly pointed out that if America shifted all of its 18-wheelers, taxis and delivery trucks to natural gas, the need for foreign oil would dry up overnight. Our country is sitting on the greatest deposits of coal, natural gas and shale that the world knows about and Canada is #2 and Australia is #3. We also have more oil than Saudi Arabia as well as the greatest sources of wind power on the planet in the Great Plains... Rather than attacking "the oil companies" and "rich people" we need to have a national energy plan that uses our own resources. The only ingredient currently lacking is political skill and leadership at the top. When this problem is addressed, Houston won't be the only area swimming in money and jobs. Every state in the west and south is loaded with energy resources that can be used now and there's enough to last for 100's of years...
I was just joking of course but it sounds good. The DOT in our state are pretty aggressive in pursuit of those who dodge the on road tax diesel and have gotten smart by hitting the rural Walmarts in the area to stick tanks of crew buses and farming vehicles. We have stayed away from purchasing diesel trucks because the temptation to quickly fill up with "red" diesel is too easy and too costly if caught. I normally purchase a tanker (7500 gals) of off road diesel when ordering for our storage tanks and pay an average of $.30-.50 less per gallon. It still cost us between $18,000 - 27,000 per tanker depending on price and during the dry season when we are running wells with irrigation motors I will go through a tanker in 13 days. :shock: :cry:
Agree There's no doubt in my mind that the plan of the current White House and Democratic leadership is to take over the energy industry and displace one of their enemies "big oil." We've seen the off shore drilling ban. We've seen the assault on the nuclear power industry. The biggest blow, hardly covered at all by the media was the shut down of the Yucca Mtn. waste storage facility. Over 17 billion dollars was spent building that facility. Great for sleezy Harry Reid and Nevada and their economy. Now those operating nuclear power plants in this country are going to be encreasingly squeezed trying to figure out how to dispose of their nuclear waste. In the meantime, guess where many of the Democratic leadership has been investing their money. Yep, in the windmill farms of the Pickens plan. To make it work they have to reduce domestic oil production and lessen the impact of nuclear generated electricity. So far their on schedule.