anyone drive a hybrid ?

[gary s]

i have been "toying" around in a 2010 toyota prius that i just added to my fleet. now that i put 300 miles on it (fuel tank now reads a tad under 1/2 full), i have to say it is growing on me quickly. after the getting used to phase is over, i find the vehicle to be somewhat peppy for a hybrid and very comfy. at first it was weird when started, idle and at a traffic light, it was so quiet.

just was wondering if anyone has long term experience with a hybrid vehicle.

 

[Bill Barber]

no long term experiance, have drivin my nieghbors prius on several occasions. they are great cars.

 

[Matt Alvin]

Prius isn't a car...it's a lunchbox...LOL



As much as they say those are green cars..they aren't. No one talks about the pollution created from the production of the batteries.

 

[Fred Miller]

In addition to the ST, we have a 2006 Escape Hybrid. We now have 140K miles on it....mostly highway miles.



We love it.......



But for the record, the ST is way more comfortable as a road vehicle.

 

[George C]

Gary,

I have an 08 Civic Hybrid and it is great. Very comfortable and great riding car and Annmarie loves it. We average about 40mpg between city and highway and it does have some decent power. We bought it for use in the HOV lane as a single driver and it has come in handy many times.



George

 

[Tom Schindler]

Gary,



The 4Runner in the shop again?





Tom

 

[Richard L]

Red Rush 10,

The reason the Battaries are not a pollution issue NOW is because the current focus is on global warming and greenhouse gases, as well as simply saving gas. I guess it's OK to pollute as long as you save energy doing it??



I see now there they want to reduce the energy consumption of Televisions in the future. I think they want a 25% reduction in energy used in all new Televisions by 2016. I thought the new flat panel LCD and Plazma TV's were already more energy efficient than the old CRT models? I would think that just discontinuing the production of CRT TV's would be a bigger energy saver overall.



...Rich

 

[Dreman]

Plasma is not efficient at all. Plasma TV's use a LOT of energy.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I thought the new flat panel LCD and Plazma TV's were already more energy efficient than the old CRT models?

I recall reading somewhere that the new LCD and Plasma screens consume MORE energy than CRT's do.





Tom

 

[Richard L]

Actually the LCD uses much less energy however the flourecent backlight for the LCDs are probably the bigh energy hog. I think that is why Samsung came out with their LED TV's. They are conventional LCD panels, but are backlight by an array of White LED's. The advantage is that the LEDs use less power and each LED can be dimmed independently. They are highly rated TV's, But they are more expensive



I have a new 55" LG LCD flat panel TV that has energy saving modes, that allows you to dim the backlight brightness to standard, Maximum, mid-level and minimum. The display tells you just what percentage of savings you getting at that setting. At Mid-level and minimum brighrness levels, the picture is pretty dim, so those settings do not appear to be very usable.



...Rich

 

[gary s]

george,



one of the major reason for getting the prius was for using in the HOV lane. it helps expedite specimen arrival in the lab for one of my crucial day routes.

also, love the gas mileage, computer now has me at 48mpg.

this thing is growing on me



tom,



yup, its in the detail shop getting all the drool off it from all the people who admire it

 

[Tom Schindler]

yup, its in the detail shop getting all the drool off it from all the people who admire it

Yea, I hear that drool raises hell on cheap paint.





Tom

 

[gary s]

cheap paint = great resid.

 

[Kevin Lang]

cheap paint = great resid

?? Shoulda told me that before I got rid of my 1992 LeSabre and the 1991 Taurus as those rides had the worst paint I've ever seen.



Though I've never seen anyone admire a 4runner. Ever. Though I have seen some massive Civic worship and Prius Praise occurring :wacko:



I guess HOV lanes actually DO something out here--the only ones I see are in the DC commute, and they fail massively. Far left lane so you have to fight through 4 lanes to get to your exit, and they crap out about 75% of the way through the commute, forcing you back into regular fast-lane traffic...and of course other drivers are courteous about letting you back in



One of my coworkers has a Prius, and he does everything but bow down and worship it, he's obsessed...but I don't mind so much since it makes him volunteer for the commutes to our other locales, which is 40 round-trip miles of stop-'n-go traffic that I'm glad to be rid of.