Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
An increase in night time off peak load would make most utilities very happy because it would result in more sales using the same equipment thus creating more profit. It would also be far less expensive for the car owner than using gasoline.
I'm going to purchase a hybrid soon and aside from the Lexus hybrid, the Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry are at the top of the list. I think I'm going to go with the Camry since it is a bit more stylish and has more room, although it doesn't quite get the gas mileage that the Prius can. I've had excellent luck with Toyota quality in the past.
I have a 2008 Camry Hybrid and love it. I am in real estate, so you can imagine that I live in my car. The Prius is a great car, but a little too small for me to haul around people. If I were not in a profession that required a bigger car, I would have purchased one. My niece has one and loves it.
I average 37 mpg (mixed city and highway - but mostly city). You don't get great gas mileage on very quick/short jaunts in the city. I had a Lexus ES300 and test drove the Camry Hybrid and loved it.
Remember, when you are running on the electric engine, you are producing no co2. When you are sitting at a red light - you are producing no co2 too. The hybrid battery does take up a lot of room in the trunk but I have grown to live with that. I get a little over 500 miles per tank of gas. So, I get 50% better gas mileage versus my old Lexus!
Even though I loved my Lexus - I do not like the "faux hybrids" that they currently have on the market. I do not need more horsepower, I need better gas mileage!
Feel free to email me if anyone has any questions on the Camry Hybrid - I could write an entire book (98% all positive - the other 2% Toyota should hire me to make it a near perfect car - if only for me )
I am curious because people like the idea of a plug-in car charged by your electrical hookup. Even in these silly green commercials of the future they depict people plugging in the car at night.
I don't know much about it but, if everyone plugged their car in wouldn't that create a huge increase in demand on the local electric company that generally produce their electric from coal,gas,oil, nuclear? Even at peak periods in some areas because of increased AC use the larger areas barely handle those periodic surges.
Just curious...
Hopefully as more renewable electricity sources come on line, electricity will become more affordable. My idea with a plug-in hybrid, or full electric car, is that some day I'll also get solar shingles for my house. Then hopefully I can be more self sufficient as well as produce clean energy. Ideally :P
i myself dont own a hybrid but drove one the camry hybrid is an amazing car but only makes sense if your in stop and go traffic . i read that 10% of the fuel consumption in this country is due to stop lights and stop signs .if you can avoid buying a plugin hybrid ,please do so ,oil is still required to generate the electricity for those plugin models ,therefore in my opinion its a wash
In "Who Killed the Electric Car?" there was some info about the use of solar energy for electric cars both in terms of home use and even solar panels on cars themselves.
We sold our Mercedes ML500 SUV and bought the Prius - we get between 45 and 47 MPG which isn't bad.
I was a bit disappointed to get rid of the Mercedes which had a lot of power and was very luxurious, but the gas costs were a joke and my husband's commute more than doubled, so it was time to let it go.
I wasn't excited to buy the Prius, but in the end I have been very pleasantly surprised by it. I love the backup camera and the navigation system is better than the one in the Mercedes was.
I like the Prius a lot, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the Mercedes - it was convenient having an SUV. Just couldn't justify the pollution and gas got too expensive on it when we had to drive further.
The Prius drives well and is a really great car overall. We're putting a lot of mileage on it and really think it was the right move for us.
We also have a Mini Cooper S for running around town. I think we get about 34 MPG on that, and it's a fun drive!
I drive a 2003 Toyota Matrix and get about 35mpg. I drive about 200 miles a week, all work commute, no public options.
When I got the Matrix, a friend who was then married to a guy making big money bought an Insight. Loved the mileage, could hardly fit a briefcase into it. I am a single-person household, with multiple dogs and have to carry trash/recycling to the dump, so needed basically a hatchback wagon.
Friend said I should buy a hybrid, and I explained why it wouldn't work as a single car, plus, the purchase price was some $5k more than a similar-sized non-hybrid car. She said, "I wanted to support the technology." I resisted the urge to point out whose money was supporting the technology. If I spent $5k more than I had to, the difference would basically even up at around 8-9 years, given gas prices.
I did point out to her that, because both of us have chosen not to have children by choice, we are pretty earth-saving from the beginning.
I have failed to understand how electric cars that need electricity from the fuel-driven grid would represent a huge environmental improvement.
Just curious as to how many people drive a hybrid car on the board, and if so would buy an all electric, or plug-in hybrid in the future. Would you buy American, ie. the Chevy Volt, or another American branded hybrid if it was available and performs just as well or better than the Prius/Civic?
I drive a hybrid civic right now... but would consider an all-electric/ plug-in hybrid made by an American company in the future.
What are your thoughts?
-chuck22b
I would buy an American made hybrid mid or full size car or suv.
If I could afford one, I'd buy a Prius. I've always had Toyotas except for the last two cars which were Saturns and all got good mileage but I wish I could afford to do better for the environment and my own gas mileage.
I'm glad to hear on this thread that Saturn will be making a hybrid -- they make a good car.
p.s. I wish someone would ban SUVS, even a fuel efficient SUV. They are too big for the roads, they take up two parking places, they are hard to see around when you are stuck behind one in traffic, they have a high center of gravity so that they tend to roll over. Can't we get by with smaller cars?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
Just wondering
