Hybrid Car Highs and Lows: What's your opinion?

The (second-generation) Toyota Prius is on its way to becoming one of this country's most significant automotive icons. But are hybrids just a stepping stone to electrics? Will hydrogen fuel cell vehicles eventually trump all others? Are we at the beginning, middle or end of the hybrid's heyday? Let us hear your take.

Here's an overview of what we know for sure:

Hybrid Car Highs: More Miles Per Gallon, Refuel Anywhere

Hybrid Car Lows: More Components Means More Cost

It's not the beging of the end, it's the end of beging.

There are differeces between fuel efficient car and hybrid car. Hybrid car may not be fuel efficient if you don't use bettery, that's being said we are using two sources of fuel. Try to call it fuel efficient. Now the question is, are we using bettery efficiently for these cars? We still have high cost of buying these cars and replacing the bettery. Every car is hybrid car as we use betteries in every car. However, so called hybrid car is using more bettery power than before.
I would say this is the beging of hybrid cars.
We say More miles per gallon, but at what cost ? Is it justifiable at current price? I don't think so. But we are making progress in making cars that will cost us less in term of fuel. More govt. pressure and support  is requred to poured more money to research alternative fuel or fuel efficient cars.

Hybrid car means we can't create any fuel efficient car that lead us to drive 100 MPG using Gas.

We have 100,000,000 scientiest in this world, put everyone in one country Called "Hybrid" untill they don't find the right solution. Provide them food and books that's it....

I want to use sea water to drive my car!!!!!!!!!!! That's it!!

I think we are just at the beginning of the hybrid heyday. Eventually most cars will be hybrids but not gasoline-electric. Diesel-Electric vehicles combine the efficiency of a hybrid with a commonly available high energy content basic fuel, diesel. Yes diesel is more expensive than gasoline, but in miles per dollar spent, diesel is still a cheaper alternative to gasoline. Just look at the MPG rating of most straight diesel powered cars like my 2 Diesel VW Beetles. Then increase that baseline efficiency with the electric motors. There is a reason why train companies converted to Diesel-Electric power many decades ago. To keep their fuel costs as low as possible in a highly competitive market. I don't understand why a diesel-electric hybrid car hasn't appeared, yet.

 Hi:

In my opinion, hybrid cars are a good idea for a short term solution of a big problem that we have ahead. I think the demand of the people should move to technologies totally independent from petroleum based energy sources. Initiatives such as hybrid cars, and American Solutions proposal of "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" (www.AmericanSolutions.com) are just a start of what the future should be; a world of not only auto-renewable, but easily processable and sustainable options of energy not only for cars but for energy in general. It seams to me that Honda's FCX Clarity option is an excellent idea of what the future should be. This including their idea of having a domestic hydrogen recharger that could also be used as an option for home electricity.

But this will not come by itself, as there are huge interests behind the fossil fuels industry. Fortunately, the power is still in our hands. Initiatives like Honda's and other green energy sources must be supported and encouraged by the consumer. People needs to be convinced that this is not a thing of the future that these options exists and that we must support them.

So, for me, hydrogen is the solution.

 KBB'S DUE DILIGENCE:

Hybrid's are just beginning to make their impact on our society.  Even electric vehicles will need a backup to meet the performance of current vehicles. That backup will most likely consist of some type of IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) technology.

I am just one of the analyst's throughout the U.S. responsible for obtaining your green car's data.

We are out physically inspecting the vehicles that consumers will soon purchase from their local dealers.  This can assure consumers that our values are always accurate.  We make sure that Prius inspected gets the package 6 touring status accounted for, and that repossessed Prius with bald tires and minor body damage is noted. 

As consumers, you should feel confident that your green values are current and up to date as this weeks auction data is being transmitted as you read this blog.

 

Until a winner emerges from the various technologies on the table, and our country commits to building the necessary infrastructure to support it, gasoline hybrids will continue to grow in popularity.  If automakers could only make the truly fuel-efficient hybrids stylish, then I'd buy one.  Green and good-looking...now that's a winner!

Sales on a seasonally adjusted basis came in at 16.05 million vehicles, down from 16.35 million in October a year ago. =================== marry Car Reviews

 

seandalton  ... and what was the percentage of Hybrids??? 

 Americans and I want a vehicle they can get in and drive anywhere anytime without having to worry about finding a particular type of fuel or how long they have to wait to recharge. They would prefer the fuel to be pollution free and domestically produced so money doesn't make third world dictatorship and shiekdoms more influential than they should be. They want the same flexability and mobility they enjoy now which means I can drive at any hour of the day from Chicago to Las Vegas spend a few days then go on to San Francisco spend a few days and drive home without worrying about a place to plug in or where do I find ethanol, or where do I find bio-diesel etc. The so called "solutions" offered up so far i.e. ethanol ... compressed nat gas ... hybrids ... plug-ins ... clean diesel etc.  are only means to stretch oil not replace it leaving America to suckle at the oil teat for decades. 

The only fuel that meets these criteria is hydrogen. With fuel cell vehicles already on the road and improving in both performance and cost almost daily the problem is not a vehicle problem but rather simply the availability of fuel. Even an internal combustion engine can be retrofit to run on hydrogen at a competitive price. Recent discoveries at several American Universities suggest that a cost effective means of producing hydrogen from water (without steam reformation of fossil fuels) is easily within reach. Both a room temperature inexpensive catalyst based on cobalt and nitrogen fixing bacteria are being explored as well as several other methods. The hydrogen economy can be in place within a decade. The nation that developed, tested, and deployed an atom bomb in under three years can do this IF WE WANT TO. All that is lacking is enlightened leadership. Sometimes I think America would rather be at war and addicted to imported energy rather than embrace the future.  

 

baffledu2:

 Americans and I want a vehicle they can get in and drive anywhere anytime without having to worry about finding a particular type of fuel or how long they have to wait to recharge. They would prefer the fuel to be pollution free and domestically produced so money doesn't make third world dictatorship and shiekdoms more influential than they should be. They want the same flexability and mobility they enjoy now which means I can drive at any hour of the day from Chicago to Las Vegas spend a few days then go on to San Francisco spend a few days and drive home without worrying about a place to plug in or where do I find ethanol, or where do I find dc sport bio-diesel etc. The so called "solutions" offered up so far i.e. ethanol ... compressed nat gas ... hybrids ... plug-ins ... clean diesel etc.  are only means to stretch oil not replace it leaving America to suckle at the oil teat for decades. 

The only fuel that meets these criteria is hydrogen. With fuel cell vehicles already on the road and improving in both performance and cost almost daily the problem is not a vehicle problem but rather simply the availability of fuel. Even an internal combustion engine can be retrofit to run on hydrogen at a competitive price. Recent discoveries at several American Universities suggest that a cost effective means of producing hydrogen from water (without steam reformation of fossil fuels) is easily within reach. Both a room temperature inexpensive catalyst based on cobalt and nitrogen fixing bacteria are being explored as well as several other methods. The hydrogen economy can be in place within a decade. The nation that developed, tested, and deployed an atom bomb in under three years can do this IF WE WANT TO. All that is lacking is enlightened leadership. Sometimes I think America would rather be at war and addicted to imported energy rather than embrace the future.  

 

you've got the best point i've never heard before.. you're definitely right, what we need these days are vehicles that is very efficient to drive anytime without any hassle.
i appreciated the plug-ins, hybrids, electric vehicles but what is merely important here is the fact that the satisfaction and contentment to what we use matters most.