[Dr Jkel]

Recently I had to go TDY for my job and they made me use a Gov't Vehicle. The vehicle they gave me was a Ford Escape Hybrid. I had never driven a Ford in my life and asked if I could get a Chevy truck instead, of course they said no so off on my 8 hour drive I went in this Ford Hybrid.

After about an hour of driving, bored, I decided to see what kind of mileage this thing was getting. I was absolutely amazed that this thing got 41 mpg at 70 mph, of course it went down a little around town.

The Escape was an OK vehicle, comfort was so so, but I am sure that this was not the top of the line model.

Just thought it was interesting at the MPG that some of these Hybrids get especially a SUV like this.

[rayhawk]

You must have felt dirty afterwads, lol. And an escape is a car that looks like an SUV, it has no truck in it whatsoever. Still impressive mpg though, what was your trip average?

[Dr Jkel]

I drove 8 hours both ways, plus I drove to the site and back to the hotl for four days, when I returned it had a 36.5 average.

I agree it is not a truck, kinda reminded me of a Toyota 4-runner or something of that nature. It was 2 wd and not highly equipped, like I said it is a Gov't vehicle.

Lets say it averages 35 MPG over a year period, that is pretty good. Most people who have trucks or SUV very rarely use the truck features at all.

My truck a 2500hd diesel 4x4 crewcab, now I use that, but most don't.

But I do think that they can make the MPG's better on all vehicles. It will be real interesting to see what the Volt does, but it's more car than little SUV.

[Apex Motorsports]

Our "family car" (AKA: The Baby Hauler) is a Prius. It is boring as hell to drive but it averages 49.5 MPG. I'm thinking its going to be traded in on a Traverse or a Sierra crew cab soon.

The funny thing is the baby just prefers to just haul ass.

[boilermaker]

I've driven a prius on a decently long road trip. Boring as hell. Feels like a toy.

[derklug]

I've driven the Escape, the Prius, and the Fusion, and they all share one thing. They are as exciting as unflavored gelatin.

[JJ#48Racing]

I've driven a 2009 Prius. Might as well have been a washing machine.

[v6sonoma]

The Tahoe Hybrid is nice. But not worth the $$$ over a regular one.

[bolteon593]

Originally Posted by Apex Chase

Our "family car" (AKA: The Baby Hauler) is a Prius. It is boring as hell to drive but it averages 49.5 MPG. I'm thinking its going to be traded in on a Traverse or a Sierra crew cab soon.

The funny thing is the baby just prefers to just haul ass.

what i honestly fail to understand is the obsession with some of those "hybrids"...


your prius driven on city (guessing since at highways speeds it does worse sometimes then a vette) gets you slightly better gas millage then a well built small combustion only car like a civic diesel (near 40mpg).



how on earth is the mpg gain justifiable other then a status symbol of sorts outside of the maybe 6 bucks it saves you per fill up?




(nothing personal, just a personal conundrum/hatred for anything that can't be solely driven off of solar panels and advertised as "earth saving") oh and cute kid, and nice viper...

[8cd03gro]

Originally Posted by bolteon593

what i honestly fail to understand is the obsession with some of those "hybrids"...


your prius driven on city (guessing since at highways speeds it does worse sometimes then a vette) gets you slightly better gas millage then a well built small combustion only car like a civic diesel (near 40mpg).



how on earth is the mpg gain justifiable other then a status symbol of sorts outside of the maybe 6 bucks it saves you per fill up?




(nothing personal, just a personal conundrum/hatred for anything that can't be solely driven off of solar panels and advertised as "earth saving") oh and cute kid, and nice viper...

Well, if you look at the OP he got 41mpg highway in an suv. If you put that tech in a civic it is waaayy more efficient. The fusion hybrid for example gets 41mpg city. . . That's in a well equipped sedan.

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by bolteon593

what i honestly fail to understand is the obsession with some of those "hybrids"...


your prius driven on city (guessing since at highways speeds it does worse sometimes then a vette) gets you slightly better gas millage then a well built small combustion only car like a civic diesel (near 40mpg).



how on earth is the mpg gain justifiable other then a status symbol of sorts outside of the maybe 6 bucks it saves you per fill up?




(nothing personal, just a personal conundrum/hatred for anything that can't be solely driven off of solar panels and advertised as "earth saving") oh and cute kid, and nice viper...

Believe me their is no obsession in this family but I know exactly what you mean. I find it interesting that there are a lot of people equally as obsessed with hating them. The Prius was bought because right before the kiddo was born we had no kid friendly automobiles. Everything we owned had a V8 with at least 300hp and gas prices were closing in on $5 a gallon. We were looking at mid sized 4 door cars and the Prius was the same price as any of the others but got way better gas mileage than the others. My wife decided that is she wanted so she got it.

Our driving is almost entirely highway miles so the 49.5mpg I mentioned includes a lot of 70-75mph on the interstate. We drove from Louisville, Ky to Shreveport, La (about 900 miles) last year and it cost $35 in gas to get there. I love the Corvette but it ain't even close. It cost $20 for her to fill it up and she gets 500 miles out of it. It has been a great car and I have no complaints other than it is boring to drive. Like I said though, it is about time to trade it in.

[bolteon593]

Originally Posted by Apex Chase

Believe me their is no obsession in this family but I know exactly what you mean. I find it interesting that there are a lot of people equally as obsessed with hating them. The Prius was bought because right before the kiddo was born we had no kid friendly automobiles. Everything we owned had a V8 with at least 300hp and gas prices were closing in on $5 a gallon. We were looking at mid sized 4 door cars and the Prius was the same price as any of the others but got way better gas mileage than the others. My wife decided that is she wanted so she got it.

Our driving is almost entirely highway miles so the 49.5mpg I mentioned includes a lot of 70-75mph on the interstate. We drove from Louisville, Ky to Shreveport, La (about 900 miles) last year and it cost $35 in gas to get there. I love the Corvette but it ain't even close. It cost $20 for her to fill it up and she gets 500 miles out of it. It has been a great car and I have no complaints other than it is boring to drive. Like I said though, it is about time to trade it in.

finally a fair assement! under the same terms of the 900 miles i would have spent $117 in gas.... but then again it goes back to the idea while even the 2010 prius has 98 hp, it doesn't get 5x the gas milage that my gt500 does.

(my point being that combustion engines are going no where in terms of extinction... just more economical)

[nick at night]

A Prius in city driving can easily achieve 60mpg. Highway is more around 40-45. I have an 07 as my daily driver and it does little more than get good mileage

[Number 3]

First, yes I've driven many of the Hybrids on the market and have even had the chance to drive the new Chevrolet Volt, which, by the way, should be going to dealers next month.

Yes, they get very good mileage. Most Hybrids get close to "sqare" milage, meaning the city and highway numbers are nearly equal. This is because a Hybrid only has battery power sufficient for up to about 25 mph, slow acceleration, no hill or grade climbing. Once you do these the engine is required. On the highway, the engine is required and the electric motors only provide supplemental power. So the advantage is mostly around town, but both are improved.

This is one of the advantages the Volt has over a conventional Hybrid. It can be drven as a pure EV. You can climb grades, go on the highway, etc. all on the battery and electric motor.

The only concerns regarding Hybrids are around the battery. Yes, GM and Nissan have given generous warranties on the battery. But every Hybrid or EV has at least a 100 pound or in the EV case 400 pound battery. Unless there is a real recycling process in place, where will all these batteries go? Today, a VERY small percentage of the market is Hybrids. Once CAFE hits in the out years, you will likely see that go up. The other is simply the cost of the battery and the thermal management of the battery. It adds huge $$$ to the costs. It can be the equivalent of replacing an engine.

But the Hybrids I've driven, it's basically invisible. You hear the engine start but you don't feel it. Essentially seemless.

I'm not a hater, btw, just a realist. Tired the "organization of concerned scientists" or whatever that claim it's the greatest thing ever. I'll say it's pretty cool, as long as you are willing to pay much more money for your car.

Also, keep in mind the europeans have diesels that rival gas powered Hybrids. So for them, to add the costs associated with a Hybrid, is not as financially viable.

Depending on how much you add to the costs, there is simply the emotional aspects of using less fuel. It is the equivalent in some circles to the guys that want every single HP they can get from their Camaro. The price of gas, I think, needs to be over $4 per gallon to get any kind of payback for the added costs.

The added costs are that every function on you Hybrid has to work electrically. The power steering and brakes for example now have to be electric.