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Good bye Prius 2010-2017

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Superdrol, Feb 7, 2017.

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  1. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    As an engineer I deal with REALITY not wishful thinking. Can you imagine? "Well I HOPE my new airplane engine design works. I won't bother testing it."

    I cannot afford to do such thing. Superdrol used basic math and discovered it will take 17 years & 230,000 miles of Prius driving to save enough gas money... in order to cover the pricetag difference between his new Civic and a base Prius. That sounds about right. I agree the conclusion sucks, but facts don't change just because you hate them.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    whatever. you have a penchant for putting down hybrids. you left, and must have gotten bored. now your back. your reality must be different than most of the other engineer's here.
     
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  3. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    I think alternative energy (electric, solar, natural gas, etc...anything non gasoline) is a great idea and I'm not opposed it, but unfortunately here in the US (and possibly around the world) there are 2 realities that make that a challenge:


    1. The costs for new technology are very high still. The Honda hydrogen car is lease only, and most plug ins or electrics are still quite high and a lot of this this is due to the batteries and small market for these types of products. Until better technology is made where batteries and alternative energy vehicles become more cost practical to make and develop, it will be hard to get the pricing down by market scale alone.

    2. California has more infrastructure compared to other states but it still is far from convenient for certain alternative energy cars. I had this discussion with someone where they said natural gas is the next thing for the US b/c of the large glut in the US. This is true that there is a lot of natural gas in the US, but virtually no natural gas pumps. I asked the person who is going to pay to put thousands of pumps throughout the US ? Of course he said the Government.......I just rolled my eyes.

    The plug in Prius isn't a bad option...how far does it go ? 50 miles ? I remember the old ones didn't go as far. 50 miles is adequate for a lot of people, but to completely have only that distance as a charge and no backup isn't a good idea. If the new Prius can go 50 with the gasoline back up that is a more viable option. The first ones were like 12 miles or something which is just too short.

    I'm not sure if this has changed, but in 2010, Toyota wanted to use the sunroof solar panel to charge the batteries...I believe that was the original intent, but the energy drawn from it did not generate enough power to charge the batteries so they just used it for cooling down the car. I'm not sure if that has changed or not.

    A lot of this technology still has a way to go.
     
    #83 Superdrol, Feb 25, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2017
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The all-or-nothing approach is tripping us up. That it's either a pure-electric vehicle with wind/solar sourced electricity, vs a 100% engine-motivated vehicle. Approaching the "unapproachable" from multiple angles is better:

    1. Reduce your reliance on the car, the distances you travel. This is hands-down the simplest and most effective strategy.

    2. Get a well-proven hybrid vehicle, perhaps the plug-in version, but at some point you're starting to chase crumbs. As long as it's recouping momentum to charge a battery, and shutting down the engine instead of uselessly idling, you're away to the races.

    3. Drive strategically, obey the speed limits, keep a good buffer in front, and keep your cool.

    4. Consolidate trips, consider driving in off-peak times, etcetera.
     
  5. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    I like you. :)

    re: Hydrogen and Natural gas cars. I leased a Toyota Mirai hydrogen car and it worked okay, but the 20 minute recharge time was ridiculous. I have better things to do than stand by a fuel pump while it slowly loads my Hydrogen car with fuel. (And so I returned the car.)

    The Civic Natural Gas is a cool car, but its 200 mile range is inadequate. They need to double the pressure of the tank, and then it will have 400 mile range. As for locations, I live directly across the street from a CNG station.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the 'fact' is, i own a 5 year old pip. no car purchase is going to save me money. same with your 2010 lift back.
     
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  7. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    If in deed it took you 20 minutes to pump hydrogen , it's still faster then recharging a Tesla.
     
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  8. William Redoubt

    William Redoubt Senior Member

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    The fact is, and this may have already been mentioned, that buying any car, regardless of relative cost, does not save you money. You may spend more or less relative to other options, but you are still spending. Putting your money in the bank is saving. When the checker at the grocery store tells you you have saved X dollars, do what I do -- tell the checker you want the savings in cash. When you buy, you don't save. You only spend.
     
  9. stormchaser

    stormchaser Junior Member

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    Superdrol you're so lucky to have great Hondas where you are. In the U.K. We have this 2017 Civic which are rubbish.
    IMG_1038.JPG



    iPhone ?
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I agree: that's a horrible styling exercise. The front bumper looks like a dog getting it's molars cleaned. To rub salt in: that whole blacked-out corner treatment is doing squat.

    Sadly all the manufacturers seem to be in their outlandish phase, right now.
     
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  11. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    I disagree. Recharging a Tesla takes ZERO time, because you don't have to stand at a smelly fuel station & babysit it (like my stupid Mirai). The electric charging happens at home, while you watch TV, eat dinner, or sleep.

    Like charging your phone, the EV doesn't subtract any time from your busy schedule (except 5 seconds to plug it in & walk away).
     
  12. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    So you don't charge at any of the super charging centers? You are one of the few that only charge at home.
     
  13. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    that's his calculation and it doesn't apply to other users. Going from corolla to prius I almost doubled my city/suburban MPG from 28 to 56MPG (this is my main use of the car, commuting). that saved me about $3214 in the span of 6 years I owned Prius. On top of that, on hwy trips MPG went from 32 to 48. That saved me additional $800 (yeah, saving gas on highway is not as impressive in prius). That saving more than covered the difference in cost between corolla and prius when i purchased it, $3000 (ignoring that prius is a whole lot better car and that extra was totally worth to upgrade the car). and now the savings are paying for a new battery in case that's needed after warranty.

    the whole discussion is silly. haters are going to hate prius no matter what. this reminds me my friend (a brainwashed "conservative") who gave me a hard time when I purchased my prius for $21000 back in 2010. He kept saying how hybrid was absurd because battery would fail soon. He bought a VW car at the same time and paid like $40,000 (he sink $19000 right there, a lot of batteries). Since that, he spent several thousands of cash for various repairs (I spent ZERO!) and I just heard that the car was stranded several thousands away from home due to blown engine. Knowing that car burned oil i thought it was that. but it turned out he didn't replace the timing belt on time and it ruined the engine. Now he got estimate for $9000 to replace the engine in VW (used engines are almost impossible to get for that car). that would buy even some more batteries.
     
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  14. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    WOW that's quite a dramatic difference. Unfortunately your math doesn't quite work. $4000 saved with your MPG figure means you drive almost 20,000 miles per year...... that's entirely possible, but it is definitely above average (15,000). Do you really drive that much???

    My recommendation to customers: Back in the model year 2013, a Corolla Eco with 35 city/highway MPG was priced $6000 less than a Prius. Even with your 4000 dollar fuel savings, that Corolla would still be 2,000 cheaper six years later. I don't hate the prius, or any other hybrid. I just think it's a waste of money, like buying a muscle car, or the world's most unreliable car (cheatwagen). Of course if you are rich and can afford to waste money.... cool. 99% of us cannot. Your use of the word "few" is incorrect. 90% of Teslas have never visited a supercharger. They don't need to because they have a plug at home. So they don't need to waste 20 minutes standing in a station staring at the pump (like I did with my Toyota Mirai fuel cell).
     
  15. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    If 90% of Tesla owners charge at home and don't need the super chargers, why is Tesla wasting so much money on installing these charging stations?
    I know the one by me is always full with Tesla's charging. It has about 10 chargers.
     
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  16. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    you're crazy. how you can tell me my math doesn't quite work when you don't know the variables i used in the math?
    I guess you are just a troll that should be ignored. I regret I posted here.
     
  17. RyanM

    RyanM Member

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    My friend bought a used VW TDI right when the diesel thing went down. He got a good "deal" at the time. Around $17k IIRC. The vehicle had 30k miles. He put 35k on in less than a year. The engine started leaking oil and the turbo was starting to fail. VW just paid $21k to buy it back.

    So he made a profit of $4k and got to put 35k on a car that is about to need $5k in repairs. Win for him!

    I love the prius though. It gets so much hate but it's such a great car for the money.
     
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  18. tf4624

    tf4624 Active Member

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  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    This thread has run its course.
     
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