Hybrid Article on MSNBC website

That was absolutely fantastic reading!

I wondered how many more great "still living in the past" articles would be slipped in at the final moment, right before the success of Camry-Hybrid finally sinks in. It's the hybrid configured for the masses, a balance of all the right stuff. True it does give you some goodies at the penalty of some MPG, but the that's the point of making a hybrid that will appeal to a wide-array of consumers.

Sorry Prius enthusiasts, but our beloved hybrid is not the one that will ultimately fill the garages of joe average. True, it will remain a popular choice and will frequently steal the spotlight. But Camry-Hybrid is the one that is expected earn the title of "best seller".

Look at it this way, while the two siblings compete for your attention... drawing focus away from the past, unlike this article that struggles to use on to the last remaining bits of anti-hybrid nonsense. Don't be mislead. What happened up to this point was in large part a battle to overcome misconceptions. Now we can finally look forward to change on a rather profound level.

 

It is so difficult to find articles that touch beneath the surface of the Hybrid appeal. Instant gas pump savings are just the tip of the iceberg. Time and dollars saved in lower maintenance costs are substantial yet never addressed. The "green factor" is mentioned more like a party favor rather than the positive environmental influence. They hardly ever talk about the "fun factor".
I drove around La Mesa for a few little errands. I saw 3 other Salsas, a Driftwood and a Silver. There will be a market for the Prius for sometime to come and that market is fueled by already happy customers, not rebates, refunds, special financing or subsidized gas.

 

yawn. We've heard it all before. What do these guys do all day? Rearrange each others' articles to say the same thing in a slightly different way. As usual, the HAH is given the spotlight. I'm glad Honda's scrubbed it. It was a stupid idea and now the pundits can't use it for their inane 12.6 year payoff arguments. It'll be interesting to see how the TCH does in the market place. It'll also be interesting to see what gas prices do this summer/fall. Things have been flat at about $2.77/gal (regular) here in CO for the last month or so. It is funny how they never mention, even as a brief aside, the pollution reduction benefits. I've never seen that mentioned... ever. That, or as salsa has pointed out, the reduced maintainence and wear on components (you know the little things like, uh, the ICE).

<_< <_< <_< <_<

 

Hi All,

Well, here we go again (to quote a famous president)! All this stuff is fine on paper, but useless in city congestion. Standard cars get all these performances only when they keep moving. Of course that is not the case for anybody that lives in a metropolitan area. My EPA mileage experience is that the my standard car got 88 % of the EPA highway rating in weather that was optimum, but Prius is getting 96 % of the EPA highway rating in similar weather. The city reality reverses his comments on the Hybrid's having an unfair EPA comparison.

He also does not mention anything regarding maintanence, which is the HSD system strong point, and a LARGE cost factor.

While the small cars he mentions might be cheaper, for the strategy he suggests them for (something to get through summer high gas prices), one might go out and buy a 5 year old Saturn SL or SL2. Economically, that would be even better for the short-term play than his suggetions. In another 5 years the Saturn will depretiate to very little ($5K loss) and the other cars will come down to 1/3 the new price ($6.7K loss for the Chevy and $10K for the FIT or Yaris). $5K difference buys about 50000 miles of gas in the Saturn at $3/ga. If the Saturn is in good shape and no major maintanence happens, your ahead, and if not, at worse its a tie with the Chevy.

Personally, I really do not see what the big problem is with a long-term Prius strategy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ May 26 2006, 09:25 PM) [snapback]261591[/snapback]</div>

You are so right. All these articles NEVER mention the EPA Green Ratings for the Prius and other hybrids. Never. They must maintain the focus on actual monetary savings. And they mostly talk about the big hybrid SUV's. My car with package four, cost a little over 24,000. With the tax credit, I'm looking at a little over 21,000. Not bad really.

Going green does cost more money, unfortunately. I've just given Lowe's a little over a hundred bucks for compact flourescent lighting and Black and Decker 400 bucks for an electric lawnmower. But, I will see savings in both money in energy costs and cleaner air a few years from now. Hopefully.

 

Just as a matter of interest, how much would some of these non hybrids cost if they were fitted with all the gadgets that the Prius has?

 

Btw this is the same Keith Naughton, a hardcore Detroit guy, who argued that it's better to get an Escalade than a Prius because of the Prius's hybrid premium in this thread.

He's about as bad ac anti-hybrid troll as Alex Law of auto123.com, imho.