It's surprising how much people DON'T know.

LOL! :lol: Too True.. I'm used to "How often do you have to plug it in?" - I'm a computer support engineer, so i'm used to people not knowing what I'm talking about when it comes to "techy" stuff (ie. ask anyone if they've heard of a slingbox...), but I am truly surprised at the complete lack of knowledge I run into when it comes to hybrids...

 

One of the most memorable conversations started when a person asked me how my "hybred" worked.

 

Some people are just not car-enthusiastic like we be.

I know many people here at work don't keep up with the latest and greatest. Their car is just a tool that gets from point A to B. You'll find those people don't take great pride in their vehicles like tune-ups and washing.

 

No surprise. What you have is the world's biggest paradox, all courtesy of the internet. On one hand, a hardy band of intelligent, curious Prius owners who, through relentlessly digging around, know more, in greater technological detail, about their beloved cars that any previous group of owners of any vehicle in history have known about theirs. OTOH you have the rest of the general public, misinformed as always about cars in general and the Prius in particular; susceptible to Detroit-planted, anti-hybrid spin, scare stories about Priuses that go dead in the middle of the freeway at rush hour, low-MPG crap (mostly inaccurate); but otherwise blissfully ignorant about hybrids UNTIL AND UNLESS they get motivated as individuals---just as each one of us did---to investigate.

Bless the internet. It has enabled us, in this instance, to have the confidence to be the loudest---and best-informed to boot---group of car advocates in history.

 

It is surprising, but then again it isn't. I spend a lot of time on Priuschat, whether it be browsing or posting, and would just assume that everyone out in the world knows about hybrids and how the Prius works. But much of the general public in fact does not.

I got a laugh yesterday while waiting for my husband to pick me up so we could then pick my Prius up. My brother asked me how/where I would plug the Prius in to recharge the battery. I know I've told him before that the Prius does not have to be plugged in, the battery gets charged via regen braking, the ICE, etc. I'm sure that the 'plug in' question will never cease to go away.

And my mom was telling me last week that some friends of theirs were out shopping for a car for their son. The father test-drove a Prius but chose to buy the son a Camry instead because he didn't like that the Prius kept stalling every time they were stopped at a traffic light. My mom told him she thought it was supposed to do that, according to what I'd told her about them.

 

OMG! THAT is FUNNY!

 

now you know what i have been going through for the past 27 months

 

I know! And you would think that the salesperson he was working with (I'm assuming someone from the dealer had to go on that test drive with him) would have had the knowledge to at least tell the guy that it was supposed to do that.

 

When I first got mine my neighbor thought I was supposed to get like 400mpg and thought 50 wasn't a big deal. Course she also left her 3 y/o kid out on the balcony alone after he had already attempted to climb over the edge once. Spent 2 months in a leg cast.

 

I was one of the ignorant ones up until a month before I bought my Prius. I'd been looking to purchase a new vehicle for a while, but had a tough time picking one. It wasn't until a business trip to some development partners in California that I'd even heard of hybrid vehicles. The office I was visiting had two people who had just purchased hybrids: a Honda Civic hybrid and a Toyota Prius. I got a brief ride in the Prius on my last day there and was hooked! This is the car that I've been looking for! My search for my own Prius (and my registration here at PriusChat) started as soon as I got home the day after and I drove away with one a month later.

I think it's just a matter of exposure. I've only begun seeing commercials for the Hybrid Synergy Drive recently. Unless people go looking for this stuff or have people around them to tell them about it, it's not surprising that they wouldn't know about the Prius or how hybrids work.

 

Last September I was at an Environmental Fair. One of the Toyota dealers had a Prius there. When people were looking it over, I came over and told them about it. When they asked if I would open the hood for them, I told them I didn't work for the dealer, I was an owner. The people at the booth didn't seem to mind and said that I probably knew more than they did.

 

Yeah well... when driving my Rav4EV, I'm regularly stopped to ask what gas mileage I "actually" get. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to convince people that I have a battery car that is NOT a hybrid. I even get the sales guys down at the dealer where I bought it who don't believe that it uses no gas. I tell them that in 30k miles I haven't filled the tank yet, but they just think I'm kidding! I ask them to look for the engine. The gas tank. The exhaust. But no... they don't have time for those shenanigans.

And then I have a harder time convincing them that I'd rather plug it in, than drive to a gas station.

It takes all types, and we're all coming at this from a different angle. If you think that the general population doesn't know about hybrids... just try driving an EV!

I do have to take exception (my first time!) with Jack '06's comment about "owners having greater technological detail about their beloved cars than any previous group of owners of any vehicle in history have known about theirs." Join the Rav4EV owners email reflector and you'll change your mind about that in a hurry! I can't think of another vehicle where the majority of owners also own the multi-hundred dollar factory service manuals. The difference here is that the Prius actually has some dealer support behind it. We EV owners are pretty much on our own, and MUST know about the vehicles.

In the end, it turns out that just about everybody outside your circle doesn't know as much as those INSIDE the circle.

 

I must also admit that I didn't know much about the hybrids before I got mine. Even now, I'm still learning ... and starting to think about getting into mods!

 

I guess I'm the exception -- everyone I know who cares enough cars to ask anything besides "do you like it" and "what color is it" knows basically how the hybrid system works.

The funniest bit of dialogue I've had so far about the Prius was this exchange with my brother the first time I showed him the car:

Him: What is this? The gear shift?
Me: No, it's a bottle of water.

In his defense, it was dark, and the water bottle I'd put in the cupholder in the center console did look a little like a gear shift...

 

This whole topic cracks me up! LOL

I am not the type to know much about cars. Sure, my dad taught me how to check the oil and tires and even how to change a tire. But...that was years ago! LOL As long as the car gets me from point A to point B and doesn't cost me a fortune to run, I am happy.

DH & I purchased our first new car together two years ago for him to drive. Turns out I know more about buying cars than I thought. We knew then that we'd be buying a hybrid for our next car. I let him do all the preliminary research and I didn't really get involved until last Fall due to our work schedules, etc.

Now, *I*, of all people, know WAY more about a CAR (read Prius) than anyone I know in person and WAY WAY WAY more than any salesman I have met to date. It is just too darn funny!!!