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BANG FOR THE BITE
Hybrids cost around $3,000 more than a comparable vehicle. It's not gonna take long to earn that back with today's pump prices.
COCKTAIL FACT
Hybrid car batteries charge by reclaiming the energy you generate when you hit the brakes.
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home › tip library › Hybrid Cars
Want to cruise around in style like Leo and Cameron?
The Bite
Make your next car a hybrid. Hybrid vehicles run off a self-charging battery and smaller amounts of gasoline. Although they still use gas, the battery takes on a lot of the work. Just two years ago, there were two hybrid models available. Today, car buyers can chose from 13 models, including SUVs.The Benefits
- Save at the gas pump: 30-60 mpg in city driving.
- Hybrid vehicles can reduce smog emissions by 90%.
- Unlike the original electric-powered vehicles, hybrids can reach speeds of up to 100 mph, and can now go 0-60 mph in 8 seconds.
- Get a tax deduction! Purchase a new hybrid and get a $2000 tax deduction on your federal taxes!
Personally Speaking
As soon as they make a big monster hog of a horse-trailer-pulling hybrid truck, Jen is going to be all over buying one.Wanna Try?
- The best for mpg? Toyota Prius; $21,275 MSRP. (There's a waiting list, so put your name down now!)
- Looking for lux? Try the Lexus RX Hybrid: $49,060 MSRP.
- Can't live without your SUV? Ford Escape Hybrid; $29,000 list price.
- Check out great information and advice at: http://www.hybridcars.com.
Sep 22,2005
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Prius vs Hummer
So it seems that there are two darling vehicles of the Hollywood set, and they are from two very opposite corners of the fighting ring.
In the first corner, we have the Hummer, which is strongly featured in the TV shows Entourage and CSI: Miami, (amongst others), and driven by celebs like Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is converting his to hydrogen-fueled), Coolio, Shaquille O'Neal, Don King, M C Hammer, Roger Clemens, and Mike Tyson (who is a biter but not an IDEAL Biter).
And in the other corner: the Toyota hybrid Prius, featured in the final episode of Six Feet Under, and driven by celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Bill Maher, Donna Mills, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Arquette and Cameron Diaz.
Although the Hummer gets 8mpg and looks a bit menacing to those driving a small little economy car (me!), it has established itself among some crowds as the pinnacle vehicle.
And although the Prius is very modest in its features (ie: no mega leather seat warmer action for those Hollywood-hineys!), it still is admired by many.
What will it take for the Prius to beat out the Hummer if the fight is not about gas guzzling, but about being COOL?
The jury is out. Biters, start your engines.... Let us know what you think. And if the comments have merit, we promise to get them to the automakers that be.
Off to put my name on the Toyota Hybrid Highlander waiting list, which shot out by 6 more months right after Katrina hit. - Jen
Biter Comments...
Hybrids can get even more bang for the *bite* if you cash in on state and federal tax rebates!
For more info on federal rebates, check out:
http://www.aceee.org/transportation/hybtaxcred.htm
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax_hybrid.shtml
And for rebate info by state, see:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/vbg/progs/laws.cgi
I had the original Prius (2001) for 3 years. Loved it. Put my name on the list for the new Prius, the Highlander and the Lexus RX400h a little over a year ago.
I decided to go for the Lexus when it came up (got one of the first) in May 2005 after thinking that the Prius was a bit too small for my only car. And assumed that it would get at least 27mpg or so since I got a consistant 38mpg on the Prius (and I drove it hard, non of this babying acceleration)
Well, you can't beat the laws of Physics. The RX400h is a BIG car campared to the Prius. The Prius (2005) was designed from the bottom up to be a hybrid. The RX400h is an RX330 SUV converted to Hybrid. So its very sub-optimal
In reality I never get worse than about 21.5mpg, usually 22mpg and the best ever on a trip from SF to Seattle was about 24.5mpg. I don't drive the Lexus hard as I did the Prius but the Lexus is INCREDIBLY powerful and its very heavy compared to the Prius. So it uses the 6 cylinder engine a lot more than the Prius used its 4 cyliinder engine for low speed movement.
And if you were to use it to actually pull a trailer, it would end up being much worse as it would always be using the internal combustion engine.
Hybrids are a good first step towards real efficient vehicles, but they are not magic. They do improve noxious emissions (not carbon though) more dramatically than pure internal combustion. But we still need to go much further to really solve the problems of transporation energy consumption.
(Ideal Bite-"Hybrids are Hot")
Great to promote Hybrids but it's counterproductive to talk about about
how fast and quickly they can go. Its one thing to say in an emergency
situation they are as responsive as conventional cars and quite another
to boast how quickly you can be moving in 8 seconds. Driving fast
(100mph?) totally negates that 50--60 mpg fuel usage.
I totally agree, it's ridiculous for a vehicle to go 100mph, where in this country are the speed limits that high? In reality, if people would drive a little slower, maybe even obey speed limits once in a while *gasp!* even conventional vehicles would get dramatically better gas mileage. Fuel efficiency peaks at 60mph. After that, you lose 10% of your efficiency for every 5mph over that you drive. That means if your car typically gets 30mpg, at 65mph you're actually only getting 27mpg, at 75mph that number drops to 24mpg. That's a radical difference. Hybrids are a step in the right direction, but they are not the ultimate answer. People need to learn how to get the most efficiency out of whatever vehicle they are driving--Ideal Bites should really have a blog about that.
Love, love, love my Prius. I average 47 miles per gallon with metro Boston driving, but I do drive it lightly. The Prius is supposed to get better mileage in the city than on the highway, but we haven't found that to be the case. We averaged 55 MPG on a recent NYC trip, and my husband pulled off a 60 MPG trip to Deer Isle, Maine. We will be ordering a 2nd Prius for my husband. Lastly, I haven't found the Prius to be too small. We had to carefully optimize our luggage for a 10-day California trip where we rented a Prius, but in terms of passenger space (for my husband, 2 kids, and myself), we were quite comfortable. As for anyone driving a vehicle that gets 8 or 9 mpg, they should be very ashamed! If they aren't ashamed, then they haven't done their homework. Our economy's dependence on cheap foreign oil puts us in a very vulnerable place!!!
There was a great article in the WSJ about Ford's decision to invest more in hybrid technology and to develop lines of hybrids for their top sellers. I think a lot eco conscious consumers now are willing to pay the extra for the technology but the market really needs to be stimulated to get the boost it needs to be competitive.
The Hummers got big because of big flashy names in Hollywood started busting out in the car. I think the same thing needs to happen with hybrids, but not with shy modest stars like Cameron Diaz. My idea is for some big rap star like Kayne West to give some hype to the hybrid. Kayne West is ideal because he projects a more sophisticated, intelligent image of a rap artist. He has flair but respect. Who knows with hte right publicist hybrid technology could become the next in thing, with hybrid limos becoming the new big prom accessory.
I would love, love, LOVE to drive a hybrid vehicle. Unfortunately, most hybrid vehicles are too small for my liking. I live in the Indianapolis area...where everyone thinks they're a NASCAR driver, weaving dangerously in and out of traffic at mach speeds. With two small children as precious cargo, I refuse to drive something as small as a Prius for safety reasons. Not to mention, all the groceries, stroller, two carseats (that barely fit into my Isuzu Trooper, let alone try to sardine-can them into a Prius) that need to fit into a vehicle...most hybrids are out of the question. And, until recently, NO hybrid vehicle had enough torque to pull anything...a problem for people who camp and have a pull-behind or fishing boat. We do have a LOOOOOOONG way to go before most families with children would buy hybrid.
Howdy: Just some more updated information on how fast the new 2007 Lexus GS450h is...It is rated 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds. The same as a Porche. I noticed that you have the fastest hybrid a bit slower than that and thought you may want to have this information.
I am working in the area of Lexus marketing and am currently on a Lexus Hybrid tour on the east coast. Thanks, Gene
No Hummer posts here???
I just sold our Prius and bought the H3 hummer for my wife.
A good friend of ours was just killed in a low speed accident driving his Prius. A Chevy Trailblazer hit him. Safety is our main concern, not the gas mileage and not the environment. Really has me thinking now. We both work less than 10 miles from work, so what’s the point of driving a tin can. Life is short. Before you buy one, go see what happens when you get side impact at 35mph from an SUV.
Until big vehicles go away, I will just become part of the problem.
I'm a conservative...
Economic conservative.
Social conservative.
Conservative driver.
I bought a Prius because I knew three other Prius owners who could verify the MPG (of ca. 50 MPG) and comfort of the vehicle.
We test drove and made the decision.
We paid $25K for this 2006 Prius.
NB: We did NOT have the $50K for a Hummer.
Gas is over $3/gal. We commute 100 miles per day, five days a week.
We save ca. $70 per week in gasoline costs. Each month, that's 3/4 of our car payment for the Prius.
We bought the Prius because we commute and we need to save money on gas. We've happily been doing this. NB: We did not buy the Prius to make an "environmental" statement or to be "green."
We DO NOT need Rush Limbaugh's help encouraging meatheads in SUVs to tailgate us down the highway! Conservatives buy and drive Prii (Pree-eye).
And, yeah, if you drive any vehicle like an aggressive jerk, you'll probably get poor mileage.
Dave
March 13, 2007
Hummers More Eco-Friendly Than Prius Moonbatmobiles
Toyota's Prius, aka Pious, is a favorite among the sort of gullible moonbats who proudly believe their choice of vehicle contributes to a healthier planet. As always, the moonbats are wrong.
Improved EPA tests show that the Prius only gets an average of 45 mpg, which isn't much higher than the Chevy Aveo, a car that costs less than half as much.
But the real problem with the overhyped Prius is how much environmental damage it causes to make one. The nickel used in the Prius battery is mined and smelted at a site so ecologically ruined that NASA has used the dead zone around it to test moon rovers. Nicknamed the Superstack, the plant spreads sulfur dioxide all across northern Ontario, causing acid rain. There is no life around it for miles.
The nickel is then shipped to Europe, then China, then Japan, then the USA during the long process of becoming the battery in a moonbat's Prius, racking up more transportation miles than Al Gore on a transcontinental eco-campaign.
The total energy required to produce and drive a Prius is almost 50% more than that required for a Hummer, an eco-dupe's idea of the ultimate affront to Gaia.
Hummers are cheaper to drive, too. Over the 100,000-mile expected lifespan of a Prius, it will cost an average $3.25 per mile. A Hummer lasts three times as long, and only costs $1.95 per mile.
Plus Hummers are cool, whereas a Prius looks like something Ed Begley Jr. would drive.
i do not understand how people decide if they like a certain vehicle based on fuel economy like does the gas milage feel as good heated leather seats? does gas milage do you any good when a large suv T-Bones you in your economy tin can? or how about when you travell does having good gas miladge feel good when you have to compromise what you can bring on the trip? have you ever gone shopping and found something you really liked and decided to not get it because it did not fit in your economy tin can. alsoif you get what you want and compromise on other things like eating out getting a 50 inch plazma instead of the 60 ect. the gas for your dream vehicle is not a problem man i love my hummer :)
You Prius owners are a bunch of band-wagon jumping, sniveling Liberal hypocrites...Y'all need to get a life and stop worring about HUMMERS.
Compare your gas guzzling gripes of the HUMMER, to the likes of Toyota's Land Cruise or the Lexus equivilant, or the Tahoe, or the Ford Excursion, or the Lincoln Navigator or the Escalade or all the Dodge monstrosities...But still You focus on the HUMMER because you like it and are jealous and secretly wish you could too get away with owning one..but you dug your self into this It's fashionable to be a limp wrist Tree hugging hole and you can't get out..so you become the hypocrite liberal pain in the ass like all the rest of the ill informed morons that attack a US Icon vehicle like the Hummer, because some fool back whenever decided that the Prestigous image of the HUMMER meant confident successful status and we Hummer owners don't follow the left wing Hollywood Liberal croud and you can't can't stand that...Just don't get in my way with that sort of attitude or I'll just fulfill your narrow minded prophecy and run your Prius ass over.
Regarding the safety of a Hummer vs compact cars... there's a lot of misinformation out there. I've worked in professional motorsports for several years so I understand automotive dynamics pretty well.
Here are the facts: Just because a car is big and heavy, doesn't mean it is safer... particularly for the occupants. The common misconception is that more metal around you will protect you, and that's clearly been proven to be wrong over and again.
Consider that trucks and SUVS (including the Hummer) do not fall into as strict crash testing standards as passenger cars.
Basic laws of physics state that every action has an equal but opposite reaction. Energy must be absorbed somehow. If your 5,000lb Hummer hits a stationary object and the metal doesn't crumple, guess what? The occupants must absorb the energy. I hear the same comments all the time when people see a crunched up economy car and the occupants walk away... "Oh my God! They're so lucky!". Luck has nothing to do with it, engineering does. Economy cars are designed to crumple upon impact and absorb the energy so that the occupants don't. Same concept as tiny Indycars or Formula One cars where the driver hits the wall at 200mph and walks away. NASCAR has finally borrowed that same concept with the "Car of Tomorrow". Crumple zones with a safety capsule. Now if your Hummer hits my Honda, there's no telling who will get hurt worse. Your Hummer might actually case you as much injury as it does to me.
Let me be the first to say that I would NEVER step foot in a prius or most hybrids for that matter. One reason, is that do you really think that if a prius and a Hummer collided (or ANY full sized SUV for that matter), the Hummer driver is going to be hurt? The prius driver should be on their knees thanking god, if they even survived the accident. Sorry, but my family comes before any others, and if that means driving an H2, Navigator, Suburban, Escalade, ect...that that is what I will do.
Also, when you need to move things or haul things, how exactly do you do it in your prius? The other day, we went and bought an apple tree for our front yard. We bought a small one and the thing was to the dash and hanging out the end of our H2. Do your prius people pay others to haul things like this....i really do not understand. AND snow....how does that thing handle in snow....oh, I know the answer to that. I have pulled out soooo many hybrids over the last few years, that it is ridiculous!! So besides getting more millage, what are additional pros for buying this death trap and no cargo space thing????
Mr clean....I totally disagree with you. I have seen many accidents with SUV's and cars. The reason that SUV drivers were hurt is because they were NOT wearing their seat belts. My mother-in-law was in a sedan Lexus and hit an on coming Jeep. She broke six ribs and had internal damage (was told by EMT that she was lucky she survived) and the engine of car flew out onto the street. Guess what?......the occupants of the jeep were not hurt at all, not to mention the jeep had a little tiny scratch on it and the Lexus was hauled off to the junk yard. After that, getting into a car scares the crap out of me......BTW, Lexus is "suppose" to be one of the top rated vehicles for crashes......if that is the case, no thank you.
MrClean, first off, a hummer will be more like 8000lbs, not 5000. Second, you reference the ability to absorb impact. That is affected by how much metal there is and how rigid the metal is. I'm willing to bet that if you hit an immovable object at 30mph with only a pillow between you and it, you'll suffer quite a bit of injury, even though the pillow will be far superior to even the mighty prius when it comes to crumple-ability. Last but not least, in your example of an accident between a prius and a hummer, your prius will be nothing like an immovable object to the hummer. Quite the opposite, it'll be much worse since the immovable object will likely be moving towards you (in a head on at least anyway), and it won't have the niceness of a wall - everything flat - meaning you'll be halfway under the hummer, meaning the little protection you have from your 5mph bumper will be in vain, and it'll basically be your windshield and sunglasses, vs a 4 ton ball of steel. You're right in saying for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. If you look at a pinball machine you'll notice the effects of something with little mass (ball) hitting something with relative large mass (the machine and all of the attached props the ball has to hit). This is an exagerated example as the ratio of the mass of the ball vs mass of machine is MUCH smaller than the prius vs hummer, but gets the point across. Hitting a hummer in a prius will be more like hitting a brick wall for the prius, if not worse - more like a wall moving towards you. Hitting a prius in a hummer will be more like a prius hitting a bicycle or motorcycle. The towing, payload, snow handling and all of the others mentioned make the 'inappropriate' behemoth SUVs a much more versatile vehicle than a prius. If you plan on going to work and back and never doing anything else, a Prius will be great for you. If you plan on going on a vacation, camping, owning a boat, travel trailer, jetskis, snowmobiles, dirtbikes, and/or have a large family, a truck/SUV will be MUCH more suited. Before someone mentions a minivan; find me one that can tow a 10000lb travel trailer; and I'll trade in my V10 Excursion.
I love to drive a ford car. Unfortunately, I don't have ford car to drive on that day it was taken by my brother.
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casseysmith
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Hummer all the way baby! It's the epitome of the masculine road warrior!
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Posted by: Elisha | September 22, 2005 at 08:49 AM