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  • Hybrids

    Does anyone own one?
    Anyone bought one recently?
    What kind of mileage are you getting?
    just started: mililaniblog.com

  • #2
    Re: Hybrids

    Originally posted by jkpescador
    Does anyone own one?
    Anyone bought one recently?
    What kind of mileage are you getting?
    My office neighbor just bought a Prius. He was on the wait list for 3 months. He loves it so far but that's all I know! Well, that, and it's 'space agey'...his term.

    Good friends on the mainland bought a new Prius 3.5 years ago and, after over 60k miles, they still love it. Sorry, don't know any of the particulars. Not unusual for me. I don't know anything about the car I drive!

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    • #3
      Re: Hybrids

      When I worked for the Gas Company we used to drive around a Red Ford F150 Hybrid but this hybrid ran off of propane or gas. Not the best for gas mileage but the emission from a properly tuned propane powered engine is carbon dioxide and water...basically what humans exhale.
      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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      • #4
        Re: Hybrids

        I drive a Honda Civic hybrid.

        Get about 46 MPG, average.

        I'm easy on the acceleration. If you put a driver that stomps on the gas, you can easily drop the average MPG down to 40. I saw that happen whenever my stepdaughter drove the car.

        You don't need to drive slow to get good mileage, either. I cruise the freeway at 60. The most helpful tips are to avoid hard acceleration, and try not to accelerate up hill. And keep your tires properly inflated.

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        • #5
          Re: Hybrids

          I have a Toyota Echo....4 years old...still gets about 40 mpg....bulletproof for $10k less than a hybrid

          I you truly support the War on Terror, you must drive a high mileage vehicle.

          Patriots in big tough trucks and SUV's are confused about which troops they actually support.
          FutureNewsNetwork.com
          Energy answers are already here.

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          • #6
            Re: Hybrids

            I realized we're talkin' Hybrids here, but since we're also talkin' fuel economy, there was the 1984-1990 Honda Civic HF. It got a lofty 50+ mpg through a simple formula of low weight and a conventional, reduced size and horsepower 4-cylnder engine.

            A friend of mine just bought a Toyota Yaris hatchback, which I'm suprised as small as that car is it "only" gets 40 mpg.

            I'd love to see Hummer make a hybrid version of their urban tanks... that'll be the day.
            sigpic The Tasty Island

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            • #7
              Re: Hybrids

              Why did you friend choose the Yaris?
              How does he like the Yaris?
              just started: mililaniblog.com

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              • #8
                Re: Hybrids

                What the heck is a Yaris...and as far as Hummers go...Oh well it ain't gonna happen with GM pulling the Hummer off the assembly line.

                I remember in my Physics class many years ago, someone tried to examine the efficiency of the human body versus a V8 combustion engine. Basically when you compare the two as engines you'll find that it takes more maintenance costs to maintain the human body when it comes to fuel refinement and usage than it takes for a gasoline powered V8 engine.

                That's when you factor in farming, distribution, retailing of food to consumption, sewage treatment and medical costs of eating bad/fatty foods as well as raising children to become viable engines (adults) and the costs to make and maintain them.

                The bottom line was that the human body was as efficient as a V8 running on 2-cylinders when it came to Horse Power output versus fuel economy.

                Included was the factor on pollution output. Not only on Human output but manufacturing costs to maintain a healthy body/engine was factored in as well. It takes tremendous resources to maintain the modern day human body to allow it to work and play. Once the automobile has gotten to it's destination, the engine and all it takes to run it stops. The human body on the other hand is running 24/7 and actively for more than 10-hours per day. It rests for only 1/3 of it's daily output.

                The human body needs refueling at least 3 times a day and requires a host of maintenance to keep it running optimally.

                A car requires a coat of paint maybe once in it's lifetime, whereas the human body requires it with every growth spurt or style change.

                A car takes a bath maybe once a week whereas the human body does it typically once a day.

                There are a ton of other comparisons but when it comes to efficiency, the human body is one of the worst when it comes to fuel efficiency, power output and maintenance.
                Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                • #9
                  Re: Hybrids

                  Any updates? Anyone buy a hybrid since I first posted? Anyone switch to a more fuel efficient car? If so, which one. What's your MPG like?
                  just started: mililaniblog.com

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                  • #10
                    Re: Hybrids

                    I dunno if this is a good or a bad thing, but the CEO of Ford Motor Company apparently told his workers last month that Ford was moving away from developing more hybrid cars and pinning its future success on alternative (biodiesel and other energy forms) fueled cars.

                    Ford is either behind the curve or way in front...

                    "...In a sharp shift of strategy, Ford Motor Co. plans to focus less on hybrid technology and more on a wider range of alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered engines, Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford told employees of the automaker.

                    Ford backed away from a commitment made last fall to build capacity to make 250,000 hybrid vehicles by the end of the decade, calling that goal "too narrow" in a company-wide e-mail message released Thursday.

                    Ford, which has faced criticism for lacking a consistent vision for its product development, had heavily promoted its commitment to hybrid technology, which taps battery power to boost fuel economy.

                    The debate over the emerging group of alternatives to traditional combustion engines comes as US consumers put an increasing premium on fuel efficiency and low operating costs in the face of high gasoline prices.

                    The shift in consumer preference has hurt all of the Detroit-based automakers, but the stakes are particularly high for Ford, whose fleet of vehicles has the lowest average mileage per gallon of any of the automakers and which relies on light trucks for two-thirds of sales. ..."



                    Miulang
                    "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                    • #11
                      Re: Hybrids

                      Has anyone here or their friends tried the Honda Insight?

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                      • #12
                        Re: Hybrids

                        Originally posted by Miulang
                        I dunno if this is a good or a bad thing, but the CEO of Ford Motor Company apparently told his workers last month that Ford was moving away from developing more hybrid cars and pinning its future success on alternative (biodiesel and other energy forms) fueled cars.

                        Ford is either behind the curve or way in front...

                        "...In a sharp shift of strategy, Ford Motor Co. plans to focus less on hybrid technology and more on a wider range of alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered engines, Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford told employees of the automaker.

                        Ford backed away from a commitment made last fall to build capacity to make 250,000 hybrid vehicles by the end of the decade, calling that goal "too narrow" in a company-wide e-mail message released Thursday.

                        Ford, which has faced criticism for lacking a consistent vision for its product development, had heavily promoted its commitment to hybrid technology, which taps battery power to boost fuel economy.

                        The debate over the emerging group of alternatives to traditional combustion engines comes as US consumers put an increasing premium on fuel efficiency and low operating costs in the face of high gasoline prices.

                        The shift in consumer preference has hurt all of the Detroit-based automakers, but the stakes are particularly high for Ford, whose fleet of vehicles has the lowest average mileage per gallon of any of the automakers and which relies on light trucks for two-thirds of sales. ..."


                        Miulang
                        I'll be getting anotehr car soon, and I've decided to go the biodeisel route. The older Mercedes deisel cars are pretty inexpensive - around 2-5k, apparently the engines keep running way past the 200k mile mark - and now they make kits for around $800 that you can install that enable you to put vegetable oil directly into a tank on your car and run the car off it. We're talkin' about pulling up to a Chinese restaurant and asking them for their old vegetable oil from the egg roll fryers and putting it in your car.

                        check this link to see the kit...

                        http://www.greasecar.com/

                        For an extra grand you can have your car converted, and think of all the money you'll be taking away from the Bush family and others like them who are in the oil business.

                        With gas prices at almost $4 a gallon and no end to the war in sight, I'm trying to think a little progressively about this whole thing. Something needs to change, and as along as a car can run off of egg roll oil, I'll use it if it means not supporting oil companies. I'm guessing that some form of biodeisel or ethanol is the way of the future, so why not start now ?
                        http://tikiyakiorchestra.com
                        Need a place to stay in Hilo ?
                        Cue Factory - Music for your Vision

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                        • #13
                          Re: Hybrids

                          This sounds like a good idea, but can vegetable oil be abundant enough for people to use it as a common fuel? Sure, a few people are using it here and there now, but will there be enough for food and transport?

                          Or else, we could develop several ways of transport; vegetable oil, something else, etc.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Hybrids

                            There was an article this past week in the Car Section of the Honolulu Advertiser (that was inserted with the 7/7/06 issue of the Buy and Sell) saying that even with 75K and gas being at $4/gallon, one would still not be able to recover one's costs for the hybrid...

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                            • #15
                              Re: Hybrids

                              Hawaiiguy was that with the tax credit figured in? Because it's a credit I don't know exactly how much it will shave off your tax bill. I think it's about $3400. A Honda Civic Hybrid is about $4700 more than a Civic LX. If you direct mark down it brings it close to the cost of a LX; the Hybrid does come with more features ... even more than the top of the line EX. But again it's a tax credit.

                              There are other reasons people buy Hybrids.

                              Check out greenhybrid.com

                              Thanks for chiming in!

                              I figure Hawaii driving is different from mainland driving so our experiences driving a Hybrid would be different. Our fuel economy would be different also.

                              Do you think all cars will be some kind of Hybrid in 10 years from now? Will they be biodiesel? What percentage of cars will actually run on gas?
                              just started: mililaniblog.com

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