ChrisK

if I recall some if not all the manufacturers are warrantying the batteries for like 10 years... I heard htis second hand so don shot me if im wrong....

GregP

Check out the new report on them by Consumer Reports. In "real life" driving they neted less than half the quoted milage, not much more than normal compacts. A short summary was in the local paper last night that many owners are quite disappointed.

-Greg

CigDaze

The quoted milages are pretty much bull****. You're better off getting a small gas-burning car or like someone else said a TDI.

Also, look for a diesel-powered Ford Focus to hit the American market soon.

CigDaze

Read more here.
http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0...w=wn_tophead_1

rouxsterre

I test drove the Honda Insight yesterday.
Kinda eerie the way it shuts off when stopped. But as soon as you want to go, it just goes. Not exactly neck-snapping performance, but it will run 90+.
This is the KING of MPG.
There is a forum for Insight owners that contains more information than you would EVER want to know about 'em. These guys are all techno-geeks.
Hybrid Forum

Around $21,000 new.

NickOTeen

I'd go with the TDI Jetta as well. Gets 45-50 mpg all day. Should have no problems getting 250K-300K miles out of the motor. My friend has one and loves it.

rouxsterre

On the Insight Forum, owners are reporting real-life mileage ( the car displays 'Lifetime MPG' on the dash ) in the area of anywhere between 54 and 90 mpg.
It's actually much better than the Toyota Prius or the Civic Hybrid or the VW TDI.

mr_velocity

54 to 90 is a pretty wide range, but some people go crazy trying to drive the car to get every last little bit of mpg out of it. See the same thing with TDI owners. I looked at all the options when I started this long commute. I pretty much average 44 mpg with my tdi, but I'm usually travelling at 85 mph or more on my commute. Did have the car over 120mph on a few occasions. One thing nice about the VW vs the honda is the options, sun roof, heated seats, awsome stereo, huge trunk, heated mirrors, leather. After market performance parts are readily available too. On a pure mpg comparison the hybird will win, but for a more all round driver I like the tdi. Although with the cost of diesel much lower than gas the running cost is probably in favor of the tdi. My only complaint is accelleration, it's a pig.

Airpacker

the nickle metal hydride battery pack for the Prius is around 3 grand, the honda around 2800. Been through a few service training courses on them both. The honda is an aluminum car with a body expectancy of 20 years. The Prius is being sold at a huge loss by Toyota just to get some market share. The top dogs at Honda and Toyota really hate each other on a personal level so Toyota dropped the Prius on the market cheaper to bite into Hondas market. Both have good points and bad points about them. The Honda uses a series type system where as the electric motor's rotor is connected directly to the end of the crankshaft. Both turn no matter what.It utilizes only one electric motor/generator device. The Toyota on the other hand uses a series/ parallel power system. The crankshaft output is applied to a power splitter box. The electric motor also drives the power splitter box. The electric motor can drive the vehicle up to approx 30mph without the gasoline engine turning at all.Under low battery or high torque demand, the gasoline engine engages and supplies power to the splitter box as well as battery regeneration power. It is a series/parallel drive system utilizing 2 electric motor/generator devices. The Honda uses a 144 volt battery pack, the Prius a 276 volt pack...BOTH CAN AND WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!.

Hydrocruiser

Alternative fuels are the answer. A Diesel engine likes biodiesel a lot as it burns cleaner and more efficiently than dino diesel and has about the same BTU ratings. It can easilly be made form vegetable oil and animal fat. I would buy an SUV/truck or car with a Cummins or Detroit Diesel 500 hp engine and run biodiesel but the Hybrids are a bit too impractical right now for the "masses". We can make boat loads of this product and WILL when gas and diesel hit around $ 5 bucks a gallon. Capitalism will kick right on in. Then of course the Arabs will lower the price of oil to kill our project. So as much as it will hurt the gov't will have to control import and export of crude to keep us on the path to alternatives to foreign dependence. I could live with a 38' Gun with twin 800 HP diesels if the price of biodiesel were to eventually become around $1.00/gallon and gas was $ 5.00/gallon. We can do this today with the stoke of the President's pen. Phase out foreign oil dependency in 10 years. Then worry about going to Mars for some "red dust".