petdave
Posts: 2479
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quote:
ORIGINAL: shallowdeep
A Prius can easily do 60mph, and even 100mph+. In my opinion it's quite adequate for most people but, with that that said, it doesn't have the same performance of a sporty car like the MazdaSpeed3. Apart from the first few seconds of acceleration from rest (where the electric motors can actually deliver superior torque) the Prius isn't a match. If someone places value on extra, high rpm acceleration, the Prius won't be as attractive to them. That's not to preclude the possibility of a sporty hybrid, but the target markets tend to be different and I'm not aware of any presently available.
Indeed. Acceleration uses up energy very quickly- and the faster the acceleration, the more you use. However, there are times that you need power, such as freeway merges (as somebody who owned an '82 Chevy Diesel pickup, i can speak from experience!)
Now, there is an all-electric high-performance car by Tesla Motors, that is supposed to come out in October 2007... er, March 2008, er... um, Real Soon Now!
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My personal feeling is that the energy independence and environmental benefits should factor into buying decisions for those who can afford it, but I realize not everyone cares enough, or is in the economic position, to make that a factor. Ultimately fuel efficiency needs to make financial sense for those people. In a larger sense, if everyone were to switch to hybrids, the cost of gas would stay lower and everyone would benefit - but it's hard to base a personal purchase on macroeconomic theory, sound as it may be. I fully support government subsidies of fuel efficient cars to help realize those macro benefits, though.
Gas prices may decrease once there are a LOT of hybrids on the road, but the hybrids themselves will get more expensive... mostly due to the cost of copper, and the metals that go into the batteries, which have already been on a long upward trend. And as you mentioned, electricity costs and possible issues with overloading the grid (although most of the load would probably come on off-peak hours, and programmable chargers could improve that even further). The thing i dislike most about hybrids and electrics is the limited battery life. i've got cars that are 45 years old and still perfectly functional (if expensive to run). With basic maintenance and relatively little driving, they'll easily last another two decades and beyond. Same goes for a couple of bikes i've got in the 20-25 year old range. i don't like disposable transportation. It's wasteful, and it traps people in the finance cycle.
The .gov subsidies of fuel efficient cars is a politically tricky matter... They're paying out money to consumers, and then receiving less tax income from those same consumers who would otherwise be paying more in gas taxes. It's a net loss, which politicians don't like very much. However, then they can propose a GPS tracking system for cars so that they can tax based on actual miles traveled, and THAT they like very much... Absolute nightmare for anyone at all interested in personal privacy, tho...
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RE: Gas!! What will be your next Vehicle? - 
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