Hybrid cars- anyone have one?

[Farmer X]

Diesels can also run on biofuels. That's a whole other topic, and possibly a whole other impracticality.

[dks]

Also, try cycling. It will warm you up, keep you fit and save on fuel.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Also, try cycling. It will warm you up, keep you fit and save on fuel.

Cycling 100kms a day is a bit beyond me.... and not safe when icy!   

Def

[Aloha]

Not practical in SoCal either.  While the weather is nice the city designers didn't/don't care about cyclists.   Ok they are getting a lot better.  California is a 4/5/6 lane highway state within the large cities.  Today I'll take 2 major interstate highways just to go 25 miles.  On bike  that'd be a heck of a trip.     

[dks]

Not practical in SoCal either.  While the weather is nice the city designers didn't/don't care about cyclists.   Ok they are getting a lot better.  California is a 4/5/6 lane highway state within the large cities.  Today I'll take 2 major interstate highways just to go 25 miles.  On bike  that'd be a heck of a trip.     

Cycling 100kms a day is a bit beyond me.... and not safe when icy!   
Def

You just start slowly, 10 km the fist day, 20 the 2nd and by the end of the week you will be fine. It is like kayaking on land

I believe in both of you!!!

[Syncop8r]

Only doing 10 or 20km initially won't get him to work. 

[dks]

Only doing 10 or 20km initially won't get him to work. 

it will, by the end of the week

[Grant Lamontagne]

The dog may not approve of me not being home to walk him for a couple of weeks....

Def

[Aloha]

I used to cycle to work, college, and everywhere in between.  Heck of a journey in those days.  The highways cut out a lot of direct access to streets so you have to go the long way around to get anywhere if you take side streets. 

Back to Hybrids, Plug ins, and EVs.  A year ago there was a wait list for the Rav4.  I can imagine with covid and demand that list will be longer.  I have a few friends who drive EVs.  City driving for them was worth the change from gas to EV.  There a lot of places now to charge a EV.  Malls, work places, and random areas all have EV changing areas.  Its pretty cool to see.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think I'm almost there.  With the latest gas prices hitting $1.80/L here I think I'm going to have to pull the trigger on an electric car.  I'm looking very seriously at the Chevrolet Bolt EUV.

It is depressing that the amount I am spending on gas is more than the cost of a whole new car- I'm currently feeding the Jeep about $75 every other day.   

Figure $75 every other day, times 26 working days each month (13 days x $75) works out to roughly $975/mth, my mileage payments work out to about $800/mth and payments on an electric car will be about $600/mth.

I'm really going to miss my Jeep though....

Def

[Aloha]

Thats a heck of a gas bill.  Sad it is but its not "worth" the price to drive a vehicle with low gas milage when there are other options. 

I'm glad we didn't but a new car a couple years ago.  I think hybrid at the least is what we'd get today.  Thankfully her car gets about 30-32 mile per gallon.  We're still about $6 per gallon for 87 octane. 

[gregozedobe]

I think I'm almost there.  With the latest gas prices hitting $1.80/L here I think I'm going to have to pull the trigger on an electric car.  I'm looking very seriously at the Chevrolet Bolt EUV.

It is depressing that the amount I am spending on gas is more than the cost of a whole new car- I'm currently feeding the Jeep about $75 every other day.   

Figure $75 every other day, times 26 working days each month (13 days x $75) works out to roughly $975/mth, my mileage payments work out to about $800/mth and payments on an electric car will be about $600/mth.

I'm really going to miss my Jeep though....

Def

If you are putting that much petrol (sorry, "gas") in your jeep that often I'd be worried that you might not be able to keep an EV charged up enough to cover the miles you are driving (remembering that real world range in cold weather is usually a lot less than what the EV manufacturers claim)

[MadPlumbarian]

Ouch,,
The kid just got his first totally his car cause he passed his drivers test the other day and got well it should be coming soon license, grant it it’s not a hybrid, and it’s only a 08, but the one thing it does have is good gas mileages, it’s like 24mi/ga city and like 31mi/ga highway, and gas here is $4.00/gal  the other kid has his clunker jeep which gets better gas mileage then his freaking hot rod 2010 Camaro, that things a freaking V8!
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

I just had an incident that made me rethink trading in my Jeep.

I went to McDonalds for lunch, mostly because I was bored as smurf, and going to McDonalds at least allows me to do something.

I decided to order from the app and park in the parking lot to wait for them to bring it out to me rather than go through drive through. 

I park, open the app and start my order, when suddenly I hear a loud THUNK and the Jeep shakes. I look over to the passenger side and the woman in the minivan next to me has her door wide open.

I casually open the window and she immediately says "it's okay, I didn't hit your car."

I said "yes, you did, I both heard and felt it."

She then launches into some story about the three kids in the back and one is sick and she's been up all night, and the look on my face probably conveyed how little I cared about her unruly crotch goblins.

Then she said she only hit the "side guard thing" which I assume is the running board, at which point I said "so you DID hit my car then."

She then went on the super offensive, telling me off, but for what I don't know.  She told me I could come out and check the damage, although I knew for a fact there wouldn't be any- there is no part of a Toyota Sienna that can even remotely harm the running boards on my Jeep.

At some point in her tirade she said "..... and I'm sorry I hit your car..."

I cut her off there and said "that's what I wanted to hear, and I rolled my window back up as she continued to tell me off.

She stared daggers at me as she drove off, because I'm the smurfhole that parked in a spot that her door was eventually going to occupy!   

Def

[Aloha]

 

I was picking my kids from school.  The line leaving the school is long with cars.  I had my Avalanche at the time and attached a step to my hitch.  This young woman in a newer beetle hits me.  I only barely felt it.  I put my truck in park to go take a look and yup her whole front grill was thrashed.  She couldn't have gone more than 10mph  .  I asked if she was ok to which she said yes.  I told her I was fine as well and since she hit me I was not required to do anything if my car didn't get damaged.  Paint transfer to my steel step was all that happened on my end  . 

Driving a smaller car does come with tradeoffs.  I was also hit in my tundra.  Some knucklehead hit my from behind in bumper to bumper traffic.  His car suffered damage while my rear bumper was scuffed.  Same situation I asked if he was ok, tho he was pissed cause his car did have damage.  I ask again then bid him a wonderful day. 

[MadPlumbarian]

I had a dinky 89 I think geo spectrom, little hatchback stick shift, and I was on the highway on my way to see the Mrs for the 2nd time, and the traffic was just stop and go, we were lucky to even move 5mph at times, so I thought maybe if I grab the map, (you know those things called road atlas back in the day and you always carried one)! Anyway I started to reach for it in the backseat but by doing so I started taking my foot off the clutch, oops, sure enough I tapped a jeep, oh I started screaming and I’m sure if anyone know how jeeps have those bumpers that are like [—|_|———|_|—]  of course that one little nub on the middle of the bumper has to hit my freaking headlight, and his bumper was steel, so all I did was scratch it, thus what bumper stickers are for, but my headlights pointing straight up, my fenders crushed, and my hoods crinkled, I talked things over and he was fine with it, cause I basically did nothing to his, that was till he went to sell it a year later, but I got lost then showed up at the Mrs, and just sat there for 5min then she came out wondering what’s wrong then I pointed and she was like OMG, then I handed her the flowers which were broke and said here..
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

The thing is, if that had been my nice new car, battery powered or not, I'd have probably been very upset about this.  I doubt there are any parts on any new cars as tough as the running boards on my Jeep.

I know, this kind of thing happens all the time, but all the more reason to keep my Jeep....

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

Yeah, any pre 80 something and it didn’t have a freaking computer, you bumped someone, yeah you felt it but there might be a dinky scratch, buff it out, now you tap the smallest thing and it’s going to be thousands in repairs because it’s plastic, just the other day our older son tapped a curb with his Camaro the fenders popped the light is knocked out, the fender well rolled up, yet I had a old gmc jimmy and I floored at a gas station and accidentally hit one of those steel cement filled protectors, I didn’t see it because it was low and I was looking out he back window, but I slammed it hard did no damage to the protector, and just put a small dent in the bumper, did I need to put anything into it, no, it was just a small dent, he taps the smallest curb and he’s out $$..
JR
Not the best pic,

[Aloha]

That looks expensive.  My mom loved her big sedans.  She drove Lincolns.  Big land yachts. 

[MadPlumbarian]

That looks expensive.  My mom loved her big sedans.  She drove Lincolns.  Big land yachts.

TOTALLY, you could go over the worst freaking cobblestone road, yet it would feel like you were on the highway gliding on glasss!
JR

[Aloha]

Yes exactly.   

[Dutch_Tooler]

Just prefacing by saying I have no own experience with owning hybrid cars (nor full electrics), I just read that modern electrics have battery conditioning circuits that adapt the battery temperature during charging, e.g. by heating it in cold temperatures, so that may no longer be such a hindrance for their use in e.g. Canada.

The aspect of physical sturdiness of a car is valid. Electric cars designed as such used to tend to be built lighter than conventional ones to extend range. On the other hand battery tech appears to be on the cusp of some major advances, so this may not be as strict a constraint in future. I'd be interested to see how e.g. a Rivian turns out to be once it appears in numbers.

[Fireman]

I think I'm almost there. 

It has only taken four years since you started this thread. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

It has only taken four years since you started this thread. 

I hate spending money, especially that much!   

Just prefacing by saying I have no own experience with owning hybrid cars (nor full electrics), I just read that modern electrics have battery conditioning circuits that adapt the battery temperature during charging, e.g. by heating it in cold temperatures, so that may no longer be such a hindrance for their use in e.g. Canada.

The aspect of physical sturdiness of a car is valid. Electric cars designed as such used to tend to be built lighter than conventional ones to extend range. On the other hand battery tech appears to be on the cusp of some major advances, so this may not be as strict a constraint in future. I'd be interested to see how e.g. a Rivian turns out to be once it appears in numbers.

The heated battery thing really only works when the car is plugged in, and won't help as much when out in the cold all day- or if it continues to self heat, I imagine that would still use up power (aka range), although perhaps less than the battery would lose if left to the temperature alone?

Rivian is the gold standard, and the truck I would much rather buy, but I'll opt for the Ford F-150 Lightning when it is available because of a couple of reasons.

1- what if there is a problem, there are no Rivian dealerships I can take it to, while there is a Ford dealer in almost every second town across Canada.

2- the Lightning uses the existing F-150 components where possible, meaning repairs after accidents etc would be cheaper, which should equate to lower insurance, easier repairs and more customization options. 

That said, I love the Rivian and I have been following them from concept to production, and if it weren't for the above (significant) benefits, that's the way I'd go.  And, if I could scrape together a few extra bucks, I'd probably buy some Rivian stock now while it is quite low, as I am sure they will bounce back in the long run.  The skateboard concept they have come up with will really reduce production costs and overstock in the long run.

Bollinger in the UK is another good startup to watch, and I am very enamored with Aptera in California too.  With Aptera I'd only have to charge the battery 10 imes a year, even with the mileage I do for work!

Def

[Dutch_Tooler]

To the F-150 Lightning, if it uses many conventional F-150 parts, that is a big maintenance plus, true, and if my scant knowledge of how a F-150 is built is anything to go by and the Lightning uses the same bodywork and axles/suspension then sturdiness is not in question. Some of the benefits attainable with cars designed as electric from scratch may not apply to what is essentially a retrofit electric, but those benefits may not outweigh those of commonality in your case, perhaps even less so as batteries improve...

I'm facing a similar question, but with different boundary conditions, living in a European metropolitan area. The (1st series post-facelift) X3, solid enough for my uses (which rarely require 4x4), is getting on in age and visits to the filling station are becoming increasingly painful. If only I knew for sure what to replace it with...? It probably won't need to be a F-150 though

Edit to add: I think Bollinger have suspended development of what looked like their modern electric take on the LR Defender. Pity...

[Grant Lamontagne]

I hadn't heard that about Bollinger.  Pity that LR thinks they own 90 degree angles, especially since they don't seem to make anything that uses them anymore.   

Def

[ToolJoe]

One thing the F-150 Lightning has going for it is the shared parts aspect with regular F-150s. Also, it'll probably sell like hotcakes since so many people drive trucks in the states for it's Swiss Army Knife utility.

My boss at work drives a 21 F150 and it's costing him over $150 to fill his tank.

[Grant Lamontagne]

The only good thing about gas prices now is that it makes me glad I don't have a diesel.  We are $1.90/L for gas right now and $2.75 ish for diesel.

Of course my house is heated with what we call heating oil here, which is essentially diesel, so I'm not looking forward to winter this year.

Def

[powernoodle]

I'm glad to see this thread, as I am pondering the purchase of either a Toyota AWD Highland hybrid or Sienna AWD hybrid.  I'm just not sure about the driving experience of constantly switching between battery motors and the gas engine switching on and off. 

[Pacu]

My wife bought a Nissan Leaf last month, all electric. It's a nice little car. It'll go about 300 miles on a full charge. Just just goes to work and back and around town so it's perfect for her.

It is weird as it emits no sound. It is super zippy though. Put your foot on the "gas?" and it will go without hesitation.





I drive a company Dodge 3500 that drinks diesel. Texas is one big ass state to cover. Filled up twice Friday at 148 bucks per tank.

Still have the 2014 Xterra for long travel.