Well, if they are just a little more expensive than a standard model, I wouldn't mind paying the extra. But right now, the premium is just crazy.
Well, hybrids are great for city driving. You don't need all that power for the traffic jams we all have to endure.
Other than pure traffic jam where you stand still completely for a long time, you won't save much petrol using hybrid. Hybrid cars are overrated.
Really? They seem to run on very little petrol from what I read. There are even clubs where drivers strive to beat mileage records in their hybrids.
In our typical city driving, I don't see the potential savings. We are either on a stop and go type of traffic, or simply cruising at 80km/h highway. Yes, you can save a lot of fuel, if you keep the foot on the pedal very light all the time, which means running on electric motor all the time unless the battery is depleted (then they have to use the engine to charge the battery and keep the car moving at the same time). I definitely don't have the patience to do that. I've tried that, I managed to save significant amount of fuel, but I just don't think it's worth it at all. If you think your 1.5L car is very sluggish, try the 1.3L hybrid! People think they are saving the planet running hybrids...
I have mixed feelings on hybrids myself the concept is excellent but we have experienced some issues over here with the Toyota Prius. Initially we received a call from a local cab company asking if we knew where the Vss line was in the vehicle. The Vss(Vehicle Speed Sensor) line is used for cruise control and taxi meters it pulses when the vehicle is moving. We found the hybrid vehicles don't have one The 3 Toyota Prius vehicles they made into taxi cabs came up with intermittent no start conditions. The local dealership is still trying to find the source of the issue these things will just go dead without warning. So beware of the Prius for now !!
LMAO! The Lexus 450h is different then 'normal' hybrids. It's actually helps accelerate the car (0-60mph in 5.2s on a luxury sedan ) due to the spontaneous full torque of the electric motor. Also, it has this handy dandy 3.5l V6 with dual VVT-i on it as well. I consider the 450h as a real hybrid. Prius on the other hand, has a dinky 1.3l engine and are a usual cause of delays off the line (zomg highway on ramps!). I also see a lot of their drivers gas it a lot (if one could imagine it). Hybrids coast off of the line but once it needs to accelerate, its all engine. Also once it gets above a certain speed, its all engine. Hybrids are good at coasting at lower speeds (~30mph ish). So hybrids only save gas in city driving. If you are on the highway a lot, then not a whole lot of difference because it uses the engine (I drove 2k miles on a hybrid over a little over a day of non-stop driving). Also, now you have to worry about the battery as well. A tax break here helped to make it popular even more though...
