autoblog.com— That’s the conclusion of Joe White, Detroit Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal, who looked into buying a Prius for his own daily driver. Check out the AutoBlog post about this.
Oct 2, 2005View in Crawl 4
even if they dont save a ton of money, why would you purposely waste even more gas by buying a hummer or some other gas-guzzling crap machine? kinda over-compensating if you think you need a 5000 hp chevy superjet 7i to get to work in ny,ny when you could buy a hybrid for the same price and not waste some much gas/let off so much CO2. if you cant afford either, get what you can (which is probably a smaller, cheaper car w/ good gas mileage anyway), but if you could get either a gas-munching-pac-man-on-steroids-monstrosity or a nice, quiet hybrid that you might actually get use out of and help NOT sink florida at the same time, why wouldnt you get the hybird? unless you have a sponsor and drive in 500 circles in one sitting (nascar reference, stupid-face) are you going to use the extra speed your car punces out? NO!get a hybrid and a life
This sounds like spin. This guy is from Detroit(Motor City) could he be getting payed to make hybrids sound bad? Perhaps. Everyone wants to argue that we aren't running out of gas but lets take a look at world events. We bombed a country to hell in back with our first concern being to secure their fuel source. If we hadn't done that we would be held at the throats by countries which choose how much we pay them for their oil. Why wouldn't it be a good idea for us to become more responsible and invent a fuel source that we can produce for less. We are supposed to be leading the way to a better future yet everyone wants to live in the past. They want to ignore pollution and global warming. OK lets say those are issues that solve themselves, don't you want to do everything you can so your children don't have to clean up after us. Don't you want your children to have it better than you? What harm does it do?
Hybrids are not sold as money savers because they aren't. In terms of economy they're the closest environmental altenative there is. What I think should be remembered is that as more people buy them they will go down in price, the same as any technology.
> People have been saying "we'll run out of gas > in a few years" throughout the 20th century. As somebody who *REMEMBERS* the 70s oil crisis and as somebody who grew up through the 80s and 90s thinking the we had better find a better way to get our fat asses moved from point A to point B, I can honestly tell you that it doesn't matter if we're entering peak oil or not. All that matters is that the fear and solutions become *REAL* this time around. If fscking hope oil hits $15/gal. and the oil companies have my full support to gouge the American consumer to the fullest extent that they can. This is the *ONLY* form of economic incentive that Americans seem to understand.> Did it ever happen [again]?Apparently.> So in 100 years it went up 2 dollars, and in > one year a whole dollar.Yeah, but... you don't remember when gas hit $2.40 during the 70s/80s. Do you know what that would be in today's dog dollars?What the world actually need is a *MUCH* better battery. In fact, I would go as far to say that a 10x improvement in current battery technology would be more significant and profound than the their semi-conductor "revolution". Personally, I'm surprised that materials physicists aren't paying more attention to the problem.> I really wish car companies would quit pumping> money into hybrids and start coming up with > mass market fuel cell vehicles.Lacking a better battery, what the world needs is a fuel cell that will run off gasoline. All you need to know to understand why hybrids are high on the automakers' list of "can do real soon now" technology is that there is about 40+ years of research and tooling to produce reliable internal combustion engines... anything else is radical shift that will require 20+ years to achieve.What I'm looking forward to is having 4 electric motors capable of putting 100 break horse power on each wheel and a megawatt battery/fuel cell in the trunk. I'm also looking forward to ditching the traditional engine/power train meme that is only ~10% efficient. The fact that engineers haven't progressed past the internal combustion engine in 60+ years is *PATHETIC*.
the savings arnet about paying for the car.. just the difference between a hybrid and a compareable non hybrid car.. thats what he meant by premiumas more people get them.. our gas prices should come down as we need less gas which makes paying for the car take even longer much less the hosipital bills from not being able to make left turns and get out from in front of traffic in time. They have no get up and go. But anyway people have modded their prious top get 300mpg but they have to plug them in at night something detroit thinks people will refuse to do.. i bet the corded phone people thought the same thing about cell phones.. as a person always on the road.. 300mpg would save tons..but if you want to save now and cheaply.. buy an old diesel.. for about $600 you cn convert it to run on used fryer oil.. which resteraunts have to pay someone to haul off and would love to just give o you.. you still ned a little diesel but only enough to warm up the car
Yeah, hydrogen is clean and is more efficient IN THE ENGINE, but the problem becomes how to harvest the hydrogen. Yes, there is a lot, but you can't just pick it out of the air. Currently, the best way to get it in mass quantities is to gather it from methane, which isn't a clean process. Overall, hydrogen, internal combustion and hybrid cars have approximately the same OVERALL efficiency (factory to wheels power)
I looked into Hybrids a while back and decided to go with a Diesel VW Jetta. 17.5K$ off the lot. Gets around 55 MPG for my daily drives. I mostly fill it with renewable domestically produced BioDiesel.What turned me of about hybrids was the premium price, the fact that you'll be recycling all those batteries in a few years ($,$$$) and they have the pick up of a snail on valium.
i read about that and my truck does low 12s. still, the rescue workers might have to cut through the 'frame' on the cars. if i had a wreck in my truck, i wouldn't have battery acid on me, i wouldn't be electrocuted, if a fire started, chances are i could get out before i am burnt very bad. plus, with the AVERAGE hybrid car, when you push the gas pedal to the floor, all that you get is a quiet little hum. when you push the pedal to the floor in my truck, you get a roar from the exhaust, and the nice scream of pain from the rear tires. i'm a speed junkie. my driving record shows that. i'm not your average joe that just wants a SUV for show. i actually use my vehicles. my chevy blazer (1981 350 v8) goes off road most every weekend. my truck goes drag racing whenever i'm not 4 wheeling. i just hate people who buy a hummer just for "credability" come on. the hummer is one of the most capeable offroad vehicles, yet 98% of hummer owners won't take them on a gravel road even. still, alcohol fuels is where its at. you wouldn't really have to be really dependent on oil, you wouldn't really have to change our existing cars, and, for the people who think hydrogen is the way to go, people don't have the money to go out and buy a new hydrogen car. i don't. all of my money is currently invested into my truck and blazer, both of which i found on a used car lot for less than 1000 bucks. they look like s**t, but they run like a bitch, and both have run on E-85 multiple times before, with no change to the carbs or anything.
A chipped 1.9 VW Diesel engine can make 130hp and over 240lb-ft of torque, and if you keep your foot out of it, mileage stays the same (as most of the gain is peak). I won't get into the definition of horsepower, and how it's a function of torque over time. -but uh yeah... it might not be a pocket rocket, but it'll sure get you off the line quick, you don't have to downshift to pass on the highway, and if tire-shredding gets your blood running... well.. all that torque at about 2 grand RPM should satiate that quite readily :)
dna42fan:if i had a wreck in my truck, i wouldn't have battery acid on me, i wouldn't be electrocuted-Only home hobby electrics use batteries with lead-acid batteries. Commercial hybrids will not spill battery acid on you.if a fire started, chances are i could get out before i am burnt very bad.-Ok, on the one hand you argue that hybrids are dangerous because you and rescue workers might get shocked when using the jaws of life (something I think is a remote possibility) then you say that if a fire starts you could quickly get out of your truck. Don't you see a contratiction here?plus, with the AVERAGE hybrid car, when you push the gas pedal to the floor, all that you get is a quiet little hum.-Yes, hybrids will not replace the roar of a V8. But this is an aesthetic choice. Most people who try pure electrics actually prefer the quiet.i actually use my vehicles. my chevy blazer (1981 350 v8) goes off road most every weekend. my truck goes drag racing whenever i'm not 4 wheeling. i just hate people who buy a hummer just for "credability" come on. the hummer is one of the most capeable offroad vehicles, yet 98% of hummer owners won't take them on a gravel road even.-That's good. At least you "need" your big vehicles. Nothing bothers me more than people who commute in Navigators and Hummers.still, alcohol fuels is where its at. you wouldn't really have to be really dependent on oil, you wouldn't really have to change our existing cars- Alcohol is interesting, but currently it uses more energy to harvest a crop and ferment it than you get in alcohol. The only reason people in the States do it is because it is subsidized.and, for the people who think hydrogen is the way to go, people don't have the money to go out and buy a new hydrogen car.- So what you're saying is a hybrid, or a alternative fuel vehicle is not for you. But lots of people DO buy new cars, and lots of people DON'T want to drag race, and lots of people want to use less energy. You say that you can't afford a new vehicle; how much do you spend on gasoline per month drag racing, and off-roading everyweekend?
You too can hybrid your vehicle, regardless of vehicle type, in under 10 minutes with the new Maynex complete HHO Water-Gas Hydrogen Hybrid kit!!! And it only cost $229.99 at maynex.com. You can do it youself as the wires and hose came connected right out the box, just connect the wires to the battery and the hose to the Air Intake Manifold. One look at the diagram on the box and you will be ready to do it yourself!! If anyone from the oil industry here pretending to be a regular person and want to trick you into staying addictive to oil, ask them to go to www.youtube.com and type "hho gas" or "hho news" into the search box. You should do this first though.
bakerwOct 2, 2005
even if they dont save a ton of money, why would you purposely waste even more gas by buying a hummer or some other gas-guzzling crap machine? kinda over-compensating if you think you need a 5000 hp chevy superjet 7i to get to work in ny,ny when you could buy a hybrid for the same price and not waste some much gas/let off so much CO2. if you cant afford either, get what you can (which is probably a smaller, cheaper car w/ good gas mileage anyway), but if you could get either a gas-munching-pac-man-on-steroids-monstrosity or a nice, quiet hybrid that you might actually get use out of and help NOT sink florida at the same time, why wouldnt you get the hybird? unless you have a sponsor and drive in 500 circles in one sitting (nascar reference, stupid-face) are you going to use the extra speed your car punces out? NO!get a hybrid and a life
bakerwOct 2, 2005
(btw, hybrids arent the only way to go - i'll support anything with low emissions and high mileage)(wanted to get that out after my rant =-))
motobike_manOct 2, 2005
OMG we are going to run out of gas!! In 2013, holy crap what am i going to do!?!?!Thanks a lot Nostradamus
theqweOct 3, 2005
People have been saying "we'll run out of gas in a few years" throughout the 20th century. Did it ever happen?
geek_xyuOct 3, 2005
This sounds like spin. This guy is from Detroit(Motor City) could he be getting payed to make hybrids sound bad? Perhaps. Everyone wants to argue that we aren't running out of gas but lets take a look at world events. We bombed a country to hell in back with our first concern being to secure their fuel source. If we hadn't done that we would be held at the throats by countries which choose how much we pay them for their oil. Why wouldn't it be a good idea for us to become more responsible and invent a fuel source that we can produce for less. We are supposed to be leading the way to a better future yet everyone wants to live in the past. They want to ignore pollution and global warming. OK lets say those are issues that solve themselves, don't you want to do everything you can so your children don't have to clean up after us. Don't you want your children to have it better than you? What harm does it do?
moisieOct 3, 2005
Hybrids are not sold as money savers because they aren't. In terms of economy they're the closest environmental altenative there is. What I think should be remembered is that as more people buy them they will go down in price, the same as any technology.
Closed AccountOct 3, 2005
> People have been saying "we'll run out of gas > in a few years" throughout the 20th century. As somebody who *REMEMBERS* the 70s oil crisis and as somebody who grew up through the 80s and 90s thinking the we had better find a better way to get our fat asses moved from point A to point B, I can honestly tell you that it doesn't matter if we're entering peak oil or not. All that matters is that the fear and solutions become *REAL* this time around. If fscking hope oil hits $15/gal. and the oil companies have my full support to gouge the American consumer to the fullest extent that they can. This is the *ONLY* form of economic incentive that Americans seem to understand.> Did it ever happen [again]?Apparently.> So in 100 years it went up 2 dollars, and in > one year a whole dollar.Yeah, but... you don't remember when gas hit $2.40 during the 70s/80s. Do you know what that would be in today's dog dollars?What the world actually need is a *MUCH* better battery. In fact, I would go as far to say that a 10x improvement in current battery technology would be more significant and profound than the their semi-conductor "revolution". Personally, I'm surprised that materials physicists aren't paying more attention to the problem.> I really wish car companies would quit pumping> money into hybrids and start coming up with > mass market fuel cell vehicles.Lacking a better battery, what the world needs is a fuel cell that will run off gasoline. All you need to know to understand why hybrids are high on the automakers' list of "can do real soon now" technology is that there is about 40+ years of research and tooling to produce reliable internal combustion engines... anything else is radical shift that will require 20+ years to achieve.What I'm looking forward to is having 4 electric motors capable of putting 100 break horse power on each wheel and a megawatt battery/fuel cell in the trunk. I'm also looking forward to ditching the traditional engine/power train meme that is only ~10% efficient. The fact that engineers haven't progressed past the internal combustion engine in 60+ years is *PATHETIC*.
Closed AccountOct 3, 2005
the savings arnet about paying for the car.. just the difference between a hybrid and a compareable non hybrid car.. thats what he meant by premiumas more people get them.. our gas prices should come down as we need less gas which makes paying for the car take even longer much less the hosipital bills from not being able to make left turns and get out from in front of traffic in time. They have no get up and go. But anyway people have modded their prious top get 300mpg but they have to plug them in at night something detroit thinks people will refuse to do.. i bet the corded phone people thought the same thing about cell phones.. as a person always on the road.. 300mpg would save tons..but if you want to save now and cheaply.. buy an old diesel.. for about $600 you cn convert it to run on used fryer oil.. which resteraunts have to pay someone to haul off and would love to just give o you.. you still ned a little diesel but only enough to warm up the car
edhaberOct 3, 2005
My Escape Hybrid's battery is warrantied for 10 years 150,000 miles.
themajorOct 3, 2005
Yeah, hydrogen is clean and is more efficient IN THE ENGINE, but the problem becomes how to harvest the hydrogen. Yes, there is a lot, but you can't just pick it out of the air. Currently, the best way to get it in mass quantities is to gather it from methane, which isn't a clean process. Overall, hydrogen, internal combustion and hybrid cars have approximately the same OVERALL efficiency (factory to wheels power)
bloodguardOct 3, 2005
I looked into Hybrids a while back and decided to go with a Diesel VW Jetta. 17.5K$ off the lot. Gets around 55 MPG for my daily drives. I mostly fill it with renewable domestically produced BioDiesel.What turned me of about hybrids was the premium price, the fact that you'll be recycling all those batteries in a few years ($,$$$) and they have the pick up of a snail on valium.
dna42fanOct 3, 2005
i read about that and my truck does low 12s. still, the rescue workers might have to cut through the 'frame' on the cars. if i had a wreck in my truck, i wouldn't have battery acid on me, i wouldn't be electrocuted, if a fire started, chances are i could get out before i am burnt very bad. plus, with the AVERAGE hybrid car, when you push the gas pedal to the floor, all that you get is a quiet little hum. when you push the pedal to the floor in my truck, you get a roar from the exhaust, and the nice scream of pain from the rear tires. i'm a speed junkie. my driving record shows that. i'm not your average joe that just wants a SUV for show. i actually use my vehicles. my chevy blazer (1981 350 v8) goes off road most every weekend. my truck goes drag racing whenever i'm not 4 wheeling. i just hate people who buy a hummer just for "credability" come on. the hummer is one of the most capeable offroad vehicles, yet 98% of hummer owners won't take them on a gravel road even. still, alcohol fuels is where its at. you wouldn't really have to be really dependent on oil, you wouldn't really have to change our existing cars, and, for the people who think hydrogen is the way to go, people don't have the money to go out and buy a new hydrogen car. i don't. all of my money is currently invested into my truck and blazer, both of which i found on a used car lot for less than 1000 bucks. they look like s**t, but they run like a bitch, and both have run on E-85 multiple times before, with no change to the carbs or anything.
Closed AccountOct 4, 2005
Edit to last post; touring cycles get a little more, 30-50 or so. I am basing this off of friends and manufacturer claims.
xenovoxxOct 4, 2005
A chipped 1.9 VW Diesel engine can make 130hp and over 240lb-ft of torque, and if you keep your foot out of it, mileage stays the same (as most of the gain is peak). I won't get into the definition of horsepower, and how it's a function of torque over time. -but uh yeah... it might not be a pocket rocket, but it'll sure get you off the line quick, you don't have to downshift to pass on the highway, and if tire-shredding gets your blood running... well.. all that torque at about 2 grand RPM should satiate that quite readily :)
pr3sidentspenceOct 4, 2005
dna42fan:if i had a wreck in my truck, i wouldn't have battery acid on me, i wouldn't be electrocuted-Only home hobby electrics use batteries with lead-acid batteries. Commercial hybrids will not spill battery acid on you.if a fire started, chances are i could get out before i am burnt very bad.-Ok, on the one hand you argue that hybrids are dangerous because you and rescue workers might get shocked when using the jaws of life (something I think is a remote possibility) then you say that if a fire starts you could quickly get out of your truck. Don't you see a contratiction here?plus, with the AVERAGE hybrid car, when you push the gas pedal to the floor, all that you get is a quiet little hum.-Yes, hybrids will not replace the roar of a V8. But this is an aesthetic choice. Most people who try pure electrics actually prefer the quiet.i actually use my vehicles. my chevy blazer (1981 350 v8) goes off road most every weekend. my truck goes drag racing whenever i'm not 4 wheeling. i just hate people who buy a hummer just for "credability" come on. the hummer is one of the most capeable offroad vehicles, yet 98% of hummer owners won't take them on a gravel road even.-That's good. At least you "need" your big vehicles. Nothing bothers me more than people who commute in Navigators and Hummers.still, alcohol fuels is where its at. you wouldn't really have to be really dependent on oil, you wouldn't really have to change our existing cars- Alcohol is interesting, but currently it uses more energy to harvest a crop and ferment it than you get in alcohol. The only reason people in the States do it is because it is subsidized.and, for the people who think hydrogen is the way to go, people don't have the money to go out and buy a new hydrogen car.- So what you're saying is a hybrid, or a alternative fuel vehicle is not for you. But lots of people DO buy new cars, and lots of people DON'T want to drag race, and lots of people want to use less energy. You say that you can't afford a new vehicle; how much do you spend on gasoline per month drag racing, and off-roading everyweekend?
dna42fanOct 7, 2005
HYBRIDS SUCK!!!
maynexAug 24, 2008
You too can hybrid your vehicle, regardless of vehicle type, in under 10 minutes with the new Maynex complete HHO Water-Gas Hydrogen Hybrid kit!!! And it only cost $229.99 at maynex.com. You can do it youself as the wires and hose came connected right out the box, just connect the wires to the battery and the hose to the Air Intake Manifold. One look at the diagram on the box and you will be ready to do it yourself!! If anyone from the oil industry here pretending to be a regular person and want to trick you into staying addictive to oil, ask them to go to www.youtube.com and type "hho gas" or "hho news" into the search box. You should do this first though.