r2i forum

Folks,

My workhorse Camry is old now and I will be in the market to buy a new (or slightly used) HYBRID car soon. It want it to be a decent size (4 door sedan or SUV).

What are my options? Thanks in advance.

toyota makes hybrid camry, highlander and prius
honda makes civic hybrid.

anyways prepare to pay at least 5k to 7k more than gas run car.

battery will last you 8 years and cost more than a grand ?

Are there any other hybrid cars out there? I was looking for something the size of a camry or bigger with good reliability rating. Any german cars available in hybrid? Thanks.

would stick with japanese for hybrid.

are you asking for trouble with german engineering ?

not to offense those who own german cars.

benz has too many electrical problems for sure.:emwink:

My choice would be Toyota Camry 2007 hybrid (mid-size) or Honda Civic Hybrid (compact).

Hybrid is the way to go!

I have a Prius. Very happy with it.

Lexus Hybrid is not a bad choice either!!

Cheers!

If I wanted to buy a hybrid and had plans to R2I, I'd stick on with the dependable old camry, save $350 every month and use that money towards buying a good car on R2I.

http://www.carwale.com/Research/BrowseCars.aspx

It does not make sence to get a hybrid unless you plan to keep it for 8-10n years. It takes about 5 years to break even based on the extra 5-6 grand for the hybrid car.

MeraNasebR2I,

There are quite a few benefits to have a prius in London

- No Congestion Charge
- Minimal Road Tax

Heard that Ken Livingstone is also proposing to waive parking fee for hybrid cars

Having said that, I don't think it is a good idea to buy hybrid cars purely for economic reasons, atleast not yet. Hybrid Car technological evolution is still in its infancy. New technological developments and increased competition will lead to far more efficient and cheaper cars a few years time.

Cheers!!

sorry to clutter the thread. here is an amusing story on hybrids!!

Japan's `Mileage Maniacs' Hack Hybrids, Beat Toyota Engineers
2007-04-04 17:17 (New York)


By Terje Langeland
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. says its Prius
gasoline-electric hybrid car gets about 55 miles to the gallon,
making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road.
That's not good enough for Takashi Toya.
Toya, a 56-year-old manager for a tofu maker in central
Japan, puts special tires on his Prius, tapes plastic and
cardboard over the engine and blocks the grill with foam rubber.
He drives without shoes and hacks into his car's computer -- all
in the pursuit of maximum distance with minimum gasoline.
Toya is one of about 100 nenpimania, Japanese for ``mileage
maniacs,'' or hybrid owners who compete against each other to
squeeze as much as 115 miles per gallon out of their cars. In a
country where gasoline costs more than $4 a gallon, at least $1
more than the U.S. price, enthusiasts tweak their cars and hone
driving techniques to cut fuel bills and gain bragging rights.
``My wife thinks I've joined some strange secret society,''
Toya said in January at a nenpimania gathering in Nagoya in
central Japan.
Mileage maniacs aren't alone in pushing the limits of
hybrid vehicles. As U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and
Ford Motor Co. race to introduce their own models, first rolled
out by Japanese companies in 1997, engineers at Toyota and Honda
Motor Co. are trying to boost hybrid performance to maintain
their advantage.
``With higher oil prices and tightening environmental
regulations, people will focus more on hybrid technology,'' said
Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in
Tokyo.

Hybrid Power

Hybrids combine a conventional gasoline engine with an
electric motor. The motor powers the vehicle at low speeds, and
the gasoline engine kicks in as the car accelerates. The motor
uses the motion of the wheels to recharge the batteries.
Toya said he switched to a hybrid after years of driving
sports cars, trading muscle ``for the fun of maximum mileage.''
Nicknamed ``The Shogun,'' Toya said he drove 1,000 miles (1,600
kilometers) on a single 13-gallon (49-liter) tank 17 times last
year, an average of 79 mpg. At the advertised efficiency rate, a
driver would get 715 miles per tank.
Toya isn't the best, though. A woman from Akita prefecture,
nicknamed ``Teddy-Girl,'' is cited on mileage maniac Web sites
as getting almost 116 mpg. That's enough to drive from New York
to Wichita, Kansas -- 1,386 miles -- without refilling.
By comparison, a 2007 two-wheel drive Ford F-150 pickup
running at peak efficiency burns through five times as much
gasoline over the same distance.

Mileage Varies

While the nenpimania may take things to extremes, there is
a long history of car owners tinkering with their machines to
improve gas mileage.
``The Gas Mileage Bible'' (Infinity Publishing, 2006)
promises to help drivers improve fuel efficiency by more than 30
percent. It is the latest in a line of books stretching back to
at least 1942, when an American author named Lee Richter
published a 64-page pamphlet on increasing tire and gas mileage
to help save resources for the U.S. war effort.
Since the 1997 release of the Prius, the first mass-market
hybrid, owners in Japan and elsewhere have fiddled with their
cars to raise mileage and shared tips, including the best
driving techniques, over the Internet. The mileage maniacs
strive to perfect what they call the ``pulse and glide'' driving
method.
On a chilly Saturday afternoon in Aichi prefecture, a short
drive from Toyota's world headquarters in Toyota City, Toya
removes his right shoe to demonstrate. Pulsing and gliding
demands sensitivity when pushing or releasing the accelerator,
so only his big toe touches the pedal.

Pulse and Glide

Toya accelerates, or pulses, to 29 mph, then glides down to
25 mph before pulsing again. The car uses no fuel when gliding.
While driving, Toya monitors three pocket-sized electronic
gadgets designed by Yoshiyuki Mimura, a fellow hybrid
enthusiast. The dashboard devices use the car's computer to
display engine rotation speed, coolant temperature, accelerator
position, brake pressure and battery charge.
Japan imports almost all its crude oil, spending $98
billion last year. Toyota estimates that rising demand for fuel-
efficient cars will help boost worldwide sales of its hybrid
models to 430,000 this year, from 321,500 last year.
``We listen to our customers' opinions and accept them as
materials for product development,'' Toyota spokeswoman Shiori
Hashimoto said in response to questions about the mileage
maniacs.
Toyota and other Japanese automakers are focusing on
improving hybrid batteries and making the vehicles cheaper, Endo
said. The cars now cost about 600,000 yen ($5,100) more than the
equivalent conventional vehicles.
Toyota plans to introduce a new Prius by 2009 that will be
smaller and cheaper, Endo said. The mileage maniacs say they
look forward to the challenge of improving its fuel efficiency.
``The vehicle will be high-tech,'' enthusiast Mimura said.
``I think it'll be more difficult to hack.''

--With reporting by Kae Inoue in Tokyo. Editor: Okeson
(pac/mjt/wsm).