Hybrid, thought?

ACC-HE

Well? they have been here for yrs, anyone own one or planning to own one?  Gas price is not getting any cheaper....

satil

if car price is same with 'gas version' i will buy one hybrid.
BUT, it is not, so i won't buy one.

hybrid is NOT environmental friendly. it is NOT green.

Lik

From a purely financial point of view, hybrids are generally not a good idea. Cost of the car itself is easily significantly higher than comparable models. The better gas mileage doesn't work in your favour unless you do a ton of city driving (b/c that's where they get the best mileage). A few years ago, the Vancouver Sun did a gas-powered vs hybrid comparison of multiple vehicles, and in only 1 out of 6 or 7 cases, the hybrid was cheaper to operate over a 5 or 6 years span.

From an environmental point of view, the manufacturing process of the nickel- or lithium-based batteries are not that environmentally friendly either, and battery disposal will be an issue 8 - 10 years down the road as well. (And we haven't taken battery replacement costs into account yet.)

The only situation where hybrids make sense are as taxis. They do a ton of city driving, and that's where the forte of hybrids lie. Regenerative braking dramatically reduce operation costs. But not many of us are taxi drivers.

-Lik

Catpiano

Only make sense on high end car ..   ie Benz ..  Porsche ..

Extra $5-10K more from low end car such as Toyota/Honda ... is not going to justify ..

But for a $100K car, extra $5K .. is just 5%, and will save a lots on gas .. plus greener ..

Thost batteries last longer too, instead of used to be ~ 5 yr, they are good for 10 yr plus ..  and will cost $5K-7K anyway ..  so if someone buy a whatever Toyota Hybrid.

enjoylifetoday

My family got one a few years ago (around 2-3 yrs, don't remember exactly).
As Catpiano said, it's not justify $-wise, but i think there's govn't discount for 1-2k at the time, so it helped a bit.
The material used, as Lik pointed out, not that green, but that can be cleaner, it's just the manufacturer not investing enough to improve it, personal believe.

As for gas, it does save gas.  How good, is depending on what area u usually go.  Save more in urban area, b/c it saves whenever u do frequent stop & go.  save more in Richmond b/c it's flat, most time don't need the combustion engine to help out.
But, in Burnaby, for example, due to all the up & down, it will use more gas.  And, there's a bit delay when u going uphill from a stop, b/c u need to wait for the combustion engine to kick in. (maybe it's better in recent model? don't know)

Another factor, we believe hybrid/electrical car is more environmental friendly in general, but that maybe in the future.  But, in order for the technology to advance, more R&D is needed and that need funding and support.  And, that needs a market.  so, as a support in this tech area R&D, we decided to by a Hybrid.  Really don't want to see the "death" of electrical car development to happen again.

fibbi

Instead of hybrid, would Disel gas be better?

Ovaltine

Plan on purchasing a hybrid, but will wait until automobile manufacturers start using lithium batteries instead of Nickel, this will be the next breakthrough for hybrid cars.

Catpiano

Instead of hybrid, would Disel gas be better?
fibbi 發表於 2011-4-29 18:12

    Actually Diesel is a better idea at this point .. however, Canadian don't really like diesel, and diesel price isn't much less then gas too ..   

Still, Diesel should save you ~ 20-30% $$ on gas .. (probably better then Hybrid for NORMAL Canadian driving)

However, diesel just not that great for very cold weather .. which is no big deal for Vancouver.

Key point, the way Vancouver C9 driving, they are not going to highway, they just drive for short distance, block to block, and they are going to step on Gas/Brake, Gas/Brake all day long .. they probably are going to spend more time driving in Aberdeen parking lot then on the roads .. and they are going to change cars every few yr anyway ..  so Hybrid is pretty good idea for Vancouver C9 ..

satil

回復 7# Ovaltine


few years later.. i will go for fuel cell.

peter236

Actually Diesel is a better idea at this point .. however, Canadian don't really like diesel, and diesel price isn't much less then gas too ..   

Still, Diesel should save you ~ 20-30% $$ on gas .. (probably better then Hybrid for NORMAL Canadian driving)

However, diesel just not that great for very cold weather .. which is no big deal for Vancouver.

Key point, the way Vancouver C9 driving, they are not going to highway, they just drive for short distance, block to block, and they are going to step on Gas/Brake, Gas/Brake all day long .. they probably are going to spend more time driving in Aberdeen parking lot then on the roads .. and they are going to change cars every few yr anyway ..  so Hybrid is pretty good idea for Vancouver C9 ..
Catpiano 發表於 2011-4-29 19:54

Are you kidding here? Please broaden your horizon. Aberdeen is in Richmond, not Vancouver. Are all Vancouver C9s Chinese and only go to Aberdeen?
Do you even think India C9s or Caucasian C9s will drive in Aberdeen parking lots? LOL
Please use more logic la.