They cost more up front, they cost more to insure, they cost more to repair, they leave a huge end of life environmental impact. So what's the upside?

Way Cool Responded with...oh you sure are, everybody is entitled to their own. the rolled eyes is at the fact your comparing a vette to one of the hybrids.

Way Cool...sorry about that, should have been more specific...Electric cars was part of the OP and I was thinking about the Tesla model electric car...the Tesla is faster but the price difference keeps them from all but the Millionaire set.

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

stratman

i see these colleges every yr do those elec. car contests. i think we are so far away from a practical elec. car thats worth having. they are to light, cant carry a normal load of people and "gear", the charge doesnt last long, so much more needs to be researched and included to make them desirable. yeah they might be looking in the right direction, but man we are so far away from those times. until then the hybrid is what we have. a great step in the right direction is already on the market with Toyota and honda.
no they arent fast, but they get good gas milage, roomy, and safe in car crash tests, and affordable. dont get me wrong here, my fav car in the world ever is the 68 camaro.
use to like the 69 for the longest, but i had a 67 and a 68RS so im kinda stuck on the body style ya know. there is just something about setting behind that wheel of a 68 with 632 CID when you hit the ignition button and that bad mother comes to life and you know the line lock is gonna fail any minute and your gonna have to deal with it lol.
man what a rush!

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Actually, to be serious for a moment, since people are talking numbers. Just as a point of information hybrids perform on the road just like any other comparable sized car. Not faster - but not slower either. Part of the point is that owning it and driving it you can't tell you're not in a conventional car - except that it uses far less fuel. It's just a much more efficient petrol engine.

The manufacturer's specs on our new one claims it does 74mpg and emits 89g/km of CO 2. (I'm sure people west of the Atlantic will not yet care about that latter number or perhaps even know what it means. But all of you who live in big cities that may be planning to introduce congestion charging in the next few years are going to find out about that stat quite soon.)

Meantime, in reality what it means is this. My wife and I live our lives on a sort of fortnightly cycle which involves driving about 500-550 miles in that period both in tedious nose-to-tail city traffic jams and cruising at a steady 77mph for 200 miles at a go on the open highway. In other words, a real-life "combined cycle". Whereas we had to fill the Jaguar twice or even three times in a fortnight we fill the Toyota once. That's the bottom line: it cuts our fuel bills in half - or better.

Also in real life the Toyotas do not cost us more to maintain or to insure - and where we live at any rate they have zero road tax and zero congestion charge. Adding it all up we think it saves us around £5000 / $8000 per year.

I don't really hate the look, though we're obviously not kidding anyone it's an Aston-Martin. But I'm afraid those numbers make it a no-brainer.

Cheers - C

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ceri,

your story is one of many i get to hear all the time about these cars.
thats a good bit of money saved right there, as is included in all the stories i hear.
the prius is a nice car. folks like to pop jokes at them, but after they have driven one
they more often than not change their minds. popular belief is they break down a lot.
thats complete BS but as a owner you already know that. if the prius is honestly the wave of the future, im ok with that. im just glad to see folks in other countries are experiencing
the prius with the same results we are getting here. Toyota is really doing something right arent they? Go Toyota!

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Hi WCjr: though just to be absolutely clear - it broke my flippin' heart to sell the Jag and buy another Prius! It was like the destruction of my manhood! My wife cried and I nearly did too.

A while ago when we were having the Jag serviced we were standing in the showroom looking at a gorgeous nearly-new XK convertible at a price which at that moment (very briefly) we could afford (a moderate inheritance that eventually got put against the homeloan instead). My wife bounded over to it, jumped in and ran her hands joyfully over the leather seats, the walnut dash and all the controls and buttons.

"Shall we buy it?" she suddenly said.

And then ladies and gentlemen I heard this come out of my mouth. "That's a four litre engine - just think of the fuel bills. Think about the insurance. And anyhow, the economy is looking dodgy, we should be sensible and think about the mortgage and such."

Yes. Shoot me now.

How many guys have a wife who actually encourages them to buy their Dream Car - and turn it down? I wish the ground would just open up and swallow me. Will any of you ever speak to me again?



Over and out - C

PS: I was right about the economy though.

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In my area of the world I can tell you that you aren't helping with the environment and going green,the power is generated the same old way....and also there's legislation in place that prohibits selling electric power,from what I've been told,those issues have been raised in meetings here in areas where TVA generates electricity.....and the distributors like where I work.
But like all things where money is to be made,some changes will come around,and have I'm sure.
Any place that would buy power from an electric utility who has bought it from the source,like TVA,will make money over what they paid for it...it could be cheaper to "fill 'er up" at home.

hey the prius is a step in the right direction. and like a step, there are many more to come and many left behind.
when you say there is a leg in place to prohibit the selling of elec cars are you talking full on elec or prius type? what are the issues Tenn valley ath have with these cars?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

No,not the selling of electric cars but prohibiting the selling of electricity.That's what I've been told here at the 'lectric company.
It would keep somebody from starting up their own utility of sorts,for a big profit I'm sure.
When we buy from TVA we are charged a wholesale rate and then set our rate above that to operate,but we're restricted to a small percentage above that wholesale cost,like 2% or 3%,most people think we're making a killing but hardly so,and believe me we're constantly audited to make sure we're operating the way we're supposed to....like Mr. Rebelsoul the 'lectric company employee doesn't get free or cheaper power than the established rate ,or that he isn't giving some friend a break.

oh Lord forbid anybody make a lil something that TVA doesnt get to regulate.
i hear ya rebel. you should see how its done up in MI where my brother lives.
if somebody bounces owning the power company money and you move in and the bill still isnt paid, guess what, you pay it for them that bounced. oh yeah. all the utilities up there are like that. when he moved in in the dead of winter where hes at, the gas company sent him a bill for like $1,800 first month. said that the first month was like $150, the rest was back charges. so after they paid the $150, the gas shut them off a week plus later for the ballance. he couldnt afford to pay it and they couldnt find the folks that lived there before they did that racked up the bill. so the gas was shut off for 2 months, dead of winter in MI mind you. they couldnt afford to move out cause they just spent everything to move in.
finally they got the owner to come up from FL and go to the gas company with them.
(gas wouldnt allow it to be handled by phone/fax, had to be in person)
they wanted the owner to sign something that stated that my brother and his family were the new residents and not the folks that racked up such a huge bill before.
in the end it took 5 minutes for the owner to sign a paper, not 1 dang "sorry can i make it up to you" by the owner, no nothing. not even a nickle off the rent. he said there were nights the temp in the house got to the low 30's. he said all the utilities up there pull that same game. if its owed still when you move in, renting or buying, its your baby now.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Just kidding.

Interesting thing here is that in UK they would put all these surcharges on the 4L V8. Is it because of engine size or because that particular Jag is considered a sports car?

In Canada the insurance is quite less if you are driving a larger and heavier vehicle (considered safer). My current wheels are lame to say the least but it does "utility" job very well and it's fuel thirsty (3.5L V6). Wish auto manufacturers come up with this type of vehicle and hybrid technology or whatever alternate.

I am aware that GM, Ford and Toyota have their big ones (V8 with the hybrid option) but they are just a marketing hype IMHO.

i dont know about GM or ford as much but i can promise you this, Toyota's is far from marketing hype.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Hi fendermandan: larger engines that emit more CO2 are placed in higher tax bands. To encourage us to drive smaller, greener cars, obviously.

In fact, the emphasis is shifting from simple engine size to g/km of CO2 emitted, because that's the bit that really matters. We've had congestion charging in London for about a decade now and it is currently being recalibrated so that vehicles that emit less than 100g/km are zero rated, regardless what size or type of engine it is. The congestion charge has gone up and up and is now a scalding £10 / $16 per weekday that the car enters the charging zone. So that's about £2600 / $4160 that the Toyota is saving us right there.

I can hear Americans immediately wanting to scoff at us Europeans and our higher taxes. But I'm told that several American cities (as well as others around the world) have been studying our congestion charge and are planning to bring in a similar one. So watch out: this stuff may be coming to where you live very soon. (I get that you are Canadian not American, fendermandan.)

Now. Regarding whether that Jag XK that we didn't buy is a sports car or not... Well this sure as heck IS my idea of a sports car, regardless what anyone else thinks!



At this moment in history when car design is so flippin' ugly that might just be the most beautiful car I've ever seen - in my completely meaningless subjective opinion. Oh mammy! [Sigh]

Cheers - C

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Ceri, you have a great taste in cars sir....


This thang will do for me Cayman=Boxter+hard top (I am in Canada, you know, weather )....It's on par with some hybrid SUVs price wise. Just one issue is that "gottogetthewifeonboard" procedure has to be performed


Dan

My wife has had a Prius for 6 years. I drive a diesel truck that gets 16 to 22 mpg depending on type of driving. Not great but not bad for a full size 3/4 ton truck. We're test driving a Prius Plug In and Prius V next weekend at a special event. I don't know much about either one and I think they are prototypes. I'll clue you in later.
Ceri, so you don't feel neglected, I'll bet the two Prius' look cute next to each other in the drive.

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