I've been driving a Plug-In Toyota Prius for the last five days. Overall the experience was about what you'd expect -- Prius-like, but with an electrical cord running from my garage outlet to the Prius' left flank whenever I parked it.
Unlike our Long-Term Mini E, the Plug-In Prius only takes about 2 hours to fully charge. Also unlike the Mini E, it only goes about 10 miles on pure-electricity before the engine has to do most of the work (less if you're not in "Eco" mode -- which makes the car really slow).
Still, I applaud Toyota for offering this version of the Prius. For drivers with a short daily commute or minimal driving needs (as well as minimal power needs and no steep hills nearby), it's conceivable to use very little fuel when driving a Plug-In Prius. And if you take it out of "Eco" mode and suddenly decide you want to drive across the country, the car basically becomes a regular Prius, getting 50 mpg while having adequate space and power.
But this idea of powering our cars off the grid seems to be gaining momentum (for now...), and if that's the direction we're headed I can tell you things are going to be different, and not just in terms of where our motive power is coming from. Thus, I present the Top 10 Things a "Plugged-In" American Driver Will Have to Learn:
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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, Karl on Cars, Toyota
I spent the past weekend enjoying the automotive enthusiast lifestyle. I cleaned the 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455. I replaced the gasket for the driver's-side exhaust collector in the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE with a 440 Magnum. And I drove the 2005 Ford GT on some twisty roads, reveling in the responsive steering and the 610 rear-wheel horsepower from the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 (a few minor mods give it about 100 extra hp).
Oh, and I gave serious consideration to buying a 2011 Nissan Leaf.
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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles, Karl on Cars, Nissan
A heads-up display (HUD) is offered on only a handful of vehicles: several Cadillacs, the Chevy Corvette, BMW 7 Series and Lexus hybrids. In terms of tech, a HUD isn't exactly rocket science, although the automotive version did evolve from initial use in aviation.
Though some find HUDs distracting, the feature helped me keep my eyes on the road while testing a 2010 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid. And on my speed.
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Categories: BMW, Car Audio and Technology, Chevrolet, Hybrid Vehicles, Lexus, Test Car Notes
Here's Day 2 from the Fuel-Sipper Smackdown 3: SUV Edition. It was a miracle we ended up in the garage at all after St. Patrick's Day in Las Vegas -- but we had fuel sipping to do to find out which SUVs get the best fuel economy?
Day 1 Video
James Riswick, Automotive Editor
Categories: BMW, Comparison Test, Ford, Fuel Efficiency, GMC, Hybrid Vehicles, Thoughts from the Curb, Toyota, Volkswagen
The buzz around electric cars reached a Norelco pitch last week after Nissan started showing off its new Leaf and Carlos Ghosn claimed 10 percent of global automotive sales will be electric by 2020.
That's 10 years from now, and when one considers the technological potential of the next decade it doesn't sound so far fetched, right?
Wrong! I think this prediction (like most automotive predictions involving more than 5 years) is more sound-bite than sound reasoning. And if you don't believe me, ask Bob Lutz. I did last week on the same day the Leaf made it's splash-down in Los Angeles.
Lutz was in Los Angeles as part of the 2011 Buick Regal reveal at the Hollywood Palladium, but several senior Edmunds.com folks spent some quality time with him at the Roosevelt Hotel. We discussed multiple topics, including the future of the electric car.
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Categories: Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, MINI, Nissan, Talk Back Tuesday
A flurry of questions streamed through my head as I drove our new Mini E home from Nick Alexander Imports:
- Do I have to drive it easy during the "break-in" period?
- Does plugging my iPhone into the 12v outlet reduce range?
- How are we going to track fuel efficiency in the Mini E's logbook?
- Would a solar panel strapped to the roof extend the driving range?
But I think the most important question I had after spending a weekend with the Mini E is this: How far have we come since the GM EV1 debacle of 10 years ago?
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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, GM EV1, Hybrid Vehicles, MINI, Talk Back Tuesday
If you've read Thomas Friedman's latest rantings
in The New York Times you already know the only way to save the world from multiple calamities is to kill the SUV -- ASAP -- through taxation. In this week's op-ed piece he calls for gas taxes, carbon taxes, and whatever else it takes to "permanently change consumer demand."
Funny, but I'm just old-fashioned enough to think the proper way to change consumer demand is through free-market forces, but I know that's an unpopular philosophy these days.
For the record, it was not too little government regulation that caused the current housing and credit meltdown but too much. Tell banks to give everyone a loan without considering the risk (because the government will pick up the tab on any defaults) and guess what? Banks gave out too many bad loans! Obviously the only way out of this mess is more government intervention...
But that's a topic for another day. For now let's focus on Friedman's insistence that Americans must be force-fed small, fuel-efficient cars whether they want/need them or not.
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Categories: Chrysler, Hybrid Vehicles, Road Trips, Talk Back Tuesday
If you believe the recent reports from Chrysler and GM you might think we'll be free of our oil-powered economy in just a couple years.
GM just unveiled the Chevrolet Volt and says it will be selling them by "late 2010." Last week Chrysler made suspiciously similar claims, saying in effect it will be selling a purely electric vehicle in 2010. So far Ford hasn't joined the electric car parade, which may bode well or ill for the Blue Oval depending on your point-of-view.
So maybe that bothersome old "black gold" will be as valuable as VHS players in a couple years, and we'll be able to tell certain Middle East nations what they can do with it.
But I doubt it.
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Categories: Automotive News, Fuel Efficiency, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles
If I were the cynical type I could talk about two news stories dominating the headlines this week: GM Turns 100!
and GM Asks For Government Bailout!
Last January I asked the question: Is 100 Years the Shelf Life of an Automobile Company?" because, honestly, I can't think of many companies that have passed the 100 year mark and are still going strong. In reality there are very few automakers that have made it to the big 1-0-0.
But since I already asked how long car companies can last, lets discuss the General's most forward-looking product -- the Chevrolet Volt.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Domestic Manufacturers Problems/Challenges, Fuel Efficiency, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles
For the next couple of weeks the Edmunds editorial team is going to have use of one of only 100 Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell cars
. These cars are part of a GM program to study the real-world challenges of converting today's automobiles from oil-powered engines to hydrogen powered electric cars.
This fleet of fuel cell cars is spread across the country, but most of them (around 60) are in California being driven by a combination of celebrities, politicians, media types (like us) and, yes, even regular people. You can go to GM's Web site to learn more and apply to drive one yourself.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles
For most of you I don't have to explain this obvious pattern -- but I'll explain it anyway.
Whether we're talking 2008 or 1978, our car-buying patterns, as they relate to fuel prices, have about as much variation as a teen slasher flick.
It goes something like this: Prices shoot up, people freak out, large vehicles and V8 engines are deemed verboten while economy cars and (more recently) hybrids are hotter than unreleased Brangelina wedding photos. Then, prices eventually drop (rarely to their previous levels, but always from their short-term highs), and/or people get used to the new first digit on gas station signs, and car-buying habits return to "normal" (if you can ever call U.S. car-buying habits normal).
Of course, every time this happens people proclaim, "Yeah, well, I'm not getting burned again! I'm buying something with good mileage right now and never looking back!" But long-term market analysis of the past 35 years proves this declaration to be largely false. And the latest shopping data from Edmunds.com users suggests we're already cycling back to our "bad" car-buying habits.
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Categories: Automotive News, Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles, Talk Back Tuesday
In case you haven't noticed, fuel prices have dropped recently. Some would call the latest price drops a drop in the bucket (why do I have trouble getting excited over gas costing "only" $4.33 a gallon in Los Angeles?), but a price reduction of 5 percent over the past two weeks is better than the constant gas price hikes we've seen since early spring.
However, as with most things, there are two sides to this reduction in coin. Specifically, as the price of fuel drops so does the advantage of hybrid powertrains over traditional gasoline versions.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Fuel Efficiency, Honda, Hybrid Vehicles, Lexus, Toyota
What the majority of crossover/SUV buyers say: "I need a functional, roomy vehicle that can carry me and my stuff wherever I may need to go."
What the majority of crossover/SUV buyers really mean: "I basically need a station wagon, but I want to look cool and sit up high to satisfy my 'king of the road' delusions, and if it can get decent gas mileage all the better."
I bring this up not to make fun of most crossover/SUV buyers, but to point out that a car-like ride and handling, combined with a roomy cabin, useable cargo space and 30-plus mpg, is really all these people want or need.
Ford knows this too, as they've clearly proven with the updated 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid. Everything from horsepower to electric-only motivation to structural integrity and in-car entertainment has been improved.
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Categories: Ford, Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles
A couple weeks ago I wrote a post suggesting the mad dash from "gas guzzlers" to "fuel sippers" was maybe a bit too mad. I further suggested that people consider a more cerebral approach to the situation versus letting current gas prices force them into rash action. Ideally, every potential vehicle purchase is preceded by a careful and thoughtful process of weighing costs and benefits (yeah, right).
I'm happy to report a tool designed to aid in just such behavior. We've produced a brand new "Gas Guzzler for Gas Sipper" calculator that taps into Edmunds' vehicle pricing for folks considering a switch to a more fuel efficient vehicle. You can read the calculator's introductory story here, but the short version has already been stated -- switching from a "big, evil gas hog" to a "warm, fluffy gas sipper" could be a financial blunder.
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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles
A Toyota Prius on PCH is like a news headline about gas prices -- I've become numb from the frequency level of both, to the point of not noticing anymore.
Regardless, I did my part to further the status of "Prius Coast Highway" by driving a 2008 model home recently. The Prius is an interesting prospect. A thrill ride? Certainly not. But there's nothing wrong with this car.
Does that sound like faint praise? Well consider the Caliber, Smart or even Toyota's own Yaris. Can I use the "nothing wrong with this car" line on them? No! In fact there are plenty of economy cars with one or more issues to keep them off my consideration list.
The Prius, by contrast, is relatively fast, stable, confident, comfortable, roomy, luxurious (especially if you pop for the various options) and cargo capable. When I try to think of a reason not to buy it, I come up blank.
Then I look at the near 50 mpg I got on my commute, which equates to about one gallon of gas each way for me, and the Prius' proposition is hard to deny. Finally, with $4-a-gallon gas, it only takes a few years to pay for the car's higher price versus a comparable, non-hybrid compact car.
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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles, Toyota
