What about hybrid and flexible fuel cars?

Question

I'd like opinions from people who own either a hybrid or flexible fuel cars. Do they run well? How much are repairs? How hard of a time have you had finding service for them? Really, anything you can tell me would be great.

Answer 1

If you buy a car from a dealer, then there is no differnece to any other car as far as servicing etc.

my Prius is as cheap & easy to service as my wifes yaris

The hybrid bits are garunteed for 80,000 miles anyway.

They run much better than "normal" cars, nearly as smooth & relaxing to drive as a pure electric vehicle.

Push the on button, flick switch to forewared or reverse and go. no grinding starter motor, no kick-down delays, stop & it is just quiet & peaceful, floor the accelerator & the electric motor & the infernal combustion go to max. (too smooth judging by recent speeding fines http://www.hybridcars.com/news2/iwoz-goi... )

Answer 2

Greener Automobiles+Alternative Fuels/Energy:

http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/...

http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/gettin...

http://www.schnews.org.uk/diyguide/howto...

http://www.bnl.gov/rideshare/reduction.a...

http://www.puregreencars.com/

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconom...

http://www.store.sundancesolar.com/

http://www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/...

http://www.evuk.co.uk/

http://electric-cars-trucks.blogspot.com...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEq-GbVcF...

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Answer 3

Hybrids run just as well as their regular counterparts, except they get better mileage, of course.  Repairs are no more than a regular car, because if something goes wrong with part of the hybrid system, it's under warranty for at least 8 years.  For service I always go to the dealership, but you could take it to any regular mechanic for most problems.

There are a lot of myths out there, like that the batteries will only last a few years and cost $8,000 to replace.  In reality the battery is under warranty for 8-10 years and is designed to last the lifetime of the car.  Priuses used as taxis have over 200,000 miles on the original batteries.  Even if the battery dies after the warranty is up, the replacement only costs $3,000, and will only go down as more hybrids and batteries are produced.  Hybrid batteries are fully recyclable, as well.

Some people say the mileage isn't that great and if you're driivng on the highway you might as well get a regular car.  In reality my Prius gets 50 mpg on average, and right around 50 mpg on the freeway.

There are other myths, like that so much energy goes into producing a hybrid that you can't make up for it over the lifetime of the car.  This is not even remotely true.  Another myth is that the environmental damage done by the nickel plants which make the nickel-metal hydride batteries are worse than the environmental savings of driving a fuel efficient hybrid.  Also completely untrue.  This one was based on one nickel plant which was polluting the surrounding environment before hybrids were even invented, and has since cleaned up its act.

Hybrids are great and there's really no good reason not to buy one over a regular car at this point.

Flex fuel cars aren't all they're cracked up to be though.  Ethanol is currently corn based, which is the type of ethanol that doesn't really reduce carbon emissions overall because it's very carbon intensive to produce.  Also using corn as fuel makes corn food prices go up, and leaves less land to be used for food crops in general.  Ethanol isn't a great alternative.

Answer 4

We are just taking the first steps in getting off the petroleum addiction.  The problem with the hybrid is that the batteries are not good enough.  Most hybrids will not get you that many more miles pre gallon...  In the next few years there will be advancements to the batteries that will enable you to get 100+mpg.  At that point the hybrids will be the best way to go.

Flex-fuel cars are more of a political decision aimed at providing money to special interest groups.