Great if used for in town use , but many seem to use them for long distance , i was following 1 on open road at 50 kph with no where to pass grr. Agree with intrade the volt is the way to go 100% electric driven plus generator, much more efficient means of propulsion .
just looked up prices in autocar prius $50,000 73kw 142nm 4.1 ltr per 100k
golf tdi $38,000 77kw 250nm 3.9ltr per 100k just sayn
skiff1,
Jul 10, 1:18pm
dont shout, and yes horses for courses. The course for hybrids doesn't have a highway, it has traffic jams.
brapbrap8,
Jul 10, 1:29pm
Yep I would have a VW bluemotion Golf or Passat every time.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 10, 1:33pm
Thing is, you don't even need a diesel one. The 1.4 Petrol does 5l/100km combined and has as much or more power as the average 2.0 Petrol car of it's size. Far more practical in terms of space, abilities and features than the Prius and more car for your money too. Available from about $30K new.
bigfatmat1,
Jul 10, 1:36pm
The same as a prius!
3tomany,
Jul 10, 5:11pm
good point and also the way I would go if blue blood didn't run through my veins lol so focus for me. Was just proving the pointlessness of hybrid in my opinion.
wrong volt can run on electricity alone without any petrol used
ianab,
Jul 10, 5:45pm
Agreed.
This is why the Taxi guys are getting a good run from them. Spend a lot of their time in stop/go traffic, AND do the mileage where the fuel savings are enough to make up for the extra cost of the hybrid. Replace the vehicle before the battery life becomes an issue.
But on the open road, the engine needs to be making a steady 20-30 hp all the time. While the Prius can drive all day like that, it's not significantly better than a Corolla with a CVT when it's sitting on 100 ks for an hour.
And a Euro diesel will likely beat both of them in that situation.
So to the OP. if you are doing a lot of city driving, a hybrid might be the best. If your commute is mostly open road, then you don't save much, and the choice becomes what conventional car suits you better.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 10, 5:51pm
We did the math on here a few years ago, with the total cost of ownership of a Prius vs a TDI Golf Wagon for someone doing a taxi run in Wellington, using typical annual taxi km etc. The Prius had no direct financial advantage over the Golf, just a lot of compromise in terms of luggage space etc. The Camry would have lost out even more as it's not even close to economical.
However, there was one advantage. Market perception, this was back when they were painting them green and pretending they were saving the world with "Green Taxi's. So yeah, there was a bottom line cash in the pocket advantage, but it was only due to the stupidity/perception of the public at large.
In fairness though, I agree with your sentiment. Hybrids need to be in cities doing pretty much exclusively stop start running to offer anything resembling an advantage. Trouble with that model though is that pure electric vehicles tend to do the job better.
Also, in fairness RUC prices have gone up since we did the in depth math above, before someone else points it out.
jmma,
Jul 10, 5:56pm
Haven't seen a Golf Taxi in Wellington, they must have bought the Toyota then (o::
msigg,
Jul 10, 6:31pm
Yes jmma, bit of bull dust going on here, the taxi companies will use whatever is cheaper to run, these guy are in it for the money, not pleasure, how gullible are some on here.
3tomany,
Jul 10, 6:41pm
still a lot of falcon taxis out there some new ones so are you saying a ford falcon is similar to a Prius to run?
bwg11,
Jul 10, 6:56pm
Our taxi operators must be nuts. I haven't seen a VAG product on the taxi stands. Possibly fuel cost is not the only running cost?
it does amaze me given town running should suit any diesel but I think purchase price matters more so one must ask how cheap are toyota selling hybrids to fleets?
smalltrader2,
Jul 10, 7:01pm
My personal opinion is that Hybrid is not really a mature technology yet. Yes it works but a modern diesel with stop/start technology could easily rival that of a hybrid from a fuel consumption perspective and the diesel will have better performance and more fun to drive.
I have been in Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid as courtesy cars before. Not impressed with the drive. Also be aware that the battery pack will cost an arm and a leg to replace when the time is up. No one can really tell you how long the battery is going to last as the it is usage pattern dependent.
The battery pack could easily cost $5000 or more to replace. You are basically screwed if you are the second or third owner for a hybrid unless you factor in the battery replacement cost into the buy price which then make the car uneconomical.
1. People who drive taxi's with all respect to them, are not generally the sort of people who excel at critical thinking, logic and accounting.
2. There are LOADS of VW/Skoda taxi's in the world. Only not so much in our brainwashed little corner of the world because taxi drivers, as per the above just follow the crowd. All they understand is what ever is the most popular opinion, and as you have so nicely demonstrated, the ignorant non thinkers win with numbers here.
stevo2,
Jul 11, 3:57am
Yet I'm sure if VW could build a Hybrid, it would be the best thing out since sliced bread
Op. To join in the chorus I'll say that since you do miles on open road a hybrid is not the car for you. This depends on ration but the point is that On open road you'll be using the petrol engine which now has the extra weight of the batteries etc to move. Various magazines have done real world tests where modern plain cars, especially turbo diesels, gave far better economy than hybrid. Usually Prius. Prius works in inner city stop start stuff. If you buying new there's new small turbo petroleum that are giving great economy. Ford and VW too name two such makers. If not new then the golf has been using downsized petrol for a while, or maybe turbo diesel. I say maybe diesel as you need to do lots of miles to pay back the extra cost in buying and servicing it. I know someone who uses an insight, which is a very mild hybrid, meaning it has little battery power. In Christchurch central it gives very good figures though a new fiesta could equal it. On open road over to grey mouth it's good but considering it's dreadful performance not great. I got 7.7 l per 100 km from full sized accord wagon whereas the gutless insight could do 6. Could do better. So, if new look at latest downsized engines, if second hand same from VW or diesel. Ps. The biggest savings can be made in how we drive. Pps. If this is a second car would the rAnge of a fully electric like leaf be enough?
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