Toyota Prius H2 or H4 Hybrid (which do I select?)

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by LDB

Electric might work fairly well in some parts of Europe where I think distances are short but they just don't have the range for much of the US. It's 887 miles or 1427 kilometers. or about the same as Connecticut to South Carolina.

That's the biggest flaw, I can't understand why people are buying electric cars now, when the technology is advancing every day, major breakthroughs are being made with battery capacity, range and cost, not to mention "wireless" induction charging. The current generation of electric cars will date very quickly, people just need to be patient. How can a car that needs half an hour of charging every hour on the highway be more convenient than a small economical car that can do almost 800 miles per tank?

[luv2spd]

Draigflag, people are buying electric cars because of their convenience. They are willing to pay the extra $,4,000 - $10,000 cost so that they will never have to do maintenance on the car or visit any gas stations. Of course these people are a bit wealthier, but that is the reason.

Furthermore, I think the no maintenance is a huge selling point. Imagine that you are buying a car that will never require an oil change, change of spark plugs, and replacement of the head gasket (looking at you Subaru). Just the reason of eliminating the need to fill up every week is worth it for most people, not waiting in line for the moron in front of you to finish his/her grocery shopping so that you can finally pay for your gas. Most people are not car enthusiasts, and the one thing these people dread more than driving is the maintenance costs on their car, and the time it takes to do preventive maintenance. I think we live in a time period now where the internal combustion engine is starting to get phased out and the focus is shifted towards electric autonomous vehicles.

The CEO of Toyota said that their goal is to only sell hydrogen and electric powered cars by 2050. They already started retooling the factories to achieve this. Another bonus for manufacturers using electric cars: EPA emission tests are not required for electric cars or hydrogen cars. I think Volkswagen helped accelerate the inevitable.

To finish my rant/trolling I will leave this picture here showing a nickel mine, where batteries come from. It’s not really that much more environmentally friendly as drilling for oil, but at least the oil companies are not stealing from your wallet:

[Draigflag]

Every car has its compromise I guess, I only see cars like the Tesla, one that doesn't sacrifice performance or practicality, and still has a fairly decent range as a viable choice, if cost wasn't an issue! In time, production costs will fall and the battery range and costs will fall too making electric cars a better buy for most people.

You mention maintenance as one of the main cost things, the truth is even ICE engines these days are very low maintenance, although I appreciate frequent maintenance is a popular habit in the states. Oil changes every two years or 20,000 miles, a car will probably only need 10 oil changes in its life. Spark plugs, tune ups and head gaskets are not things diesel owners worry about either, and timing chains are usually used instead of belts now. I appreciate electric cars barely need a thing, but there's that grey cloud looming about battery life and cost replacement, despite the fact the cost will be lower than the current $7000 for a new battery, it's still going to be a pretty expensive part to replace when the time comes.

It would be better if people could only charge using renewable energy too, but sadly the US is very reliant on coal fired power stations, all 575 of them! I recently read they create as much pollution as 24,000,000,000 diesel vehicles! But yea, I get where you're coming from, all electric and hybrid is the general predicted market for all manufacturers now.