There are so many Hybrids outside and it’s getting really confusing.
I wonder why Mazda has almost no hybrids at all. No 3 series or 6 series.
For my next car i plan to buy, i considering a hybrid since i suspect gas prices to go up again.
Are hybrids worth buying and which are the ones you should buy. Ford has some too, but i never really had a Ford and everyone is saying american cars are not that great.
So i am really confused, but i have time and its not pressing so far. But its never to early to do the research.
Does anyone has one of these hybrids and whats your experience so far? Recommendations?
Only hybrid I’ve test driven has been the Escape hybrid. A very good vehicle, the only complaint I had was it was rather noisy during acceleration.
Also, unless you do a lot of stop and go driving, a hybrid isn’t much better than a normal car.
Get the Consumer Reports buyers guide, it’ll give you some info. What size car are you looking for? One brother has an Insight, another a Prius, they’re both happy. The Fusion is another good one.
I have a friend who has a 2006 Prius and a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. I’ve ridden in both of these cars and have driven the Prius. I like the Prius. Four of us with our musical instruments (2 French horns, a trumpet and a trombone) can ride comfortably to rehearsals as long as we don’t have to bring music stands and folding chairs. We have even managed when we have taken 4 music stands, but we had to pack things in very carefully. The Ford Escape hybrid is a lot roomier, but takes more gasoline. My friend and his wife have taken the Prius on extended vacation trips and gotten along fine. If they take their aged dog with them on trips, they use the Ford Hybrid Escape. Neither car has given them any mechanical problems. The Prius was in a hail storm and the roof of the car was replaced.
My institution has some Honda Civic Hybrids in the fleet. I drove one on a 400 mile round trip to a convention. The gas tank was full when I left and when I returned the car, I hung around as the gas tank was refilled and calculatted the mileage to be 41 mpg. My friend gets over 50 on his Prius.
I didn’t care for the seats in the Honda–I’m 6’ 2" tall and didn’t have quite enough legroom. I liked the Prius much better–it has enough leg room for me.
I’ve only ridden in the Ford Escape Hybrid, but it seems comfortable. The Ford Escape Hybrid has the CVT (continuously variable transmission) and it reminded me of the 1950 Chevrolet with the PowerGlide automatic transmission. This transmission has infintely many ratios as did the torque converter PowerGlide, but I’m certain that the CVT doesn’t have the slippage of the early PowerGlide transmissions.
More hybrids are coming so keep reading to keep up with new models. My brother got one of the 1st Prius’s and has bought each new series as it was released. He also got one of the early Highlander Hybrids. All of his cars are still going, he sold older ones to his kids and friends and keeps up with how they are holding up. No battery packs have needed replacement and no major issues, some minor ones.
When visiting him I’ve ridden in the Prius’s and we rode the Highlander from San Diego to Las Vegas. They are generally all nice cars. The Highlander haa plenty of power is smoothly moves form battery power to gas power without notice.
The issue with Hybrids is they are not optimized when you drive a lot of highway miles. If most of your use is stop and go driving, short commuting trips, or very hilly terrain then you’ll get the best advantage out of buying a hybrid. If most of your driving is at 70 mph on interstate highways you maybe disappointed with the hybrids mpg.
One nice feature in hot climates is the AC keeps working when you stop the car for gas, or if you have to sit writing notes. The AC compressor is run by a separate electric motor so the gas motor doesn’t have to run at all to power up the AC, unless of course the batteries run down to the point the gas motor kicks in.
We have a Prius, and it is great. It gets between 50-55 mpg and has been very reliable.
I’d suggest to take a look at the type of driving you do. If you drive aggressively or on the highway a lot, then you should think very hard about whether you need a hybrid.
Remember that it is very energy intensive to build a hybrid. While it may be tempting to get “green cred” by buying an Escalade Hybrid, they only get 2 mpg better than the nonhybrid versions. Many other hybrids get significantly better mpg than their gas-only counterparts though, so they are worth a look.
I have been very surprised at the hybrids. They have proven to be much better and more reliable than I could have dreamed.
That said, you should consider a few things. You type of driving has a lot to do with the potential mileage you might get with a hybrid. If you do mostly interstate driving, there is not much of an advantage and you likely will never recover the added cost of a hybrid.
Second we are close to seeing the next generation of the technology which will allow full time electric for shorter trips. If you are a city driver who does a lot of short trips, you might want to put that purchase off two or three years to see what might be available then.
The different makes and models all seem to perform well and none seem to be problems or outstanding. The differences are more related to the same things as other cars, size looks etc.Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and Mazda are the same company. It comes down to marketing. Mazda is Ford’s sport division, and hybrids don’t exactly connect with sporty cars. Since they are so similar, you should be just as happy to have a Ford ans a Mazda.
Ummmm…No.
At its peak, Ford owned a maximum of 33% of Mazda’s stock.
If I recall correctly, Japanese law prohibits foreign companies from owning more than 33% of the stock in a Japanese company, which effectively made it impossible for Ford to “own” Mazda, just as it prevented GM from owning Isuzu.
In November, 2008, Ford sold a lot of its Mazda stock in order to raise some much-needed capital. The sale of this Mazda stock reduced Ford’s ownership share of Mazda to a little over 13%.
The bottom line is that Ford and Mazda have “strategic alliances” that result in sharing of platforms and other components. For example, the AWD system on the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute was developed by Mazda.
Ford utilizes much Mazda technology on the Ford Flex, and the Ford Fusion chassis was essentially developed from the “old” Mazda 6 chassis. In a similar fashion, the Ford Taurus was developed from a Volvo chassis. (Ford does own Volvo, however–unlike Mazda.)
So–there is MUCH sharing of technology, parts, and in some cases, almost the entire mechanical/electronic functioning of a particular model. But, Mazda is absolutely NOT “Ford’s sport division”. Ford is merely a minority stock holder with whom Mazda maintains a strategic alliance.
Do a google search on KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and Honda CRZ. Hybrid do connect with sports cars. Just because some suits in marketing say they don’t, it doesn’t make it so.
My friend has a prius and it is great , very reliable and easy to maintain. According me the toyota cars are the most reliable one
58 MPG. Need I say more.