Bob drove it like he would a 11k hatchback, my point is its not an economical car unless you drive it sensibly
Which I've already said isn't the case. My co-driver on the Yaris Hybrid launch deliberately drove it as hard as he could, did his best to keep the thing from going into electric mode (i.e, using actual fuel rather than electricity as much as possible), accelerated hard, braked at the last minute using friction brakes rather than regenerative braking, and still struggled to get less than 50mpg. When we actually arrived back at the meeting point his overall figure was 55mpg. If you absolutely thrashed it all day long on the motorway you'd probably get into the 40s, but I can't think of any petrol or diesel rival that wouldn't.
Driven
normally (not even "sensibly") I'd not be surprised to see figures in the 60s. Driven
specifically with economy in mind (yet still not enough to hold up other cars), figures in the 70s are there for the taking.
I'm sure a Prius - being heavier and having a larger engine - would be a little worse, but there's absolutely no way that if "Bob" drove a Yaris hybrid (and since they've
literally only just gone on sale, I'm surprised he's driven one at all) he got "nearly as much" as 43mpg.
I'm calling BS on that one, I'm afraid.
anyway soon well have the jaguar cx-75 which has less emissions but, is a supercar.
Only Jaguar still hasn't confirmed they're building it. Nor exactly what it'll be powered by, since the jet powered concept was rather loud and impractical.
Then there's cars like the Mia. It's 22k, 0-emissions and Renault. They're releasing a lot of electric only cars for the ACTUAL environmentally alert.
I've not driven the Mia, but £22k is a lot of money when for another £3k you can buy something that doesn't look like a side-turned wheelie bin. It's called the Nissan Leaf, and it's the only proper family electric car on sale for a decent price.
And I'm a big fan of the Renault Twizy, but since when has a £6k two-seat, open-sided 50mph quadricycle been a rival for a £20k five-seat, fully-specified family hatchback?
You said the Prius is reliable BUT YOU ALSO SAID OTHER TOYOTAS ARE HARDLY PRONE TO BRAKING DOWN.
Please, use your
indoor voice.
Yes, all Toyotas are pretty reliable. But the Prius has fewer warranty claims than any other Toyota. It is
more reliable - as are all Toyota and Lexus hybrids.
To whichever degree you measure reliability, for customers the prospect of a more reliable car is still one that sells them the car. Whether you like it or not - and you don't, because you don't want to - the fact the Prius is proving very reliable is a selling point for the car.
Then again Kia Picantos are hardly unreliable, nowadays the only unreliable cars are made by small supercar companies such as Noble. The Prius is double the price for no real world gain.
You don't seem to have much of a clue about the car market.
Once again, as with Twizy vs. Prius - who exactly is comparing a £10k supermini with a £20k family hybrid? Who goes out into the market with the aim of buying a Prius, but then thinks, "no, instead I'll buy the smaller, slower, less well equipped, less efficient car instead, because it's half the price!".
Nobody, that's who.
You're clutching at straws. Really, really stupid straws.
I have a Prius "solution". Driving it off a cliff and then buying a normal diesel hatchback.
Ah, diesel hatchbacks. With all the benefits of a car almost as economical as a Prius but with the inevitable expensive diesel particulate filter, turbocharger, and dual-mass flywheel issues a few years down the line.
And, if anything, a worse illusion from their owners that they're being "green", because the government tells them that CO2 is the be-all and end-all of pollution, and neglects to mention oxides of nitrogen (harmful to humans) and particulate matter (gives little kids asthma).
Here's a thought: Instead of inane rantings based on prejudice and outdated information, why not just say you don't like the Prius because of the way it looks, like everyone else has done?
It's true, but I guess my point would be if people really want to help the environment and/or project an image as such, they should be willing to cough up the extra dough to do so.
There's an element of that, though that presumes that everyone is buying it for the image. I've driven several electric cars and hybrids now, and my main motivation for buying one would be the technology - it just happens to work really well (limitations - like range - aside), and it makes for pleasant cars to knock about in (even if few of them are good for Sunday drives just yet).
As a kid you grow up watching movies about what the future will look like, and I quite like that people are finally starting to make cars that seem futuristic. Far from it being depressing, I think it's damn cool that people are finally offering vehicles that don't rely on essentially steam-age technology like reciprocating pistons, or valves.
Actually though, you have me intrigued. It seems to me that if it doesn't have any smarmy eco/hybrid/green badges on it, then I would like it.
