Thread: hybrid cars

my understanding of hybird cars is that they are both electrical and petrol, however i do see them being slight more expensive to repair as they are new to the market and there wouldn't be many places where u could go to get it repaired let alone the parts required.

however i'm not entirely sure on this. i think i might go and read up a bit more about these cars since i'm hoping to get one over here when they come out.

Originally Posted by dude101

my understanding of hybird cars is that they are both electrical and petrol, however i do see them being slight more expensive to repair as they are new to the market and there wouldn't be many places where u could go to get it repaired let alone the parts required.

however i'm not entirely sure on this. i think i might go and read up a bit more about these cars since i'm hoping to get one over here when they come out.

Cool if you learn anything interesting pleas post it or a link to it.

Originally Posted by Joshua001

Cool if you learn anything interesting pleas post it or a link to it.

sure i'll do that. which reminds me that i swore i saw an artical about hybrid cars not 2 long ago in a journal. hmm it should be lying somewhere around this house. well i'll it might be a while till i find something so yea hope some other ppl here know more about these cars than i do.

thats cool im not running out right this minute. Besides all i know is the basics of internal comustion, where to put what fluids, and how to drive. Wich is why i posted this.

ok, I'm a working mechanic, and have done some work on these cars so heres my scoop on the hybrids.
first, if you live in very cold climates, northern US, canada, anywhere where it can turn into the negative numbers, a car like the Prius will suck. very cold does strange and bad things to batteries and the punty gas motor it has isnt strong enough to go it alone.

2nd as far as general maintance, the Prius is a regualar car, engine takes 4 quarts of 5-20 i think, and a small toyota oil filter, it has disk brakes, a standard hydralic brake system, normal brake pads, struts, windows, hell its radio will play when you ask it to... nothing exotic, only the electric drive system thats added on.

Now the hybrid drive system...now that is a sticking point, its neat IN THE CITYand i think only in the city, any long hauls, long distance freeway driving and you are gonna hate it. like a said earlier the gas engine is not strong enough to drive the car by itself. when ever your going the electric motor is assisting the gas motor, now over a long distance you will run out of Juice from the giant battery pack hiding behind the back seat. now when that happens the prius reverts to a charge/drive mode. which forces you to slow down to like 35-50mph, not to sure about that exact number.
Now that is purly a situation where your foot is on the gas for hours at a time. in the city, the electric motor/generator can recharge its self when your braking , and in-city driving is never hours long, maybe 30minutes at a time, stop and go. the car uses the electric to start it moving and the gas kicks in to sustain that motion...i hope your understanding this...

Now short term, its like a normal car, but over a long term ownership you will have to replace that hybrid battery pack in the back of the car...this is true for anything running on batteries. its estimated lifespan should be about 5-7years. its big and expensive as hell, consider it costing as much as the engine (2 grand i think), which is what they do in japan is change engines after a set amount of miles...

ONLY THE DEALERSHIP CAN WORK ON THE HYBRID DRIVE SYSTEM which makes it even more expensive and well outside the end of any warrenty that they will supply...i blame toyota on that one, they are keeping the spec's of the computer and drive system a secret...only in house toyota techs get that kind of info...

so as a incity runabout its great, hands down, its weird quiet inside, and the nifty computer screen shows you what part of the car is being used to power the batters ot move you to your destination. but i would never use it to visit the next state over.

if your looking for mileage, try looking at the Toyota Yaris, its small but it can rival the prius in mpg's, scion XB-XD are good. Nissan has a small car i cant think of its name right now..also the Honda Fit is a neat package.

if i missed anything, or any other questions just ask.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

I've been driving a 2004 Prius (the first of the Hybrid Synergy models) for quite some time now, and I can easily say that its the smoothest driving and most reliable car I have ever owned, it is larger, quiter and has better passenger space then a Yaris or a Scion, and beats both in real world gas mileage. The electrical motor/regenerative braking system is invisibly integrated into the car, as it can use either the gas powered engine, the electric motor, or both at the same time, depending on the driving conditions and the available battery charge. At a stop sign, when you take your foot off the brake pedal, the electric drive kicks in to simulate 'automatic transmission creep' of a normal car, and when coasting on the road, a little bit of regenerative braking kicks in to simulate 'automatic transmission drag'. The only thing that feels different is a slight shaking as the gasoline engine disengages and turns off, or spins up and engages, which is less noticeable then your normal automatic transmission shifting. (The Prius has a continuous variable automatic transmission, so it has no gear shifting...) The power of the combined engine/motor system gives it as much usable horsepower as your normal family car, but if you mange to completely drain the battery pack (which I've done about a dozen times in 3 years of ownership), the Prius transforms itself into a gutless economy car until it has a chance to recharge the battery pack, which it will do after 3-4 miles of driving, or 3-4 45MPH to 0 stops. Completely draining the batter pack is very rare, as the regenerative braking in normal comute traffic will keep it charged. At highway speeds 50 MPH and above the Gas engine is used almost completely, with the electric motor only assisting when quick bursts of power is needed, or if the battery pack accumulates too much charge, (the drive system computer tries to keep it at 2/3 full so it can buffer regenerative braking stops). The only real fault with the Prius is because of the way the 50HP main electric motor is integrated into the transmission, the Prius does not have a true reverse gear. To drive in reverse, its limited to using its 15HP engine starter motor/generator/engine brake unit

Now having said that, the typical Hybrid will average $2,000 more in price then a normal car, is heavier because of that battery pack, and has roughly 1/3 more moving parts then a normal car. (Which makes it amazing the JDPowers rates the Prius as one of the most reliable vehicles on the road.) Now you can buy a lot of gas with two grand, and it will take some time for the increased gas mileage to make up the additional costs. The original estimates were saying that the Prius would pay for its additional costs over the lifetime of the car of gas prices stay above $2.50 a gallon, (which it has in recent years). And because the battery pack represents 'free' fuel at low speeds, the Prius scores unrealistic ratings in the EPA gas mileage tests. As an example, the 2004 Prius is rated 60 MPG City, 56 MPG Highway, but under real world conditions, I'm only getting 52 MPG on a daily commute into the Silicon Valley, (which is still much better then a normal car).

you are very light on the pedal...i've seen the averages around here, and even in the car mags and ave looks to be avout 40mpg...also note that the old standard of MPG has been updated to better reflect real world driving styles, and everyones MPG has droped as a result.