I really love the car so far. I trade in an SUV which used to get me 14 MPG with my driving style. The Altima has gives me 31 MPG so far, but I have also adjusted my driving style a bit, since I can only use EV under 40 mph. By the end of my time in the SUV, I tried hard to increase MPG but only got up to 16 MPG.

So, right off the bat, I’m saving about half with each fill up. Granted, I bought it in the middle of summer, where the temps go above 110 F, so I’ve had to use the A/C a lot! My last fill-up was 10/8, 16.32 gallons, 481.5 miles, avg. MPG 31. I’m hoping it will improve once the weather improves.

The trunk space is still pretty big, though the batteries take up a good chunk of the back of the trunk. (Its been hard adjusting from the space in the SUV to the car. Where do I put my ladders now?)

I’ve noticed a few places where you can tell Nissan took shortcuts in the interior and such, but the keyless entry/start is cool and the tech package has bluetooth phone, iPod connection, navigation, XM radio and even traffic warnings.

So far, I’m happy with it. In fact I love it.

Plus all the hybrid parts are made by toyota!! Who else could be more reliable. All the hybrid parts are guaranteed for 8 years or 150,000 miles.

This car is a 10.

Normally a site about cars is the last place I would be leaving a comment, but curiosity/boredome seems to have led me here. I suppose I myself could be considered somewhat of an environmentalist… I in fact do not drive or own a vehical. I have never owned a vehicle. I don’t even hold a driver’s licence. I’m not saying that makes me a better person, it has just been my personal choice of how I wanted to live my life. Walking/biking/taking public transportation everwhere I want to go has it’s challenges at times (particularly in small towns). I am not sure I understand where having more money would make this sort of lifestyle easier? I didn’t have a lot of money when I decided to live this way… in fact I had very little. Perhaps I have misunderstood that portion of the comment? Anyway, in my oppion as a person who does not drive, I still think that people’s choices to drive a hybrid don’t exactly make them a poser. Sometimes people just don’t take into account all the other factors that contribute to environmental problems.

For the most part, this is likely accurate, and hybrids are bought for all the ‘right’ reasons. However, I’d guess there is a (fortunately) relatively small minority whose main motivation in buying a hybrid (particularly a Prius) is their excellent resale value. In fact, there was a brief period when gas prices were at their peak that it was theoretically possible to sell a used Prius for MSRP. I’m certain there were a few of these folks who cashed in at that time.

Glenn A., I got to thinking about the Prius vs. SUV haste debate above, and found a few victories for you, most of them in the area of top speed (as measured by C&D):

The Prius tops out at a governed 106 mph. but check out these max velocity stats:

Chevy Silverado/Tahoe/Suburban (prev-gen): 100 mph
Ford Explorer V8: 98 mph
Ford Excursion: 92 mph
Ford Expedition: 100 mph
Ford F-150 V8: 100 mph
Hummer H2: 99 mph
Hummer H3: 99 mph
Lincoln Navigator: 105 mph
Toyota Sequoia: 101 mph

Thought you’d enjoy that.

I’d want to kow the following –> Age, race, income, sexual preference (for fun), political leanings, education level, etc.

I’d guess that buyers tend to be 30-40ish liberal, reasonably well off, well educated sorts. I’d also guess that they tend not to be VERY wealthy or conservative politically. Could be off though, which might be interesting.

Like most purchases, it’s a question of values, fashion, quality, ease of use, and real world economics.

People buy iPods for ease of use (simple controls), fashion (others have ‘em, cool ads, nice design, apple seems rebellious).

People buy cars for a combination of those things too. In the hybrid case:

1. Ease of use: Not a factor. Not easier or harder to drive.
2. Fashion: Sure, you likely feel cutting edge in them
3. Quality: Well, the brands that have hybrids so far have high perceived quality anyway (toyota, Honda, Nissan). GM has uphill battle anyway here.
4. Economics: I don’t think any hybrid buyer really thinks they’ll save money overall.
5. Values: Ok, here’s the crux. We buy them because a) It makes a statement to others including the car manufacturer that we care about fuel usage. b) It hypothetically reduces dependence on foreign oil as seeing as major wars and political conflicts are in regions with oil, this is our way of helping. (issue: Do people drive hybrids more thinking they’re saving gas, thus negating any benefits?). Hybrid owners would LOVE to take public transport if it was remotely as convenient/luxurious/private as driving your own car. It’s NOT, so the next best thing is a hybrid.

But whereas most people’s knob only goes to 10, his goes to 11.

If they can work on the looks of the next Prius a little, I might be in the market. What I would REALLY like is a versatile, fully factory-hackable Prius whose drivetrain can be preset or adjusted to 8 or 10 (or infinite) different settings based on the economy/performance tradeoffs. That function would be worth a couple grand in the market, I think. Everything from ultra-conservative cruising to short bursts of high-torque hoonage.

Yeah, I don’t drive like someone in a 1960’s VW microbus (following which is where the phrase rolling roadblock HAD to have been coined). On the contrary, I’m forced to go around the right side of left lane blockers in their slug-o-matic specials, whether automotive, pickemup or suv variety. I hate “undertaking” as the Brits say. But on US roads, there appears to be little alternative. No lane discipline at all. Plus the Michigan lawmakers finally gave up and took the “no passing on right” law off the books (amazingly, a law got taken off the books – of course I’ll maintain they should have left it on the books and had the police ticket left lane hoggers, but there you go…)

I think I might have even come up with the phrase, because that is the one thing I am just about rabid about – I hate VW busses with an absolute passion.

Probably why I never ever have bought a minivan…

Meanwhile, they’ve got 30 cars behind them in the left lane flashing their high beams. And no, we are not trying to light up the Prius’ solar arrays to transfer energy to it to improve mileage further.
;-)

Maybe my wife and I will have to be a two-Prius family in 2008 instead of that Civic Hybrid and the current Prius….

http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/spyphotoID/6070119.001/page/1/country/jcf/toyota/spy-image-next-gen-toyota-prius

For you hybrid haters, ah, what’s to like about it anyhow?

Faster? Check.

Roomier? Check (prior articles read say interior will be even larger than now)

More economical? Check. Using the ‘old’ formulas, it would have been over 100 mpg, but the EPA ‘fixed’ the formula, eh?

No more expensive? Check. Toyota have been saying for a couple of years they will reduce the price differential between conventional and hybrid cars.

Roll on, Toyota!

Ha. Just taking the mikey, blokes.

But “lookadis!” 80 mpg next gen Prius, that’s 100 MPG Imperial. 5 seats, D-class automobile, fuel costs less than diesel, lots cleaner. Read it and weep.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/spyphotoID/6070119.001/pageview/photo/photo/1/page/1/lang/eng/country/jcf/toyota/spy-image-next-gen-toyota-prius

I don’t know about your area, but here the 2.5 models are almost the standard issue flossin’-mobile for those with no money down and $199 a month. The real high rollers stunt the 3.5 V6 with 20″ rims.

OK I’m not a hoon, and I don’t floorboard the Prius at every green light, I was trying to make the point that the Prius is NOT – repeat – NOT a rolling roadblock, and yeah, I DO have fun zipping away a tad quicker than other drivers when possible and practical, because it actually seems more efficient (AND fun) to zip up to speed then back off. 0-60 in 10.5 seconds is better than your average mid-sized V8 family car in the 1960’s (with 5 liters of V8 and automatic), by the way. How spoiled are we to expect 0-60 in 9 or 7 seconds, and in reality, other than hoonerism, when do we get a chance to use it on crowded, real-world roads? Am I right?

I don’t think hybrids have a larger environmental impact than conventional cars, I think it that were the case, Toyota and Honda would have nixed the whole idea and perhaps tried to go with hydraulic hybrids instead, or flywheel hybrids instead.

Let’s be serious, Captain Neek, do you think Toyota, Honda, Ford, Nissan, GM, perhaps soon Hyundai and Kia, and others would set themselves up for massive environmental lawsuits in the litigous society we now live in? I don’t think so….

Which reminds me of a story I read by an ex-Jeep/Chrysler engineer who quit in disgust. When “blow-job” Clinton thew away God-only-knows-how-much-money and gave it to the then big-3, Chrysler attempted to make their 80 mpg “super car” hybrid from a then current Dodge Intrepid LH with a massive rubber band in a tunnel. I know, I know, sounds far fetched, but he says yep – they tried it. Unfortunately it let go and killed a technician, so being (finally) bright enough to realize it was a mistake, they dumped the idea.

Two BILLION lithium ion batteries are sold a year, which will last 300-500 recharges (approx. 1-3 years). “Luckily”, they are safe for landfills in the US (not in the EU), which is probably where they are going to end up. This is due to the fact that the scrap value is approx. $100 per ton. In other words cost>scrap value.

My point is that, in the rush to save the planet, we are overlooking the fact that hybrids have a much larger environmental impact than their MPG or CO2 figures suggest…

Nowhere to sign. Lithium ion batteries don’t have any acid or leaky noxious chemicals, as anybody with a passing understanding of basic engineering would know.

I do so wish that people would take the time to educate their opinion before they foist it on everybody else.

Reaction time isn’t exactly the same thing as accelleration capability, but can have the same effect at stoplights.

E.G.: I frequently commute by 50cc scooter (60mpg city, btw) and with all of 6HP I’m rarely beat away from stoplights, because I’m paying attention.

That being said, I wouldn’t boast about how I “blew their doors off and got up to speed, leaving them in the dust” as if there was somethin’ special going on.

I hate SUVS just as much or more as any Rabid Prius Pilot, but Prius drivers shall not call quicker vehicles slugs, or risk being called out on TTAC.

All true, and although I personally enjoy the instant torque electric motors provide, I wouldn’t stump for the Prius as a stoplight racer.

That said, depending on who’s driving, you could easily get the jump on some of the more egregious ‘utes, including the Hummer H2, late Ford Excursion, and any Dodge Ram sans Hemi. On the other hand, recent Tahoes and Suburbans tend to run high 8s or low 9s to 60.

Still, given the sorts of folks driving such machinery, and the sorts of folks driving Priuses, there’d be no small amount of satisfaction in that.

Generally around here, SUVs are Tahoes, Excursions, Slowburbans, etc. it seems, and obviously the drivers are about as wide awake at the light as they are in the dealer showroom, because numbers nothwithstanding, I often get to speed well before they do.

Of course, I don’t have 5000 plus pounds of mass to move off the dime, do I?

I equate it to a sprint between a guy in shape and an overweight banker.