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• Tuesday, July 3, 2007 09:10 AM

  prius...

  I've had a 2007 prius for the last 8 months now, and I think it's a lovely car. And I went from a 1994 Camry V-6 coupe to the Prius. Sure, the Camry is a little more refined, and a little more powerful, and has a nice big trunk, and more comfortable seats...it also gets 24 MPG on a good day.

  I'm willing to give up a little refinement and a little comfort to save gas, and emit a lot fewer pollutants into the atmosphere.

  Truth is, the next generation Prius is going to be the one to have, it'll likely be a plug-in hybrid, and will probably get over 100 mpg.

  I don't understand people who say the Prius isn't worth it...sure, for its size, it should be priced at about 16K...but it has at least 50K worth of high-end technology in it. And it's a very refined, practical car. I'd say that's a fair trade. And if gasoline suddenly shoots up to 6 bucks a gallon (which is could..there's a whole list of things that could cause that, none of them implausible), I'm gonna be sitting pretty.

  Oh, and by the way, to all those who say, or think, that the Prius doesn't *really* get good MPG? I get 55 MPG routinely, in ALL driving. I let the computer drive the car. That's the secret to driving it. You drive at reasonable speeds, no jackrabbit starts, and you let cruise-control drive at any speed above 25 mph. That's how it's supposed to be driven, but apparently a lot of people who own one can't let go of their lead-footed habits. Nor did they read the manual, apparently.

  We all need electric cars. And a whole generation of practical electric cars is on the horizon. Another year, or two, and we'll be able to buy them. That'll be the sea-change. Or could be.

  And, yes, making the batteries does take energy, and does cause pollution, and recycling the batteries will be a challenge...but if the day comes when, now and then, or often, there is just no gasoline to be had, you'll be glad you can plug your car into your electrical socket at home and get to work the next day.

  And the benefits of no exhaust... No lubrication system. No cooling system. No catalytic converter...those benefits are huge. The cost and energy savings of simply having all those sub-systems disappear will be considerable.

  There's a reason why oil companies have been fighting electric transportation for nearly 100 years. They get it. The people who run those companies understand full well the implications of an all-electric personal transportation system. It'd would change their business utterly.

  I'm not sure anyone has really thought through all the benefits electric transportation would provide. Put a critical mass of practical electric cars into the market, and there will be a seismic shift. It'll take awhile, but it'll happen.

  —Anonymous
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