Hyundai Sonata hybrid heading to NY Auto Show
More than just a powertrain this timeHyundai will show off the Sonata hybrid next week at the NY Auto Show.
In recent months Hyundai has claimed that its hybrid cars will offer "practical solutions" for consumers. Can't wait to find out just how practical the Sonata hybrid will be compared to the Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry hybrids.
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, hyundai sonata hybrid
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:57 AM
8 Comments:
Hopefully, there will be more substance than the usual hype we see from some of the other car manufacturers. Now wouldn't that be refreshing. Hopefully, the Sonata Hybrid will give the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Toyota Camry Hybrid and maybe even the Honda Civic Hybrid a run for their money.
If not their solutions wouldn't be very "practical", but I couldn't agree more that real substance would be a novel approach.
Enough hybrid hype already. Let the sales numbers do the talking. Great technology is great to talk about it, but if it doesn't sell then how great can it really be?
Hopefully, Hyundai doesn't disappoint. I'll give them a year to fully experience their lithium technology in the real world, but if Hyundai isn't planning to sell at least 50,000 hybrids per year after that then I won't be impressed, and even that's still a low number.
Ultimately, if you're not producing a few hundred thousand hybrids per year within the next 3 - 4 years, then you're not even in the game.
I'm looking at that battery and wondering some things...
like how it gets replaced after the car is in an accident and part of it is damaged.
Sorta like buying a very nice but very innovative car ...and finding out that it's ungodly expensive to repair....
Sonata has a trunk right? The hybrid version will reduce that capacity. Lithium will take less space but we'll see how much Hyundai engineers are able to squeeze it in.
dennis-
you would think that it would have to be better than the camry hybrid, which isn't that bad. ultimately, i don't think it'll be a deal killer.
larry-
if the battery is damaged, then i'd assume that the car might be considered a total loss, which could lead to higher insurance costs.
i know that i've seen studies that demonstrate that hybrids are more expensive to repair, but i don't remember how much more.
likewise, i think any accident that would damage the battery would probably also damage the frame. so, regardless, the car would be a loss.
if that's true - then the insurance is going to be very expensive....
and you've got to consider it as part of your overall costs when thinking about ROI.
I would hope that the batteries are modular and replaceable without having to total the car.
otherwise, once the word gets out, these cars are going to become modern-day Edsels.
i don't think so. overall, i don't think repair costs are that much more, and much of those costs are due to limited supply chains. as hybrids increase in popularity than the costs of repair will decrease.
ultimately, the battery can be developed in a modular fashion and it will be in the future. moreover, with lithium and its space saving capabilities, lithium placement will be even safer. nonetheless, i don't think you can damage a hybrid battery - in most hybrids - without crushing the frame, which i think most insurance companies would describe as a total loss - even if the battery were repairable.
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