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KBB picks: Honda Insight, Ford Escape hybrid and Chevy Volt

Cheapest to own hybrid after 5 year according to KBB

Best hybrid and plug-in deals after 5 years of ownership

Kipplingers, Forbes, Intellichoice, Consumer Reports, US News & World Reports, etc. have all offered up best and most cost-effective vehicle lists in recent months, and it’s sometimes a little surprising the lack of consensus. Consequently, I’ve often wondered if there isn’t some sort of advertising-related objective.

Regardless, these lists are still interesting and usually useful for buyers, and the latest one comes from Kelly Blue Book. Read more…

Is $1 billion for a 100 mpg gasoline sedan an evil Republican plot?

Are we closer to 100 mpg gasoline cars than we think?

Couldn’t it also be a hybrid?

The other day I read a piece on AutoWeek slamming an idea from a Republican Congressman that I’ve never heard of that is apparently part of an evil plan by the entire Republican Party — even those few that actually helped make plug-in tax credits a reality — to crush the whole idea of increased fuel economy. $1 billion for an automaker to develop a 100 mpg gasoline sedan.

“It’s all pretend,” claimed author Davey G. Johnson.

Davey, Davey, Davey. So why then does Utah Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dan Adams disagree? Read more…

Hybrid and electric car buyers are just better

Go ahead and hate me for being intelligent and responsible

What’s the cost of not taking action?

Sure, the buyers of hybrid and electric cars don’t always make the most cost-effective choices, but many times their choices are best, even financially. For example, many hybrid cars make the best city cars and they can be far more cost-effective than non-hybrids. But even if hybrids and plug-ins are not always cost-effective, at least hybrid and plug-in buyers are taking action, at least they’re taking responsibility.

The rest of America just talks about taking action. Blah, blah, blah. Some day I’m gonna go on a diet, stop smoking, start investing, be a better person — starting tomorrow. Always tomorrow. Sure, we can all talk a big game, but few of us even show up on game day. Thus, despite some arrogance and elitism, maybe even some ignorance, hybrid and electric car buyers are still better than most other Americans. Read more…

Urban Champ: New Toyota Prius C offers outstanding value

The subcompact cost-effective king for city drivers

It’s official. C hybrid should dominate city cost effectiveness

So, you need a new car, and you live in a city like Los Angeles, but you want to be as fiscally smart as possible. It’s all about the most bang for your buck. Of course, aside from automatic windows, locks and an automatic transmission, you insist on BlueTooth and USB connectivity as well – I mean, let’s be real.

Then the Toyota Prius C is the car for you. This new small and cheap hybrid car simply blows away the competition. Read more…

Thinking about a hybrid? $4.00 gas almost certain by May

Are you ready for $4.00 gasoline?

Add any escalation in Middle East tensions and much higher gasoline prices are possible

As comes summer so to does an increase in American driving, as gasoline is reformulated into summer blends. Combined these two events push gasoline prices higher in a regular seasonal event. Consequently, USAToday reports that gas prices should increase about $.60 cents nationally by May, topping the $4.00 per gallon mark.

However, add an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, for instance, and gasoline prices could surge much higher. Read more…

Pro-American? The Big 3 plan for US energy independence

Is this real American, Big 3 leadership?

Is the Big 3 really any better than Big oil?

We build what Americans want. That’s the mantra US automakers tout regarding their over-dependence upon gas-guzzling pickup trucks time and time again. So, what about the other 50 percent of America? LOL! We really are a divided country, but in so many convoluted ways.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Big 3 recently, especially since coming across a JD Power study regarding the importance of perception and how it affects US auto consumers — we’re pretty manipulable, even to our disadvantage. Then came the Super Bowl commercials, particularly Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler commercial and also GM’s Chevy Silverado apocalypse commercial.

All of it has me wondering, when it comes to being pro-American, are the Big 3 really any better than Big oil? Read more…

Lutz: Peak oil, global warming myths; electrification real

Is fracking inherently so much more dangerous than foreign oil dependence?

The new world order of energy?

If you attended the recent Deloitte & Touche oil and gas conference in Houston, you were left with one realization, according to Bob Lutz of BMW, Chrysler, Ford, and GM fame: US energy independence is now a potential reality. Thanks to an oil and natural gas boom, something even Lutz didn’t believe in until listening to the experts at the conference, OPEC independence could be achieved “in a period of a few years”.

Similarly, Lutz still believes man-caused global warming is just as much a myth as peak oil has become.

Nevertheless, despite a lack of CO2 or peak oil worries, Lutz still believes electrification is inevitable, and it won’t need to be supported by the government, at least not long term. Read more…

Chevy Volt 2.0: How would you change GM’s plug-in?

Volt 2.0: How would you re-Volt GM's key plug-in?

Built for change, but how much change?

Early in Chevy Volt production, many things were possible. For instance, GM suggested a non-plug-in Volt, a Volt that utilized super-capacitors rather than batteries, as well as a Volt that replaced its electric range extending engine with a range extending fuel cell. Likewise, different amounts of electric range have also been contemplated.

And according to recent outside analysis of the Volt, much room for change was intentionally built into the Volt platform, such as room for new advanced electronics — possibly a path to increased electric range for less money.

So, how would you change Volt 2.0? Read more…

Bad news for Toyota Prius C buyers — limited supplies

C hybrid sold out in Japan after just one month

Japanese demand for the new, smaller Prius backed up 6 months+ already

Next month was supposed to be one of the most exciting launches in the US hybrid segment ever. Finally an impressive hybrid offering for under $19,000.

Unfortunately, in the first month of Japanese Prius C sales, Toyota sold almost an entire year’s worth of intended supplies. Read more…

China might have already won the plug-in vehicle revolution

2020: More e-bikes in China than cars in US

100 million electric vehicles strong and growing fast

Back as the Internet bubble was beginning to froth, I remember some very smart people making the argument that no one was ever going to challenge Microsoft without government intervention. The government didn’t need to create competition, I argued, the marketplace would take care of the problem and the Internet would lead the way.

Like the Internet, electrification is also an inevitable game changer, but just as Microsoft misjudged the Internet revolution, so too might major automakers and the government miscalculate the plug-in revolution.

In fact, China might have already biked its way into total plug-in domination. Read more…