Hmm.well lets see....there are two stop signs and 1 light before i get on the expressway. very close proximity though, no more than a 1/4 of a mile b4 i hit the expressway.when im off the expressway i have about 2 1/2 miles to my job.
The rush hour traffic differs in the evening, but sometimes it is bumper to bumper. but if it is still better than a standard car even in bumper to bumper, even if only about 5 mpg i think it would be worth it.
As a driver who has been in a multiple rollover accident in a FEH and walked away unscathed, I'm happy to report that it's a safe vehicle when rolling. I was broadsided at 50+mph, so it was a serious collision. I'm not sure why people would think Escapes are unsafe, but maybe their experience is different.
I get about 28mpg with mostly 70mph highway driving (with a 4wd too!)
Not every accident in an SUV is a rollover and not every SUV rollover is a fatality. However, the statistics are very clear. SUVs are 18 times more likely to roll over in an accident than a sedan. When SUVs roll over, occupants are twice as likely to die as the occupants of a sedan that rolls over. With that said, most vehicles are safe and can protect the occupants. Sedans just provide more safety to the occupants than do SUVs. Also, small crossover SUVs (SUVs built on sedan undercarriages) are safer than large SUVs (SUVs built on light truck frames). Your Escape is less likely to roll than an Explorer, and provides better occupant protection, but is more likely to roll than a Tarus, and provides less occupant protection.
Hmm.well lets see....there are two stop signs and 1 light before i get on the expressway. very close proximity though, no more than a 1/4 of a mile b4 i hit the expressway.when im off the expressway i have about 2 1/2 miles to my job.
The rush hour traffic differs in the evening, but sometimes it is bumper to bumper. but if it is still better than a standard car even in bumper to bumper, even if only about 5 mpg i think it would be worth it.
I think a hybrid suv will suit you fine. That commute sounds great. 2 stop signs and a light then onto the highway. You should be cruising in the 30+ MPG range when you exit. Then you'll probably be able to get at least a mile on battery alone if you can take it easy on the side streets with your now full battery.
With the return commute, you'll probably be in engine-on warmup mode for the 2 mile drive to the highway. That should give you a full battery for the expressway....which for bumper-bumper traffic it will be nice to sit there quietly inching along burning no gas for a while.
-Tim
2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid AWD
Black with Pebble interior
Premium Package with Nav & Moonroof
Current ODO: 26,152 Typical Drive: 20 min crosstown in heavy traffic (3.5mi there and back twice a day)
532 Gallons of gas saved
That's 10,642 lbs less CO2 emitted
I understand you *like* suv's for some reason, but do you need it for commuting? We have a truck that we use about 500 miles per year. The rest of the time my husband has a small 2 door acura and i have an Insight. It is convenient to have a truck or big car, but not for every day. If your main concern is commuting and fuel economy, a small hybrid is the way to go-- OR a small non-hybrid which can get almost twice what an SUV hybrid gets in gas mileage (Yaris, Fit, etc).
D-mac: I'm really glad to hear about your good experience in surviving the rollover in the FEH. You are a very lucky person, and we're really happy for you! It's exciting to hear stories like yours. It's partly exciting because the sad fact is that not everyone is as lucky as you are. Others here have elaborated on the reasons for the safety problems with SUVs- and there are far more authoritative people than I who can provide all the statistics that demonstrate the very real dangers involved (like insurance agents or the Department of Transportation- lots of these reports and stats are online if you're inclined to do a little looking around).
All I will say is that if I was making a commute anywhere near the length of the OP's commute, I wouldn't consider an SUV of any sort, not even a hybrid SUV. Some of the hybrid SUVs in our database, like the FEH, get very good gas mileage... for an SUV. But it doesn't approach the mileage you get in a Prius or HCH. I'll run the numbers here, though you can do it yourself.
160 miles per day, five days per week, 52 weeks per year. Add in weekend driving later- I'll ignore it for now.
The current database average for the HCH is 46 mpg.
Prius- 48
TCH- 37
FEH (2WD)- 32.
In gallons, that works out to
HCH- 3.4783 gallons per day or 17.391 gallons per week, 904.35 gallons per year
Prius- 3.3333 gallons or 16.6667 per week, 866.67 gallons per year
TCH- 4.3243 gallons or 21.6216 per week, 1124.32 gallons per year
FEH- 5 gallons or 25 gallons per week, 1300 gallons per year
Assume gas is about $2.50- the gas you save by driving an HCH over an FEH is worth $989.13. The difference between the HCH and the Prius isn't so big, particularly since the error bars in our database pretty much knock any statistical significance out of it over time, but even the TCH, bigger and more comfortable, yes, but with a pretty sizeable reduction in fuel efficiency, loses you 219.97 gallons or about $549.93 per year compared to the HCH.
I think I have to be the biggest example of hybrid indecission on the board. We've looked at ALL of the available hybrids, and we really like a few of the cars we've seen, but we keep nit picking and finding a reason why each car won't work.
The funny part is I think if we just got one car and went with it - we'd probably be happy with each one of the ones we've liked.
We went down and test drove the Prius yesterday, and my husband didn't like how much the rear view mirror blocked his view. I drove it and I didn't have any problem at all. I'm going to drive the Civic hybrid again soon. I've already driven it and really liked it.
We've also driven the Toyota Camry hybrid and the Nissan Altima hybrid, and we really loved how both of them drove.
I think I have to be the biggest example of hybrid indecission on the board. We've looked at ALL of the available hybrids, and we really like a few of the cars we've seen, but we keep nit picking and finding a reason why each car won't work. . . .
This happens in engineering from time to time. What I like to do is model the options in a spreadsheet.
Make a row for each car and a column for each data point. Then rank each vehicle: (1) most desirable, (2) average and (3) least desirable. Make sure each vehicle has an entry for each column. Then add up all of the values for each vehicle and sort them in ascending order (aka., like golf, lower is better.) In more complex analysis, you put a feature "net worth" at the top and do a little math to calculate a weighted score.
When I was looking for my first hybrid, the criteria were:
1) electric motor size to ICE - (1) most motor, (2) average, and (3) least
2) some residual warranty - (1) hybrid+ICE, (2) hybrid, and (3) none
3) maintenance manual - (1) available, (3) none
4) ease of entry (for wife) - (1) Holly OK with elect. seats, (2) Holly OK manual, and (3) Holly climb-up or squat down
5) price - (1) below Blue book, (2) at Blue book, (3) above Blue book
6) source - (1) from a dealer, (3) all others
Once you convert your observations into weighted, numerical rankings, often you' ll narrow the choices to at most two, very close vehicles. The rest is negotiations but at least you'll have a basis of estimate that will make sense.
Most of all, realize it is your requirements, not mine or anyone elses, that need to drive the decision making. Working from your requirements is the right approach and DON'T GET IN A RUSH!!!
In engineering, we have (1) Good, (2) Fast, and (3) Cheap -- pick two. I choose #1 and #3 and when I knew what I wanted, seeing the car come up on Ebay for the right price, I nailed it in less than an hour and never looked back.
I understand you *like* suv's for some reason, but do you need it for commuting? We have a truck that we use about 500 miles per year. The rest of the time my husband has a small 2 door acura and i have an Insight. It is convenient to have a truck or big car, but not for every day. If your main concern is commuting and fuel economy, a small hybrid is the way to go-- OR a small non-hybrid which can get almost twice what an SUV hybrid gets in gas mileage (Yaris, Fit, etc).
well for me, i like to be able to see whats going on. i hate relying on the person in front of me. often they are driving faster than they should be and hit their brakes late.
i also like having room for my stuff. bowling ball, boom box, etc.
i also work with a youth group, and there are times when i can't help transport stuff cause f vehicle size.(although i probably still wont..lol)
Re: Hybrid Indecision???
Re: Hybrid Indecision???
You know, I really need to do that for my next car. Thanks!
