After discussions on gas, considerate driving, and whatnot, perhaps a little levity is in order.

After a discussion this week, the topic drifted to gas prices. I kind of chucked, and mentioned that I had a hybrid. The discussion turned into a Q&A about the hybrid technology, where I explained how it worked and whatnot.

The first question, as always, "Do you plug it in?" Standard fare, 99% of the people ask that first.

The second question threw me, a new one in my book; "How many pedals do you have?" The person believed that I had 3 pedals, gas accelerator, brake, and electric accelerator. An interesting idea, first time I'd ever heard that.

Fellow board member John Dwyer, has been asked about finding Hydrogen stations to refuel.

So, what's the most "out there", left field, unexpected, and hopefully funny question you've been asked?

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

Live in Michigan? Let it be known in Michigan Roll Call

Other than the usual hybrid myths, nothing remarkable other than the exploding hydrogen filled batteries thread a month or so ago. However, I've have a funny answer for my air-shield experiment. Folks had notice it.

The simple answer is "My car burns so little fuel that in the winter I have to block the radiator to get cabin heat." To confused looks, I add "Like the semi-trailers on the interstate in winter."

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

A retired banker friend asked "So, do you only buy a half-tank of gas at a time?" (She was serious!)

'From a work colleague in 2002; in reference to the power source:

"How do you keep the hamsters motivated?"

'gonEfishnt; seeking a smaller ecological footprint, and the bigger picture

"What sort of gas mileage do you REALLY get (in my pure-battery Toyota Rav4EV)." There are people that I simply cannot convince that my car uses NO gasoline. When I tell them that I have 30k miles, and haven't put any gas in it yet, I get the look of, "you might as well come clean. I know you're lying."

Oops. You guys burn gas? Wrong forum.

My secondary car is a Prius...

"So if it runs on batteries when does the gas engine come on?" (they assume the car is primarly electric and only kicks the engine on if the batteries get low)

I coast into the parking lot at work with the car completely off, no engine, no electric motor, just coasting on momentum and everybody comments how quiet the car is "running off the electric motor." They assume that since the car is moving something must be pushing it.

"Wow I didn't realize your car (HCH) was a hybrid, I thought hybrids were ugly (Insight/Prius)."

The funniest things anybody has ever said about hybrids came from the lips of my terrible sales person at the dealership.

He told me that the assist gauge meant that the gas engine was helping the electric motor when it said assist, and was running on the electric motor only when it said charging.


I asked if it had a lifetime mileage gauge and he asked if I meant a trip meter. I said "um sure" and he said "No it doesn't have a trip meter"

He tried to get the idle stop to work but couldn't. He said that the 2004 and newer has the idle stop feature but the 2003 must not (he he).

Under the hood he shows me the bright orange wires that "go to the 2 motors, one for each wheel".

He told me that the "S" (sport) setting was for "Slow".

hey, that must be the same guy who sold me my '69 corvette back in new jersey... was his name Joe P....? i'd let the dealer put my car on the showroom floor to generate some traffic for them, and i went in one day to "visit my baby." i opened the hood and found a small silver canister which was part of the fuel line, between the fuel pump and the carburetor. i asked the salesman what it was, and he made up some bogus answer. his boss, the sales manager, was standing next to him, and interrupted, saying, "Joe, when you don't know what you're talking about, just shut up."
. later, i figured out what it was: a vapor separator. the fuel pump pumped fuel into the little can. most of the fuel went to the carburetor, but at idle, excess fuel was returned to the fuel tank through a third pipe connected to the canister. thus, the fuel pump was always pumping fuel through the main fuel line, virtually eliminating the chance of vapor lock! very clever! and taught me something about lying to customers. i never did that when i got out into industry, and many people respected me a lot for that. [except the inveterate liars.... ]

+af
Northwest Raleigh, NC, USA
'04 Silver opt.BC/9; 24,000+ miles so far
http://www.plusaf.com/prius/prius.htm
http://www.plusaf.com/coast/coast1.htm
My Prius without the trailer:

My Prius with the trailer:

One of my sister's friends asked me how much it costs for me to fill up. Just seemed like a weird first question... it would cost the same as any other car with a 13 gallon gas tank.

Auto salesmen can be so dumb

The guy I deal with is smart. He knows that he knows very little about the HCH. He also knows I know way more than he does about the car. He doesn't open his mouth unless he has access to all the sales materials so if I have a question so he can actually answer it properly.