...go to a new car dealer, test drive their SUV, then declare that as nice as it is, but with gas prices so high, you'd want an SUV that gets over 31 MPG in real world driving conditions?

Then regardless of what they answer, you point out your Escape Hybrid, inform them that you do, laugh and leave?

I don't know why, but everytime I see a commercial for an SUV that gets over 20 MPG! I'm tempted to go and test drive one, just to do that.

Guess that's the jerk in me.

I've been real tempted to stop at the Hummer dealer as well.

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

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

Read My Automotive Blog at Rich Rambles

If I ever hear a Hummer owner complain about the price of gas, I'm gonna deck 'em.

Owning a Hummer means not having to care about throwing money out the window.

david

One hummer dealer near me has closed up shop and the few remaining trucks are over at the dealers chevy lot.

BTW, I'm seeing a lot of mustang GTs sitting on used car lots lately too.

Oh, I told a friend of mine that has a 8cyl mustang gt that the accord hybrid gets 250hp and he was like "how can a hybrid get 250hp"? I told him that he should trade in the mustang and get the honda. He would lose 50 hp but get better low end acceleration and also double his mileage.

I wonder if he will. I doubt it but the seed is sown

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Hi All:

___If there are ever real shortages of fuel like in the 70’s with people waiting in gas lines, you are going to see H2 owners keeping a very low profile for risk of being shot! In their favor, most have an excess of wealth and could probably quite easily head down to their local Honda or Toyota dealership and pick up a hybrid without batting an eye … Probably a good idea too

___Tbaleno, have you seen the latest 2 tanks from GreenAndBlue’s AH? If your friend is actually sitting on the fence while thinking about a performance hybrid, maybe you can point him to the following:

UzLess

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Well I feel the need to but in here......

I love my Escape Hybrid and the Prius I have at work, but they both have 2 major short comings -

Space and Beatablity (or what every you want to call it).

I am 6'6" and my 2 boys are heading that way. At 6 and 8 they are almost as cramped in the FEH as I am. The Prius is of course much worse.

Also I can't seem to carry anything in my FEH without causing a dent or a scratch. The car is just to fragile for those of us who live in truely rural areas. Just yesterday i need to carry 2 12' 4x4s to my house and it involved some very tricky work with the roof rack and straps. Carrying fertilizer or gravel is even worse (I now keep it on the hitch in a hitch rack, but the weight causes the suspension to bottom out).

We need some more roomy hybrids - hopefully pickups. My old F-250 extended cab could carry the whole family and tons of gear or home improvement stuff without any complaints. My contractor wants a hybrid pickup ASAP, he does 50k a year in his trucks and gas is eating him alive.

Right now for those of us who need a larger vehicle there is no hybrid option so we are stuck with the gas guzzlers.....

My 2 cents. - let the flaming commence.

Chris Brown

nah, no flaming. The technology will trickle across to most vehicles before too long. It's just starting small.

There is no shame in having a large vehicle that uses a lot of fuel...when its called for. Like actually doing work with it. Funny- that's what trucks used to be primarily for.

You seem to have realized that Escapes are not exactly designed for those who actually NEED a truck. The target demographic, well, I'll leave that blank. It does fit some uses and users well, but that's not who the vehicle was aimed at in the ad campaigns.

One thing- I bet that, at 6ft, you are challenged in many cars, not just hybrids. But thanks for gutting it out, anyway!

I am curious as to what you mean by "leaving the target demographic blank". I happen to own two Escape Hybrids and I really don't give a rats hind end what the "target" demographic was. The vehicle fits my needs perfectly and uses half the gas as my former 2004 Escape V6. That to me is a no-brainer, even if it takes me the three years to break even that I expected (that is at $2.50 a gallon).

So who exactly was the ad campaign aimed at? I'd love to know what stereotype I am shattering now...

Chris - I agree with you 100% about the ruggedness of the Escape but except for groceries and a bunch of survey and engineering equipment that I carry for work, the Escape is for passengers. I keep an old F250 on the road just for the times when I need something hauled. Probably be cheaper to rent a Uhaul when I need to haul or tow something but it is nice to know it is out there when I need it.

Until there are significant breakthroughs in the technology, I think Hybrids are pretty limited to the smaller size vehicles. At some point, with more weight you need bigger motors and generators, more and heavier batteries. You would really start to get diminishing returns with a truck. I'd love to see more variety in the smaller vehicles - I'd buy a Hybrid Focus today if there was such a thing.....

Maybe Hummer will produce their H3 in a Hybrid one day - wouldn't that be ironic?!

I never complain about a person with a large vehicle/SUV/whatever when they need that vehicle for whatever reason. The key part is need; given the disproportionally larger wear, emissions, etc imparted by larger vehicles.

Need is a broad word- work, carrying your dogs, even play that requires towing or going places a car can't. And of course, when its not being used for that, why not just drive the family around? Everyone has their own logic and context for their decisions.

Perhaps I shouldn't have tossed out the bit about 'target' demo. Any mass ad campaign necessarily generalizes to reach a broad audience, but of course that does not capture the whole of the group that needs that product. (In this case, I was refering to the pretty, young people at their pretty campsite, brought there courtesy of their immaculate Escape/Xterra/RAV4...) Mea culpa.

And even without need, there is nothing wrong with simply 'wanting' to have one, for whatever reason (this being America and whatnot). But then I too reserve the right to 'want' to complain about that. And you can, of course, call it out when I generalize too far.

There is the Silverado Hybrid, right?

No, it's the Silverado "hybrid"

2001 Prius Photos       2005 Prius Photos
'97 Prius Simulation Prius inner workings