Hello,

I am currently considering the purchase of a Camry, Accord, or Civic. All of which come in a Hybrid flavor.

From what I can see around the forum, most Hybrid owners take great care to drive their cars as gently as possible so that they may eke out the best MPG.

I have no intention of doing this.

Given the three cars I am considering, are there any advavtages to going with a Hybrid?


Thank you,
David

Well, you will probably save some gasoline over doing the same thing with a non-hybrid equivalent of each. In the case of the Accord you reap the benefit of the most powerful drivetrain available for that car. (Of course, that's probably going to get you the lowest gas mileage of the bunch...you have to pay to play.) But if you are accelerating at full-throttle from light to light and waiting until the last minute to slam on the brakes, driving at 80-90mph, etc., then no car will get you fantastic fuel mileage. Whether it's worth it to pay extra for the hybrid option depends on your expectations and just how inefficient your driving style is.

This is a good question.

If you have been lurking around for at least six months, you will also find the occasional person that drove their hybrid hard. They tend to be unhappy. By "driving hard", I'm assuming cruising 75-80mph and varying your speed frequently.

One type of driver is the "full throttle" guy. Hybrids are not designed for full throttle - think about it. You have two drivetrains - the electric one joins in occasionally when you need all your power. This is the premise - the ICE is downsized to reduce fuel consumption, and the driver will only occasionally need both the ICE and the hybrid trains.... If a driver is frequently pushing the envelope of the hybrid, the ICE is probably performing past it's optimum range, and the electric drivetrain is used more frequently than intended. The charge cycle of the batteries is the most critical.

Lots of improvements have been made on hybrid batteries and the software regulating their charge, but bottom line is still - the more charges - the shorter their life.

My 2000 5-speed Insight had it's battery pack replaced at nearly 94,000 miles. The dealership recommended moderate driving - no hypermiling or hard driving. You almost certainly will be choosing a car with an automatic, so this will mitigate some hybrid battery concerns (I have a 5-speed).

The two driving factors that will impair fuel economy the most is driving over 70mph and varying speed a lot. I have experienced this myself the first couple of years driving the Insight as well as reading people that have identified themselves as fast drivers on this forum - this is physics. Drivers that do this have two strikes against them...

If you insist on driving fast, consider some hypermiling techniques, i.e. maintaining a constant speed at a high cruise.

More important than fuel economy, hard driving is more wear-and-tear. In a hybrid vehicle, there is more to break. That is more expensive than the price of gas...

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

The accord hybrid is about as fast as a mustang gt and probably faster off the line.

I say go conventional if all you want is a fast car. The conventional car is made for abuse.

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If you insist on a hybrid the Accord is by far the fastest of the group, the HCH the slowest. You should test drive all 3 before deciding. You might find the HCH too wimpy and it is unlikely that you need all the power of the Accord so without more info I'd suggest the TCH.

If you want power, look at the Lexus family. Those boats have a bunch and then some. As for the three you identified, probably the Accord but a gas-only version would probably out perform the hybrid and cost less.

Bob Wilson

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Actually, the hybrid Accord out performs the regular Accord, but I stick to my original assertion that the increased wear-and-tear of hard driving may come to haunt you in a hybrid. The Accord and Camery might be more forgiving than other hybrids, but if I were to attempt to speed in a semi-fuel efficient way, I'd get the smallest sedan that would fit my needs and get a 5-speed.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Too me you can push a hybrid just like any other car and still maintain pretty good FE. The advantage of an hybrid is that it allows you to maximize FE when driven with FE in mind... more so than a non-hybrid car.

It's not a question of whether you're going to drive hard or soft, it's a question of whether you're going to drive dumb. If you're just going to drive a bit more than optimal speed and not ease off the accelerator when going down hill then a hybrid will still probably benefit you. Just normal driving, even if not entirely optimal you'll get better gas mileage.

If you're going to drive idiotically and drag race off the line at every green light, only to slam on your breaks then nothing is going to help you (although the electric assist will help save gas during acceleration). It depends whether you're going to drive in a way that's intentionally designed to get bad gas mileage, or one that is just neutral.

Keep in mind that the fuel economy gauge has a very persuasive ability to change your driving habits. Just seeing how what you are doing impacts your gas mileage can encourage you to try to maximize your fuel economy. You don't have to be a fanatic about it to benefit from responding to what your car is telling you.

It depends if you come in with a bad attitude or not. If you're just going to drive badly to spite everyone, then I doubt a hybrid will benefit you much. Otherwise, for normal driving I'd say it would be worth it.

Since there have been no followups to the original question, we probably convinced him that a hybrid does not fit into his driving style...

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated