I'm introducing myself to the group. My Dad bought a 2001 Pruis and loved it. He wanted the newer model so I got his "old" one. I love it too. My high-mileage Califronia dwelling sister bought an 2001 Prius also. We are tickled with the cars even though we are not car people. It's so easy to park, I can't believe anyone would buy an SUV. Is that a curse word on this site?

 

Welcome to the site!

SUV is almost a curse word here, but then again we also have SUV hybrids, so that dampens it a bit.

Nice to see a family into Prii, I think my parents should get a new Prius so I can hypermile in their 2001, but they really like it, so maybe I'll just wait and eventually get an EV.

 

The EV you included a photo of was very interesting. Is it the same thing as a smart car?

 

Welcome to GreenHybrid. I've heard plenty of "non car" people say how much they love their Prius. Congrats!

 

You mean the car(s) in my signature?

They are very different than the smart car, they don't use diesel or gasoline, just compressed air, or electricity to recharge. They are made by a company based out of France, but they will not be exported, instead the factories will be exported so that an area that wants to buy them can also have the benefit of building, selling and servicing them. The two in my signature are their current models, the MiniCAT and the CityCAT. The Mini is a 3 seater where the driver sits in the middle of the car and the passengers are on either side. The City is a 2-6 person vehicle that comes as a delivery/work van, minivan, or truck type body. They are also working on a RoadCAT that will be a triple hybrid, using gasoline (or other combustible) as well as compressed air (and a small electric motor/generator like Honda IMA) so that it can operate in pollution-free modes in the city, and for high-speed, high distance trips it will be able to switch to combustion fuel for around 2000km of driving to a tank.

Click on the image in my signature for my summary page or visit their site at http://www.theaircar.com for more info.

If I had the money I'd build a factory here, but unfortunately I do not. They are building factories in Mexico, so hopefully the word will spread from there.