First, name some of these '80s cars.
You'll find they were tiny tinboxes cars that most people would not buy today. Honda Civic CRX, Geo Metro XFi, Ford Ka 3-cyl, Isuzu iMark, VW Rabbit diesel, etc. I doubt you would buy one. People want safety for when the 2-ton SUV nails you, they want AC - satnav - leather - comfort, they want room for four or five, etc.
Perhaps a market will develop for stripped-down micro-cars, that would be fine, but I don't think the bulk of Americans are going to move from 4x4 Durangos to Smart Cars that quickly.
Second, what does "unreliable in the long run" mean?
The Prius is one of the most reliable cars out there. Gen 1 Priuses (from 2001) are still on the road with 150K+ miles delivering 50 MPG, like my dad's car. A small percentage are needing battery replacements, but after 8 years and 150K miles is a 5% chance of needing a $3-4K repair all that shocking?
Agreed, these aren't like old Beetles, 2CVs, and Land Rovers that are still running 40 years on. But most of today's cars won't be running in 20 years, not even 15 years. For me, 5+ years and 100K+ miles is "long run" enough.
Bottomline, the Prius cost similar to what any other new car (that we'd have wanted) would have, delivers avg 42-ish MPG in the city and avg 50-55 MPG highway, is totally reliable, and I could sell it today for nearly what it cost new. Not a bad deal, really.
Quote:
Originally Posted by legion
You are completely missing the point. A hybrid is an expensive, overcomplicated solution to a simple problem. There were cars on the market in the 80's that got better gas mileage than a Prius that didn't need the electric motor, or the heavy battery array (that will eventually fail--either rendering the hybrid system inoperative or costing thousands of dollars to replace). Just because a Prius gets better gas mileage with a lot of bells and whistles does not mean that it is the best approach. Simply cutting weight from most cars would yield the same results without the reliance on an expensive, unreliable (in the long-term) technology.
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