I snapped this photo while driving southbound on California’s Interstate 5 recently. We all know that Prius owners tend to be a bit smug, but this vanity plate takes the cake.
Click for a larger image
Now before anyone gets all bent out of shape, I’ll point out that I own and drive an electric car myself. But I don’t go rubbing other peoples noses in my wattage.
Jim B (13:06:16)
My understanding is that the vehicle is only available in California at the moment and that ~mpg/cost is broadly similar to petrol/diesel. It seems to have an equivalent perfomance to a “normal” family car.
You make excellent points – I am quite sure that changing the nation’s fuelling stations will be a significant cost. As a previous poster mentioned it appeared on the BBC last night on “Top Gear” and as I recall the comment was that it was broadly the same cost to put hydrogen into the vehilce as fuel is now (I assumed relative mpg/cost?).
What really intrigued me was that the engine is so simple it could make a step change in maintenance.
Summary was it has potential – and outside the debate on climate change it seems like a step forward – especially if we can find a cheap way of making hydrogen that fills the vehicle readily available.
Please understand – I am not an advocate – but merely someone who has become interested in the concept. I am equally aware this concept has been in the running for some time and Anthony and others living in Cali may be well ahead of me.
Best quote ever on this site….
In a Progressive’s world, low gas prices are bad for earth because it makes life better for the peasants, and that is definitely a bad thing for Gaia
my opinion
The Democrats love the poor and they want to keep them that way
From bushy’s post above:
A few questions come to mind:
Who grants these ‘credits’? If Russia and Ukraine have an extra $89 billion they can stash away out of their current supply, what is the total world giveaway of carbon credits? Do China, India, Brazil, and a hundred other UN countries get free credits too? Who pays for these credits? Is there full transparency of the brokering/clearing process? Are the “carbon” savings audited by an outside accounting firm, or do we just take their word for it? Does the U.S. get any credit for cleaning up the environment to the point that we have the most pollution free industry, per capita, on the planet? Or do the dirtiest countries get to use free [to them] credits to keep on polluting?
Just wondering.
In Miami, this past weekend they opened the new 7-mile HOV/congestion price lanes that can go as high as $6.20.
Hybrids ride for free.
I am seriously considering buying the 8-cylinder Lexus hybrid.
Wow – nothing like a Prius to get people foaming at the mouth.
As a driver of one – and a doubter of AGW, at least in its most hysteric incarnations – it amazes me why anyone really cares what cars others drive. I don’t consider myself smug as much as practical but somehow because I drive a Prius I am a smug environmental wacko. And despite the silly “doesn’t pay back” arguments, you don’t hear those same arguments about chrome wheels and leather seats, as David Y. comments above. In fact, a hybrid is one of the few “options” you could get on car that in fact could pay back. On top of the better mpg, throw in a federal tax credit, lighter engine servicing requirements, longer lasting brakes, and use of carpool lanes and I’m saving money and time.
And of course, if you want to think about the true cost of gas, just go to http://www.setamericafree.com to see some interesting discussion. If we all reduced our consumption of oil, I think our national security situation would be much improved as would our trade imbalances. It doesn’t take a smug, environmental wacko to appreciate that.
Sorry, it’s http://www.setamericafree.org/
I am not anti-Prius, I am against the way the State of California managed to completely eliminate the efficiency of the Prius by putting them in the carpool lane where their mileage improvement over a conventional vehicle is minimized.
Basically, California wasted the benefit of the technology and instead of selling them to people who live in the city and drive in heavy traffic, they ended up selling them to people who make long freeway commutes and want to use the wide open HOV lanes. So many people bought them for the “wrong” reason and the state encouraged it.
The only “stop and go” driving my Prius owning neighbors do is between the house and the freeway and the freeway to the office. 90% of our commute time is at 65MPH or better.
Driving a different type of vehicle and shifting the energy source from oil to coal or nuclear or solar isn’t going to solve our energy problems in the long run. The real problem, no matter what form of individual transport that we use, is that it is, literally, ‘individual transport’. Mass transit is the only real, longterm solution. Less precious energy to transport more mass.
We (me included) aren’t going to give up our cars until forced to, when the price of driving gets too high. The current price of gas ($1.77/gal here in CA, currently) is a pretty good demonstration of what a little energy conservation can achieve. Conserve, drop demand, and voila, down goes the cost. If we focused our efforts on energy conservation and let the free market take care of the rest, many of today’s energy-related problems (AGW, that is) will go away by themselves.
Tim:
It’s the federal tax credits that piss me off personally. (Don’t believe they are available here in Canada – could be wrong). I don’t give 2 hoots what you choose to drive. All the power to you. Just don’t do it on my dime. (Note: I recognize I don’t pay taxes down there). I tried to go to your link but it wouldn’t let me. That being said, if you are worried about foreign oil dependency, that quantity of risk, as interpreted by the market is built into the price of oil. Econ 101 – All future expecations are built into a product’s price; especially with commodities.
Here’s an interesting microturbine electric hybrid car. The concept is borrowed from the commercial aircraft industry. A small turbine provides the electricity to charge the batteries and an electric motor takes power from the battery/ies for propulsion.
http://www.velozzi.org/newsletter/future.htm
Whether they can deliver is the question.
FWIW Tim, I don’t have a problem with anyone driving any vehicle. It’s when someone drives a specific vehicle and then derides others for not being as foresighted or “green” as they are. This happens with other vehicles besides Priuses (Prii?), like the silly Smart Car.
“Wow – nothing like a Prius to get people foaming at the mouth.”
Sorry, Tim. Guilty as charged. Seeing a Prius on the road is like having Algore, Hansen, and the entire California state government encapsulized next to you. You probably didn’t desire any of that baggage by buying the car, but it kind of goes with the territory. I ignore them most of the time, but a smug license plate or a bumper sticker saying “I’ll pass while you’re getting gas” is a bit much.
I can relate a little bit. One of my cars is a Porsche. A friend has an older Porsche that isn’t worth even $10k at this point. We both get looks and comments like, oh you must be some smug, rich, heartless snob. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I’ll deal with the stereotype to enjoy the car. About the only time I rev it up and try to look cool is when passing a Prius. 🙂
(What most people don’t know is that the Porsche engines are pretty efficient these days. Of our three cars, the Boxster S gets the best mileage.)
Honda have an intersting Hydrogen Fuel cell car on limited test lease in Southern California at present. At $600 a month before Insurance, hydrogen etc it’s a bit pricey, and the other drawback is the limited range (260 miles) and dearth of Hydrogen filling stations.
Still, it’s a public trial of a working technology, and that’s what counts. Link here http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/
Everyone should be free to buy any car they want. That’s what makes a market. Last week Mrs. Smokey bought her first new car in 11 years, a new Camry with a V-6, which is pretty hard to find as most have a 4. Interestingly, the V-6 gets just one mpg less mileage than the four cylinder, and it has about 100 more horsepower.
Gasoline prices will probably continue to decline for several reasons: no storage availability [tanker ships are being leased to store excess capacity off shore, that’s why futures prices are in contango]; countries like Venezuela, Russia and Iran absolutely must keep up their income stream, which means they will be competing to sell more oil, not less; and OPEC members cheat on each other.
The bad news is that Obama has promised way more money than is available, and there simply are not enough people making over $250K a year to balance the shortfall. All of Bill Gates’ money isn’t enough to run the federal gov’t for one week… and then Mr. Gates wouldn’t have any more money to tax. So guess who Obama will tax? You and me — with a gasoline tax [among others].
I can hear them now: “Remember when gas was $4.39 a gallon? Now it’s only $X.XX a gallon. So you can easily afford to pay us another dollar a gallon tax.”
A gas tax is extremely regressive, and it whacks the less affluent the hardest. But you can bet a big hike in the gas tax is on Obama’s agenda.
OT: Wouldn’t this be a great time to go gangbusters on filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
JimB:
“Would you make the same assumption about Hansen?”
I would not put Hansen in the same company as Taylor (the Super Oralloy Bomb, Wasp, Hornet), Johnson (P80, F104, SR-71), and Bull (Project HARP, the “Kalahari Ferrari”, the Supergun). Those men used sound engineering and built wonderful devices.
So, the answer is “No”.
What’s going on with AMSRE, looks like the ice is going away, how is this possible?
Mike
“Note: I recognize I don’t pay taxes down there”
You may not, but many other Canadians do. Last time I was in Canada they were talking about going across the border to the US to buy gas and some other items. Canadian oil is cheaper in the US than it is in Canada.
We appreciate the help with taxes and your cheap oil. ; – )
Now if you’re a rancher, the vehicle has to be big and bad enough to carry a 1/2 cord of wood, or a load of sheep/pigs/chickens, hat bales, old fencing, new fencing, a concrete culvert or two, several dogs, two deer or one elk, or several bags of feed or seed, and get through the snow bank or mud hole.
Jeep Commanders rule.
and HAY bales as well as hat bales.
After three years, when you need to replace those batteries, I laugh at you, who buys into technological scams.
As an engineer, I understand mass, length, time and cost. Do you?
Stephen Hill,
It appears Al Gore was right, the arctic is melting at a prodigious rate. 🙂
“Steve Moore (16:30:44) :
JimB:
“Would you make the same assumption about Hansen?”
I would not put Hansen in the same company as Taylor (the Super Oralloy Bomb, Wasp, Hornet), Johnson (P80, F104, SR-71), and Bull (Project HARP, the “Kalahari Ferrari”, the Supergun). Those men used sound engineering and built wonderful devices.
So, the answer is “No”.
And based on that, I would agree.
Especially the SR-71…
JimB
“Smokey (16:03:07) :
Wow – nothing like a Prius to get people foaming at the mouth.
Everyone should be free to buy any car they want. That’s what makes a market. Last week Mrs. Smokey bought her first new car in 11 years, a new Camry with a V-6, which is pretty hard to find as most have a 4. Interestingly, the V-6 gets just one mpg less mileage than the four cylinder, and it has about 100 more horsepower.”
It may be rated for 1 less MPG but it will not get even close in real world driving. It is just too tempting to put the petal to the floor, and that eats the gas : ) We have a small V6 car (not a Camry) my daughter with a lead foot got 14 to 15 MPG, my son, against stereotypes, drives very smoothly and got 17 to 18 mpg. City driving short distances mostly.
crosspatch (13:14:13) :
Practically all hydrogen gas manufactured in the US is made from fossil fuel.
Crosspatch is absolutely correct except he could have said in the entire world.
Virtually all the hydrogen in the world is made from natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons often Naphta.
As an engineer that has worked on many hydrogen plants, the logic of using hydrogen as a motor fuel totally escapes me as well as every other engineer I have talked to. The process of manufacturing hydrogen is wasteful of energy because you convert all the carbon of fossil fuel into CO2 and dump the CO2 into the atmosphere. Sure the hydrogen powered car does not emmit CO2 but the manufacturing process spews CO2 wastefully somewhere else. It is hard to believe any claims that the cost is competive with gasoline.
Of course hydrogen can be manufactured by separating water into hydrogen and oxygen with electricity however the energy required is at least as much as you will ever get out of the hydrogen when you convert it back to water. Does it make sense to convert electricity energy to make hydrogen when we could use the electricity directly to power the car?
Also Hydrogen is always a gas at atmospheric temperature so it must be compressed to approximately 8000 psi in order to store a reasonable amount of energy in a tank. I would not sleep well with a 8000 psi tank in my garage. Finally others have already pointed out the problems and cost of providing fuel distribution systems for hydrogen. Only a high government subsidy will support the near term use of hydrogen as a major motor fuel. Or possibly a state that is going bankrupt with crazy ideas.