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Anyone gone from a hybrid to an EV?

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  LF-X 
#1 ·
I got my Insight 2 on January 1, 2020. It took only a month or two for the car to completely change the way I drive, completely change my attitude to other drivers, completely change my views on fossil fuel and renewable energy and even got me interested in the transport industry and the current global geo-political energy situation. Some car!

Good as it is, it's still essentially a gas-powered vehicle. I realise now that I must go fully electric. Given my budget this probably means a used Nissan Leaf. But I'll keep the Insight for long-distance work, emergencies and for the family to use. Don't think I could bear to part with it. At least not yet.

It would seem the gas/electric hybrid will quickly become a historical footnote in the not-to-distant future, but in my opinion it has one big advantage - it teaches you how to drive with a light right foot. My fear is that heavy- footed ICE drivers will inevitably become heavy-footed EV drivers without the lessons that can be learned from a hybrid.

It is possible to buy a large, energy-inefficient SUV-style EV that people will drive badly and way too fast and the advantages of driving an intermediate fuel-sipping hybrid will be lost. Or does it not matter if gas becomes a thing of the past and every car is an EV?

Anyone else here gone from an ICE car to a hybrid, had an epiphany, went a little nuts (in a good way), then bought an EV..?
 
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#3 ·
I don't have a response to the main point of your post, but I do want you to consider this:
Letting the Insight sit while you drive the EV will kill it.
Thanks for the reply. The insight would be used both by my partner (who is looking to upgrade her ageing VW) and my son, so it wouldn't be sitting around.

Having said that, and thinking about it logically in the cold light of day, do I really want to drop around £10k on another car so I can start saving money on fuel??

Particularly as I already have a paid-for car that routinely gets 65-75mpg, PLUS I get a work fuel allowance that also pays for my social use AND I absolutely love everything about the Insight. It may be an ICE car, but it has some very impressive engineering going on, was way ahead of its time and is still largely underrated.

Also, a 30kwh Leaf has around 120 miles of range at best. When I get down to 120 miles of fuel remaining in the Insight I start looking for a gas station. So I'm bound to suffer quite badly from range anxiety.

How about that? I just sold my own car to myself and saved ten grand in the process. :LOL:
 
#4 ·
Several members have gone electric.
Chevrolet Bolt is very popular. And then the Tesla model’s also.

I came close to getting a $6000 Fiat 500 E Last year. But I already have six Honda Insight’s.

if you drive a 2000 Honda insight slow enough... and do 10 different modifications that are talked about on here you can get this kind of mileage. Without the battery pack at all.

These pictures are gas only.

I also have a CVT without the battery working and I’m able to get 60 MPG with it .

I think the Chevrolet Spark is rated
At 109 mpg equivalent on how much energy it uses compared to gasoline.

I have cars I gave less than $1000 for.
if you buy a new battery for the Chevrolet Spark it’s very expensive.
 

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#6 ·
Those are summertime values. Without air-conditioning. 30 to 45 miles an hour. About 130 pounds taken out of the car.That hundred miles to the gallon Picture is about three years old.

50 mile an hour is what I drive now. Winter time is much worse mileage. But so is the electric in winter time.
And some cars after 50,000 miles lose from 30 to 50% range or how far they’ll go on a Charge. I like both but the 2000 Honda insight gas only you can’t beat it if you buy the car for $600 like I did.

I also run 100 psi tires. Yes it rides awful that’s why I go slow.

for one day I drove 150 psi on the tires made no difference on mileage. Very little difference from 90 to 100 psi. But a big difference from 80 psi.

I don’t recommend going high Pressure tires it destroys your car .Unless you really drive slow.
I also get three or 4 gallons of gas at a time to keep the weight down I never fill up.

at all this craziness is just on one car that I’m trying to get good mileage on. The other cars are just normal cars.
 
#7 · (Edited)
30 to 45mph is pretty hardcore. What prevents me getting better mileage in the UK are other drivers, who rarely stick to speed limits and routinely drive as fast as possible. My rear camera helps deter tailgaters though.

Gen 2 manual specifies 32 psi, but I get better results with 44. However I compromise at around 38 as 44 really puts pressure on the suspension at speed (as you found), especially at the rear.

I never fill the tank either. Gas is heavy. Why use fuel just to carry fuel around? :)
 
#10 ·
I like your screen name. I can relate to the craziness of the choices we currently have for our personal transportation.
Cars are evolving fast after 2 decades of hybrids. Tesla opened a lot of eyes, to just how much convenience can be obtained
from batteries. Solar innovations are also advancing rather fast. Not much hope for the mass of consumers slowing down anytime soon <- in my opinion -> it's more likely most will complain about the inconvenience of the available electric range
and pack charging time. Or even worse, complaints about manufacturing of electric cars being more environmentally hazardous. My thoughts are there is not one thing being mass produced that is not going to eventually be environmentally hazardous, due to the history of what propels technological advances and intellect. At the top of the heap, my concerns must
appear trivial at best.
There are problems with electric cars too. Much like fully loaded cars, when they are new and all the toys still work, they are
the owners pride and joy. How long they stay that way is a constantly changing set of variables.
 
#11 ·
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The movie is on YouTube . One hour 40 minutes. It shows how electric cars are made. Takes a lot more energy to make aluminum cars than steal cars. It covers a lot of topics. There’s also another movie of people disagreeing with Michael Moore on several subjects and comment he made.

The only way I know to battle pollution destroying ground water digging up dangerous metals out of the ground. Is to slow down human population. Instead of us trying to reach 50 billion people by 2100. May be better to go for 3 billion people by then.

Course it will never happen. Whoever there is the most of will take control of the planet. Nobody wants to come in second place. And that’s if it is religious political the educated countries or the so much.

7 billion people Now is not enough residence on the planet for cotton wheat soy beans corn to be of much value. So what are you supposed to do.
 
#12 ·
I somehow can understand your thinking about the Insight. I bought it 2017 coming from a BMW 530D and Diesel wasn't an real option anymore here in Germany. At that point in time noone knew how regulations would make life of Diesel owners hard. So I switched to the Insight. Tried an Ioniq first, looked at the newer Prius, but the Insight had actually lower consumption and was way cheaper.

Was a bit hard to switch from a high powered BMW to the Insight. But getting the lowest consumption figures makes a lot of fun.

This car really changes the way you drive and what you think about other cars and drivers!

It isn't the best looking car, it isn't the most comfortable one (higher noise and not much luxury), but it is very cheap to own and does the job very reliable.

That said. I'm switching this year (actually bought two cars). The Inisight never was meant to be kept more than 1 or 2 years. I have it now 4 years as I somehow didn't see much that caught my eye during that years.

I ordered a Mach-E this spring. It will be delivered next week! Bought Standard Range RWD as all of the Mustang EVs have enough power for my driving style (thanks Inisght).
The small battery (if you can call it small anyway) of the Mustang is good enough for me. I also got a new Diesel powered camper van (VW Caddy based) that does over 600 miles/over 60mpg on the highway (Thanks Insight).

So I have a relatively efficient camper van (just 75BHP) for long road trips and a more fun to Drive EV as my daily driver now.

I would have wanted AWD with the large battery if I would have switched to the EV instantly. And I would never have bought something with 75 BHP ever either - no matter how low the consumtion is.

I can tell you in a month if the Mustang EV changes my driving habbits back to normal German race mode or if I stay more relaxed on the roads.
 
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