Should You Buy a Hybrid or Electric Car?

Should you buy a hybrid or electric car? The answer depends on the type of driving you do. If most of your driving is short trip commuting, city driving or suburban shopping, a high mileage hybrid or electric car makes a lot of sense. So much fuel is wasted sitting in traffic and waiting for stop lights to change. A stop-start system on a hybrid car that turns the engine off saves fuel that would otherwise be wasted going nowhere. Depending on how much time you spend sitting, your overall fuel economy may improve 10 percent or more with a hybrid stop-start system. And if the car is a full hybrid like Toyota Prius that starts moving in electric only mode, your fuel savings can be even greater. That's why hybrids get such high city fuel economy numbers.
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2014 Cadillac ELR.

One type of vehicle that makes a LOT of sense environmentally is the extended range or plug-in electric car. Some current examples include the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid. Cadillac also has its own plug-in ELR extended range electric car that borrows much of the powertrain technology from the Chevy Volt. What's so great about these cars? They offer the best of both worlds: the fuel savings of a straight electric driving mode with the ability to take longer trips using regular gasoline. The Chevy Volt has an electric driving range of about 35 to 40 miles, which roughly translates into 100 to 110 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe). The Fiskar Karma goes about 40 to 50 miles before the gasoline engine takes over.
The only reason people are not standing in line to buy these vehicles is because the sticker prices are relatively high: $38,000 MSRP on the Chevy Volt, $32,000 on the Prius Plug-in and $102,000 on the Fiskar Karma! To help offset these prices, the federal government has been offering tax credits of up to $7,500 depending on the year and model. Some states are also offering their own tax incentives to switch to green vehicles. When the tax credits are deducted from the sales price, these cars are still expensive but no more expensive than many luxury cars that don't get anywhere near the fuel economy of a plug-in electric car.
The economic payback will depend on the number of miles driven, the cost of the vehicle and the ever rising cost of gasoline. For high mileage drivers, the payback can come fairly quickly. For low mileage drivers, it may take many years (if ever). Even so, every gallon of gasoline you don't have to buy is one less gallon consumed. That means less demand for oil, less carbon being dumped into the atmosphere to contribute to climate change and global warming, and less profit for Big Oil.
I have yet to meet a Toyota Prius or Chevy Volt owner who is not completely satisfied and outright enthusiastic about their car! Many of the people who own and drive these cars are real zealots about promoting the benefits of hybrids. And if most of their driving is 40 miles a day or less, they almost NEVER have to buy gasoline if they drive a plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt! That's something to think about the next time you pass a filling station and wince at the latest jump in prices. If you were driving a Chevy Volt or other plug-in electric, you could thumb your nose at them and drive right by without having to drain your bank account to fill your fuel tank.
For a Chevy Volt owners perspective on what it's really like to own and drive a Volt, Click Here for Richard Smith's My Electric Vehicle Journey.

The Chevy Volt is an extended range plug-in hybrid (Click for Larger Image)
Most owners are VERY enthusiastic about their Volts!.


Plugging in an electric hybrid is a LOT cheaper than pumping gas.(Click for Larger Image)
A single charge costs about $1.25 and lasts 35 to 40 miles in electric mode.
Pure Electric Cars What about pure electric cars? Tesla has hit a home run with their Model S. With the larger 85 kwh battery, the car has an EPA estimated driving range of 265 miles (although most real world drivers get about 230 miles per charge). Other electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV and Ford Focus Electric typically have a shorter driving range of around 70 miles on a charge (which is still adequate for most commuters).
The limiting factor that determines driving range remains the battery. The lithium ion battery packs in full electric cars are EXPENSIVE (an estimated $18,000 for the Nissan Leaf battery, which means Nissan has to heavily subsidize the cost of these vehicles to keep the car affordable). The batteries are also slow to recharge, taking up to 18 to 20 hours with a 110 volt outlet for a full charge. Tier II 220 volt chargers can reduce the charge time to 3 to 4 hours. Even so, that's a long wait if you need to go somewhere and the battery is low.
Pure electric cars such as the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubithi iMiEV and Ford Focus Electric are selling in limited numbers, and are often purchased as a second commuter car or errand car, not as the primary means of transportation. Except for the Tesla Model S, these other electric cars make great city cars but may not have enough range for surburban or rural drivers. They create "range anxiety" for many drivers. You worry about running out of battery power before you can find a plug to top off or recharge your battery. If you do run out of juice, and there is no plug or charging station nearby, you're looking at an expensive tow to the nearest power source.
The Tesla S is a much more practical electric car with its superior driving range, full sedan size and good looks. But these cars are high priced luxury models that are beyond the average family budget. The sticker price for a new Tesla Model S is nearly $90,000.
Hybrid Vehicle Ownership Except for some flap over unintended acceleration, the Toyota Prius has had a pretty good reputation for reliability. Like most hybrids, the hybrid components are covered by an 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty (10 years/150,000 miles in California). Consequently, if you are the first owner you should have little repair expense to worry about. The most expensive item to replace is the hybrid battery pack. In Toyota's case the battery pack has proven to be very long-lived and reliable. There are Toyota Prius cabs prowling the streets in many large cities that have over 300,000 miles on the original battery!
The only hybrid vehicles that have proved troublesome to date are the Saturn VUE hybrid (LOTS of electrical issues!), and the Honda Civic hybrid (premature battery failures). Click Here for more info about Honda's hybrid battery problems. Other than these exceptions, most hybrid owners are very satisfied with their cars and would buy a hybrid again.
Hybrid Repairs If a hybrid or electric vehicle needs repairs that involve the hybrid powertrain, transmission, hybrid battery or control system, it should be taken to a new car dealership for service (or the nearest dealer that has the proper training and equipment to service their vehicles as some dealers may not be certified to work on these vehicles). The other option is to find a qualified aftermarket repair facility that has had hybrid training and experience. Most of these vehicles are beyond the average technician's ability to accurately (and safely) diagnose and repair hybrid-related problems. Advanced diagnostics requires a factory level scan tool or an aftermarket professional grade scan tool with OEM-equivalent software capabilities. An inexpensive DIY scan tool can read basic codes and other system data, but cannot access many of the built-in self-tests in the vehicle.
Ordinary maintenance such as oil changes and non-hybrid repairs such as brakes, tires, engine, etc. can usually be performed by any competent service facility.

Strong hybrid sales growth is predicted to continue in the years ahead.

Hybrid Vehicles Selling Well

In 2013, the auto makers sold over 15.5 million cars and light trucks. Of these, 3.8 percent or nearly 600,000 vehicles were hybrids, plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles. Those numbers are up from 3.4% of sales in 2012 (487,480 hybrids & plug-in electrics sold), and a big jump over the 284,064 hybrids sold in 2011.
The following information was provided to AA1Car for this article by Craig Van Batenburg, the "go to" guy for hybrid vehicle training. Information about Craig's Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC) can be found at www.fixhybrid.com, or by calling 800 939 7909. Here's what Craig reported on hybrid vehicle sales for 2012:

Toyota Hybrids

Toyota's Commitment to Hybrid Technology paid big dividends in 2012. It was a record year for industry hybrid sales. Sales nearly doubled, approaching almost half a million. Toyota and Lexus account for 70 percent of those sales. Toyota and Lexus hybrids were up more than 83 percent for the year. The Prius family was up nearly 75 percent to 236,000 sold. About 15 percent of all models were hybrids.

Honda Hybrids

The FIT EV is here (CA) as Honda gets ready for Pure Electric cars. The 2014 Plug-in Accord went on sale in January with lots of new Honda HEV technology. Honda will be introducing a two motor system in the Civic as the old IMA system goes away. ACDC will offer web training on the 2014 Accord Plug-in hybrid.

General Motors Hybrids and Electrics

The VOLT sales in 2012 were over 22,000 up from 7,000 the year before. GM has actually sold more Chevy Volts than Corvettes since January 2012!
The Spark EV (maybe a bad name!!) is a pure EV and will go on sale this year. It's GM's answer to the Nissan Leaf.
Cadillac is getting a version of the VOLT for big spenders, the Cadillac ELR. It's a luxury version of the Chevy Volt with a higher level of performance (though the electric range and fuel economy is about the same).

2014 Cadillac ELR extended range electric car (Click for Larger Image).


The Chevy Spark will be GM's small pure electric car (Click for Larger Image).

Ford Electrics

The C-Max is a hybrid only and the C-Max Energi is a Plug-in version of the same. The C-Max Energi has a larger battery, can go 21 miles in full electric mode and at speeds up to 47 mph or faster on the battery alone, and gets 110 MPGe in the city. The Energi also has one of the longest combined driving ranges of any plug-in electric hybrid, delivering up to 620 miles on a full battery and tank of fuel.
Both versions of the C-Max are selling very well. It replaced the Escape HEV. The Escape is still here for 2013 but no HEV system. The Fusion was completely re-designed for 2013 and uses the C-Max hybrid drivetrain. The Fusion is also available as a Plug-in known as the Fusion Energi. Both now have separate inverters (Power electronics boxes) from the CVT. Very Toyota like. Also, no more NiMH as Ford has gone to Li-ion. The Focus EV has sold poorly so far but that my change as gas $ go up and more people learn about the EV benefits.

Ford C-Max Energi 2000 electric car.

Nissan Electrics

The Leaf has a new EV system (same battery) for 2013 and a much lower Leaf model. Now it is 22,000 after the 7,500 federal tax credit. That is 6,000 less than last year. A new CVT (belt driven) with a built-in HV motor is coming to many Nissan gas models. Unique and it looks like a great solution to adding a HEV system to an existing car.

Hyundai / Kia Hybrids

They beat Honda in sales last year in the HEV market. These cars share the same system. ACDC has a one hour webinar online to learn more about these hybrid cars.