The Diesel/Electric hybrid is definitely the way to go if it’s going to be a hybrid. It offers the more torque, up to 30% higher fuel economy than the same displacement in a gasoline engine, along with less maintenance. Whoever offers the diesel/electric hybrid here in the states first will win big. Americans seem to need another reason to buy a diesel than just better fuel economy.

Typically too many suvs are being made and sold for use on public roads. This leads to the general publics acceptance of these monsters, whether they are hybrid or not. What is wrong with driving a car that is suitable for the average commute and the occasional family drives. Oversized cars are not necessary and are a blight on our roads and environment. The people in power being the President, Prime Minister, Queen or whatever should legislate against these vehicles, increase taxes on them to such a point that they are not viable. Base registration costs on fuel consumption, road taxes on mass and these vehicles will disappear like the dinosaurs they are.

BMW will not bring a 4 cylinder model to the United States because of the public-image damage the ill-conceived 328tii caused the brand. It doesn’t matter how many turbos, hp, or MPG it gets! My bet is in the near future BMW will bring some of the start-stop technology to the US on the high-end models to hide/absorb the cost of the technology (ala X6 Hybrid or monster 7-series).

Personally I am hoping for a diesel X1 with a smaller turbo’ed diesel engine than is currently in the 335d. The X1 should carry a price tag high enough to absorb the additional cost of the diesel engine, maintain the BMW image in the US for power and luxury, and at the same time be a small enough vehicle to return a good combined MPG.

I’m sure BMW would prefer to leap frog all the hybrid technologies and take electric cars directly to the market. That would definitely keep the brand image clean (performance and low CO2).

BMW Fan,

I agree the 318tii was terrible but BMW is still missing the boat. They ARE losing sales – when was the last time you ever heard of BMW offering a $4500 discount – from BMW not the dealer. Add on the additional discounts you can negotiate from the dealer and these are massive price reductions. A couple of years ago it was sticker or maybe couple of grand off total. Some of these deals are reaching 10% off. The only reason any manufacturer discounts is b/c they can’t sell enough units at their standard price. Bring over high mileage cars or suffer. As it stands now, if it truly does ship I’m buying a Fisker Karma next year. That means BMW will be off my list for at least 4-5 more years. Too many people like me and they will be hurting. Get your head out of the sand BMW. You make an awesome car, now make one for the US that gets good gas mileage too!

Lost Prius to wife you bring up a good point about less components that could go wrong though it would be interesting to see how much less repairs a pure EV would have over its lifetime.

Two great business that surround any car produced today is the auto mechanic & the need go to a fueling station for fuel. I have seen some stories in the last few days debating the future of transportation w/c is EV’s or Fuel Cells but I can’t see how consumers would not lean towards EV’s even w/ current limitations due to reducing the inconvenience & costs of stops at the gas station or monthly oil changes. It is unclear to me how dealerships would make up lost revenue in its auto mechanic business & will consumers drive EV’s or hybrids like a Prius longer if less wear & tear happens w/c could hurt sales of new vehicles?

Side comment on mechanics watch out for them ordering parts from their buddies & not giving you the cheapest parts, (say dealership brand name parts) along w/ parts showing up so quick you don’t have time to checkout if he is telling you the truth… But if you do order the parts yourself beware that the mechanic may up his labor to makeup for lost revenue for him & the auto parts friend. That is why its important to have a good mechanic that doesn’t try to suck as much money out of you as possible.

Samie, I agree that there are some unanswered questions for the future to answer.

Hybrids that do not run their gas engine all the time are already saving on some maintenance cost. I figure that my wife and I run the Prius gas engine approximately 45% to 65% of the time driven. The only real difference between a Toyota Prius (or a Chevy Volt) and an EV is that there will be no gas engine in the EV. All three of the above have got regenerative brakes, electric motors and batteries. The Prius batteries are only beefy enough to provide sustainer energy while the other two provide main source energy. Although regenerative brakes, electric motors and batteries will have failure rates, they will be low. Regenerative brakes, electric motors and batteries tend to be simpler and less parts to make them. Therefore it stands to reason that all the above vehicles should last longer than any conventional counterpart. People could end up holding on to their cars until the body’s rust out and/or fall apart. The systems running them could be potentially still be in very good shape.

Because Honda hybrids run their gas engines all the time, they should have expected lifetimes and required maintenance matching that of any conventional vehicle.

And then there are people that refuse to keep a car more than four or five years. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I agree the diesel/electric hybrid is probably the ultimate way to go….perhaps another choice would be a CNG/electric combo….if you could add the compressor at your home
to process the natural gas, then you could eliminate any need for oil….what a win/win situation….when some genius develops a better type battery than is presently available,
they would become super rich, and we could kiss off the middle east cartel, along with
hugo chavez and venezuela

I’ve never even thought about commenting till now. I guess if I really like a post I find myself checking the external links for more and favoriting (if that is a word) the post instead.
From now on though I’ll definitely try and drop a comment every so often.
Honda Civic–Honda Civic

2011 – that’s the target for my new car. I have chosen a Tesla Model S. That’s right, an all-electric plug in. Goodbye gas motor. Goodbye starter motor and clutch or torque converter. Goodbye spark plugs. Goodbye filler spout. Good bye gas station. Goodbye to all the maintenance of a gas motor. That’s right – batteries and electric motors. It just doesn’t get any less complicated than that.

Yes, 50k is a lot for a car like this, but this is not some small car that you can only fit three first grade size people into, the Model S is a full sedan with seating for 5 plus 2 kis (yes, 7 total), or, fold down the rear seat and have a huge storage space, large enough for a 50″ plasma they say. And to top it all off, I think it has fantastic looks.

50k – a lot, yes, but given the fact that it will take about $4 (electricity) to drive 300 miles, even a car getting 30 mpg would take $25 today (at 2.50 a gal), and we know that’s going to at least double in the next few years.

At 100,000 miles you save $7000 at $2.50/gal – only $2500 if the car gets 60 mpg, but, if gas goes to $5.00/gal then you save $17,000 versus that 30 mpg car or $8333 savings over a car that gets 60 mpg!

Remember, that’s only over the first 100k. Double that if you routinely drive your cars 200k miles! Think about that – saving $34,000 over a 30 mpg car – that means that relatively speaking that Tesla only cost me $16k and it’s a heck of a lot nicer than any car for anywhere near that price range. Even at $33k, it’s quite comparable to all the cars in that price (if not nicer!).

Plus, don’t forget – no more tuneups, nor more emissions tests, no more jumps, oil changes every 3k miles (or less often if you do it that way), etc.

Forget gas – forget diesel – go electric and really stick it to the arabs. The next thing to do is go for better benefits for home installed PV systems to reduce the load on the grid. If we work had we can let OPEC choke on their overpriced black sludge. Sure, we’ll always need oil for plastics, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial products, but we should get off of using oil for transportation (which is where we use over 2/’3rd of our oil now) and home heating too.

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Is great that the German manufacturer Herpa is going to revitalize the mass-production of the old fashioned Trabant. I once spoke with a friend, who sells Land Rover parts about Robbie Coltrane, who is my favorite actor from Harry Potter. He is a big vintage cars fan and we were wondering if he would buy an electric Trabant. I remember that in a television show he removed the engine from a Trabant in just 23 minutes.

I am not sure if choosing the Peugeot is the best solution. hotel con encanto