Just The Facts

HarryS · 2005-03-27T02:53:11+00:00

More and more people are now on the Hybrid band wagon especially now whengas is high. The tree huggers like them and say they are good for theenvironment. The commuters like them for a tax break and some states allowthem in the HOV lane with a single passenger. People are really saving theenvironment and spending way less on gas.Well there is a flipside, you may get 45 mpg and produce less ozonepollution, but now the rest of the story. My brother-in-law is a GMmechanic and a damn good one too. He just shakes his head at the hybridsand says junk. What no one is telling the consumer the average battery lifefor the hybrids is about 5 years give or take a year. He has alreadyreplaced the battery units on several that were just 4 years old and out ofwarranty.When the owner got the bill they were amazed at the costs of around $2000.00all that money they saved in gas was lost and if you figure it up they werein the hole. Then the batteries are hazardous waste so you are notpolluting the air, but there is a potential of polluting the soil if nothandled correctly. At about the same time the voltage regulator to thedrive train needs some maintenance and there is another $800.00. Needlessto say anything about the drive train for another $500.00. Then there arethe breaks, rotors for another $700.00 for grand total of $4000.I keep every piece of equipment's maintenance costs on a spread sheet and mywife's 94 shadow $2390.00 to date. My old CJ which I had for almost 20years $6324.00 to maintain, my 98 RAM is at $4548.00 new tyranny at 120,000,well you get the picture.At 4 to 5 years on a hybrid you are looking at dishing out $4000.00 notincluding all the money already spent on general maintenance. If youcompare the hybrids to any other non-hybrid of about the same size and halfthe MPG the non-hybrid is cheaper to run and maintain.

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Caloonese 21 years ago

Many other posters have already replied. All I want to say is the your brother-in-laws does not know a thing about the Prius. You should do your own research instead of believing all those lies. Since he is a GM mechanic, he may have a hidden agenda.

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Michelle Steiner 21 years ago

If that is true, why did you refer to him as a GM mechanic and not a Toyota mechanic?

Your story is so full of holes that it is just not believable.

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Michelle Steiner 21 years ago

Well, actually, Ford developed its technology independently from Toyota, but some of that stuff it developed infringes on Toyota's patents, so to protect itself from legal problems, it licensed the patent.

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Michael Pardee 21 years ago

That is pretty common. Legend has it that Edison's light bulb patent beat out a nearly identical rival application by mere hours. If Ford was working along the same lines as Toyota and lost the race to the patent office, the situation you describe would be the outcome. Ford could still use their own parts but would have to buy the license from Toyota. It sure beats not being in the market at all! (Are you listening, GM?)

Mike

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dbs__usenet 21 years ago

I've looked at the Ford hybrid literature. It shares the Toyota integrated CVT/generators, and basic design of a akinson cycle engine + small NiMH batt pack + integrated CVT/motor/generator. They've run the same things electrically as the Prius, and used the same techniques.

There's no evidence that I've seen that Ford was working on a hybrid using this technology prior to the Prius introduction in 1999. It might have been in some secret lab.

I don't see any major differences, and I don't think the Escape is any better than the Toyota effort (the Lexus mini-SUV).

I don't doubt the clam that they (Ford) filed thousands of patents on their new model, but filing for and granting patents are two different things.

My opinion (read Guess) is that Ford bought the rights to the technology after Toyota proved it viable and "reinvented" a large portion of it so they would not be accused of just reselling Japaneses technology.

I am quite likely wrong.

Daniel

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Earle Jones 21 years ago

Daniel, I think you're right.

See:

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Ford to License Toyota Hybrid Technology

In a smart move, Ford recently decided to license Toyota¹s hybrid technology.

Ford Motor will license key hybrid technology from Toyota Motor in a deal that could help establish Toyota¹s system as a standard for the industry, the two companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The agreement is a coup for Toyota, which has been trying to sell its hybrid system to a variety of automakers to help offset its high development cost.

The move sets the stage for Toyota¹s hybrid technology to become one of the key standards in the automobile industry. In an age where car companies income is unsteady at the best of times, the high cost of developing hybrid vehicles to come into line with harsh government-regulated environmental policy is beginning to pinch. And hard.

The move by Toyota to become one of the few specialists is good for everyone. For other car makers, they can minimalize their internal R&D on hybrids to customizations and improvements (which, under the deal, Toyota will buy back). More free cash for automakers, and a chance for Toyota to finally turn a dollar on it¹s hybrid business which has been sucking up more than 1B$ in sunk costs for the last couple of years.

This¹ll be an interesting one to watch. Posted by Jeremy C. Wright at 11:57 am in Business.

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autodave 21 years ago

Hi

I am parts manager at a Toyota dealership. From what I have read and heard at tech training.... Ford bought the electric and trans from Toyota, but not the software. Then came back later and bought the software.

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