{OT} shrinking glaciers

It appears the global warming whackos are still sucking in a lot of people. LOL

mike

I didn't aware myself that man is such an all powerful being. Women must be down the ladder a few rungs, LOL.

[I wish I had noticed this earlier]

While I think you are probably right, the jury is still out on the maintenance issue. People are reporting getting their Toyota Priuses up to

100K miles with half their brake pads left; regenerative braking helps avoid brake wear. Since the gas engine doesn't run all the time, you need maybe half the oil changes, air filters, plugs, etc, to keep it running properly. These aren't huge expenses but they do add up over 100K miles.

The battery pack, however, is a relatively unknown quantity. As of today, the Toyota dealer in this area hasn't had to replace any (and they did sell the older generation Prius, so we're looking at 6 years or so of hybrid experience on the road) but maybe all the batteries short out at 8 years and one day. Or maybe they last, giving effective service, for 15 years. If the battery loses 20% of its capacity over 10 years, that doesn't necessarily make a huge difference in how the car operates; the gas engine will just run somewhat more often. If replacement batteries are more effective, more energy dense or offer other improvements, replacing batteries might not be a "maintenance issue" but a "performance enhancement."

But the car's more complicated, no question about that. If manufacturers pay more attention to OBDs than previously, the car might be simpler to troubleshoot. But, OK, I doubt it.