A local dealer told me that new battery packs for the hybrids run about $3500 right now but will go down as demand goes up. When I tried to nail him on how many miles or length of time they would last, he said he was told , at least 80,000 miles. If this is right, then I see no advantage to it.
I have an energy balance aproach to fuel comsumption. Basically I think if you touch the brakes, you are wasting energy. So I try not to touch it.
I consistently manage 1 or 2 kilometers per liter more that what my neigbour does in the same route, driving the same car (his :)
And what of the new, unintended consequence of massive deployment of lead-acid batteries? I see a new Lead Tax on the horizon.
Well I must agree. If I try gliding (putting it in neutral sometimes and coasting), planning my stops, driving so I don't strain the engine, go not more than 50 MPH on the highway, then I can get around 45 MPG. If I drive "normally" and average 65 MPH, I get 32 MPG. Now, at the time I was getting the phenominal MPG, I also unwhittingly had something akin to a 3"x2"x1/4" piece of wood inside my aircleaner that rattled around and would basically close off most of the air intake to the carb. In order to accelerate I had to GENTLY hit the gas. To get up to 50 took about 5 miles. If I hit the gas too hard it would bog down and actually slow down.
It turned an impatient, gonzo, banzai driver into someone with empathy for the slow and oppressed. (Still not tollerant of the sloppy incompetent drivers though... they should be blown off the road by a 120mm cannon firing a hyper-velocity KE round - - - maybe even a LOSAT missile. 8*)
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