Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Hybrids in the News 
5290 messages, Last post on Oct 25, 2006 at 8:37 AM
You are in the Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
This discussion is ARCHIVED. To reactivate the discussion, post a request in the Lost? Ask the Hybrids Host for directions! discussion.
|
Toyota says NO DIESEL HYBRIDS FOR YOU !!! Toyota has ruled out production of a diesel electric hybrid vehicle in response to plans for such cars from French carmaker Peugeot. Environmentalists say a car combining clean diesel technology with electric motors could achieve carbon dioxide emission reductions that would make them cleaner than Toyota's iconic petrol hybrid Prius. But doing so would push up costs far beyond what consumers would bear, according to Toyota Motor Europe chief executive Tadashi Arashima. "Already the diesel [price] premium is quite high, then you'd have to pay a hybrid premium, so we're not seeing that there's a market," Mr Arashima told BBC News. This is not good news. My dream car is a 5-passenger diesel/electric car that gets 70+ MPG on the EPA combined and costs less than $35K. Looks like Toyota will not be building it. 
|
|
|
Replying to: tpe (Sep 28, 2006 3:58 am) Bingo. It is NEVER politically popular, regardless of the issue, to make individuals responsible. Remember, to a politician, we are but sheep with no minds of our own, wandering aimlessly until Madison Avenue tells us where to go. "If all the vehicles on the road in CA were getting 40 mpg would you still sue the auto manufacturers? These cars are still emitting CO2 and causing environmental damage." Are they? We all emit CO2 just breathing - and we do it 24/7. Are we causing environmental damage? "Oh c'mon", you'll say. "The amount of CO2 exhaled by a human is insignificant compared to what is emitted by a 40mpg fuel sipper, let alone a 15mpg SUV". TRUE. But then the question becomes: Where is that magic line in the sand? At what point to does 'environmental damage' occur? Just how much CO2 is TOO much? Is the lawsuit saying that the 'damage' inflicted by a 40mpg car OK but the 'damage' inflicted by a 15mpg SUV is not? Now trying PROVING that point in a court of law. Another point, all these manufacturers make fuel efficient automobiles. As individual consumers, WE chose whether or not to conserve fuel. Are the manufacturers being sued for giving the consumer a CHOICE? Or are the Califorinia politicos saying that the general public is just too stupid to make the 'right' choice therefor, as our esteemed intellectual betters, they must step in and protect us from ourselves? |
|
|
Replying to: larsb (Sep 28, 2006 6:31 am) DCX built just such a car, the Intrepid ESX-3, in 1999. It was shot down by Chrysler because they did not believe anyone was crazy enough to pay the hybrid premium that Toyota is currently getting for their hybrids. Much better looking than any of the Toyota hybrids IMO.
|
|
|
Replying to: rorr (Sep 28, 2006 6:43 am) I'm not sure what we can do about our producing CO2 when we breath. Its possible that people with certain metabolisms produce more CO2 than others. There are probably medical test that can identify these people and then they need to be sued also.
|
|
|
Replying to: rorr (Sep 28, 2006 6:43 am) That is exactly how the elitist in our government act. Maybe we are stupid. We keep re-electing the same people to serve us. Most make their views clear during the campaigns. They are going to give us more than the other guy. Right, they will give us our own money back as they see fit.
|
|
|
Replying to: tpe (Sep 28, 2006 7:34 am) Or simply institute gas rationing. He who owns a more economical vehicle gets to drive more. It all comes down to just which choices you want the politicos to deny. After all, what's the consumption difference between someone driving a 20mpg vehicle who drives 10k miles a year and a person driving a 40mpg vehicle driving 20k miles a year? "There are probably medical test that can identify these people and then they need to be sued also." Abso-stinkin'-lutely. And it's a well-know scientific fact that healthy/skinny folks generally have higher metabolisms and exchange more O2 for CO2 than the more, uh um caloric-challenged amoung us. Let's sue skinny people! 
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Sep 28, 2006 7:38 am) Ah, a fellow cynic. And completely correct. |
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Sep 28, 2006 7:29 am) They had a CONCEPT car, and an estimated production price. And at the time, battery technology was SUCKY and diesel was WAY WAY DIRTY. So, no, they did not build my dream car - they built a CONCEPT of what such a future car might be similar to. They do have a good head start if they wanted to try the same car now. |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Sep 28, 2006 7:38 am) That is exactly how the elitist in our government act. Maybe we are stupid. We keep re-electing the same people to serve us. Most make their views clear during the campaigns. They are going to give us more than the other guy. Right, they will give us our own money back as they see fit." Yes, they are. So long as voters blindly support one party or another, and elect people based on their "feelings", people who are telling them what they want to hear, that will be the case. Don't hate the player, hate the game. 
|
|
|
Replying to: larsb (Sep 28, 2006 6:31 am)
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Hybrids in the News
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
