[StarvingStudent]

I am a student at UCLA doing a 45 page Marketing Research report on Plug-in Hybrids.


I would appreciate HYBRID OWNERS to complete this 2 minute survey on SurveryMonkey here:


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=449502897254


This is not an AD!



Thank you very much, especially if my report gets published!

 

[hlreed]

There are no plug in hybrids on the market yet.

 

[hyperion]

And a check should be made on the cost and amount of electricity needed to keep one fully charged. Would work if we had as much nuclear power as the rest of the world but my electrical costs have jumped a third in the past year account of the cost of oil and I'm afraid this won't change. I have one really bad month every six when I get what is becoming a form letter when Plymouth Pilgrim Nuclear has to shut down for cleaning and maintanence. My rates for that month jump another ten per-cent. I believe a hybrid conserves more oil than a electrically charged vehicle would.

 

[MikeFromEastCoast]

And a check should be made on the cost and amount of electricity needed to keep one fully charged.

Here are some figures from the Prius+ (plug-in conversion): http://www.edrivesystems.com/faq.html

...The result is EV driving and electrically boosted gasoline driving for the first 50 or so miles with a gasoline efficiency of over 100mpg ... If the battery were totally depleted, it could take 9 hours (9hrs * 1kW = 9kWh) to charge the battery.

If that is accurate, 50 miles of driving at 100mpg would take less than half a gallon instead of 1 gallon and cost 9kWh of electricity.

 

[mrv]

I've been through the survey, and there really aren't enough options given. It'd be nice to have a free-form choice every so often... (For example, the why did you buy a hybrid question - on the Toyota hybrid site there are literally a couple dozen choices... or when do you plan on buying your next car question, that only goes out to 4 years from now - should I still need a car in the future, I plan on keeping my current one for many more years than that!) So, I just had to pick the closest answer I could...

 

[DanMan32]

If that is accurate, 50 miles of driving at 100mpg would take less than half a gallon instead of 1 gallon and cost 9kWh of electricity.

Hmm, with gas still at $2.15 at some gas stations, and my electrical costs of 9-10 cents/KWh, that would hedge me just under the break even point, without considering capital costs of the plug-in option.
At least in this way I would be producing less emissions.

 

[redwein]

I just checked my bill. Since I use "over 300% baseline usage", my rates are .35896/KWh. It sounds like it would cost me a lot more to plug it in.

 

[MikeFromEastCoast]

my rates are .35896/KWh

Wow that's insane. Can you put some solar panels on your roof?

 

[DanMan32]

He's in California. Makes sense to me. Even here in Florida, where electricity cost is less than average, it is almost 10 cents/KWh.

 

[redwein]

my rates are .35896/KWh

Wow that's insane. Can you put some solar panels on your roof?

The rates are insane here. They actually have a "punitive scale" that goes up, the more you use. It came in to effect when they had the power shortages a few years back and they never rolled it back. My last PG&E bill was almost $1300, which is about normal for me. I already have solar panels on my roof but that is for heating the pool, not making electricity.

 

[DanMan32]

It would be worth it for you to get a solar electric system. It would probably pay you back in 5 years or less!

 

[hyperion]

It might have at one time when government subsidies were given for partial conversions but in North country where the sun don't shine like it does in Florida solar just won't cut it in any amount of years. Wind turbines maybe now that they are so efficient but the wise town fathers in the town I live in have shot these down with stipulations on acres of land needed and noise.
Oil presently is all we have unless you live anywhere near hydro. Of course I realized that total electric cars probably never be viable in California and only have the emissions going for them. These are relatively moot when you compare those from a Prius vs the emissions from electric power plants.
I can't come up with kilowatt costs as mikefromtheeastcoast but I do know It's costing me $1200 more a year for electricity than it did as little as two years ago.

 

[redwein]

I just did a calculation. I have a 20,000 Watt generator that consumes a maximum of 1/4 therm/hour. I pay $1.16/therm of gas. That means, at peak usage, I can make my own electricity for a little over .015/KWh. Even at 1/8 of possible output, still assuming peak gas consumption, that would be about .12/KWh. Assuming my calculations are correct, it is cheaper for me to make my own electricity. This seems wrong to me.