Hmm, well that’s the thing. Asking someone who’s followed EVs, hybrids (and diesels) down the years, it wouldn’t have possibly caught on as quickly if hybrids weren’t developed as ordinary cars first. It was really a market that was demanded by nobody other than CARB advocates and pollution protesters, anyone who had…

How many lap(s) did it do then? Most Toyota/Lexus hybrids have 1 to 2 kWh of energy, and some up to 4kWh before you start plugging in effectively. It wouldn’t be out of ordinary to have 5kWh on board, it would be enough for an all EV test and then better depleted test. 

I don’t understand how and why is it now have car-culture enthusiasts have started to understand and appreciate hybrids.

We have much better than 48v weak systems for a while now, like it’s an old concept but we have 500v starter motors that are rated 30 bhp (+60 amps) output from the battery and 54 bhp peak worth of…

Answer: If you’ve ever driven a Prius, it’s the same behaviour and concept. The battery is an energy reservoir. Small enough to be quickly recharged by excess engine torque. But it’s not built or intended for marathon-like capacity, it just takes deep dumps of discharge and then recharge via regen and the engine when…

I wouldn’t be surprised if Toyota did. It would make a deal load of sense for them, and why they sat on their ass with their thumbs up for so long on the subject of plug-ins.

Although, GM is a contending buyer, much more than Apple as some actually suggest. It was the first manufacturer to be impacted by Tesla with its…

It should be surprising! Well, it’s that on the time-scale between now and 2010 (when the LEAF and Volt were just announced), Honda has always been a cold to adopt electrification, not out of bitterness like Fiat or investment into hybrids and hydrogen like Toyota. It was baffling how Honda had nothing on offer for…

Tell me about it. The squabble between fans/haters. I’m an EV fan, I know what haters like, there’s age-old shit that’s still being said and not dying. I’ve been following up Tesla for over a decade now, they nearly died several times, even by unjust car reviews like one from the NY Times in 2012. From Coda and Aptera…

Well, they’re definitely popular in Dublin. Nothing should go wrong with them, Yaris engines pulling less weight than a said Yaris in a useable 3-seater car. That 4th seat will never be morally used so it’s good for bags and things.

Although, like the 1NR-FE Yaris engines, they would start to consume oil by 80,000…

Not fuel efficient. Not reliable. Not hideous either. A mess like that should be appreciated, but not dailied at their age now...

If you get a battery balancing kit (which are ~$600) An old Insight would actually be a very easy restoration project and a potential, if not slight, profit maker. 

It’s old enough with a big enough community where even battery problems can be easily remedied without any dealership robbing off ye.

Speaking from the heart as a student (who lives in Ireland, where fueling, insurance, maintenance are all just worse), just get a goddamn hybrid. Our situations are already pretty different, you’ve got $20G, I’m driving a Prius that just went over 160,000 miles (it’s a jalopy all right) and I’ll drive it to a fiery…

Zero motorcycles should just buy them out of pity.

So you’re telling me that some dealer just let 6 electric Smarts lie up, unchecked, uncharged? Are you kidding me?? Should I be surprised, dealers never liked electrics in the first place.
Man, you could tell that dude that he just lost probably tens of thousands in value!

Hmm, safe to say would say in the same damn boat. I personally couldn’t heavily justifying buying a second handcar for over 5 grand, tops! 2 grand, comfortable. Not having that ability at home is a big smack down. Though, it’s not the end of the world. Everything depends on your location. I know one dude who has an…

I think Tom is wrong on this one, just telling the most probable reason to us.

Mitsubishi in truth stopped building these en mass, and then trickled some out from 2013-16, no one knows really when, but we know why. Mitsubishi’s Yuasa plant could only churn out ~50-60,000 car batteries per year. Most of them were…

I think Tom is wrong on this one, just telling the most probable reason to us.

Mitsubishi in truth stopped building these en mass, and then trickled some out from 2013-16, no one knows really when, but we know why. Mitsubishi’s Yuasa plant could only churn out ~50-60,000 car batteries per year. Most of them were…

But the i-MiEV (for a lot of second hand owners) are more truck-like, or van-like, it’s a pretty flat space that can haul as much as a Prius, 51 cu-ft. The back of the Leaf however is god awful to work with and desperately needs a shelf or something.

The i-MiEV has air-cooling when you rapid charge it, which the Leaf…

Well, if you like guys, many (like over 70% of them) of these were on cheap leases, and can be had for very cheap because they had a $7,500 or more tax credit incorporated into the lease and lopping off the value of the car.

If you’re in Europe you’re in luck, some of these have 3-phase AC 22kWh charging, so they can…

Says who? At least according to the Smart Electric Drive drivers’ forum, it has a cooling system (unlike the LEAF) and capacity would perform as good as a Prius which have long disproved the same doubtful battery claims.

In a few years when the demand asks for it, there may soon be kit to rebalance the cells, also…

Sounds like the lyrics to Rattlin Bog.