I need a new car and I'm torn on which type of "fueled" vehicle to purchase. Electric is out for me. So that leaves three choices. Hybrids seem ok but I don't like the additional upfront cost. I'm very leery of the Plug-in hybrids because of my experiences with all types of batteries. I plan to keep this vehicle a long time and I don't want a dinosaur which I'm afraid gas may quickly become. Has anyone her gone through the pros and cons on that would be willing to share. I'm sure I'm not alone in this quandary. TIA
Purchased our first hybrid last summer - actually ordered it in Feb 23 and picked it up in Aug 23. A Toyota Camry XSE hybrid. Black with gorgeous red leather interior. Best car we've ever owned and that's saying something as I had an Acura Integra (1988 model) with 26k miles that I bought in the summer of 1992 the day the Dream team played their first exhibition game and put 200K on it over the next 10 years driving back and forth to work and carting my 2 boys around to all their sporting adventures that whole time. Only tires and exhaust (not SS) work and brakes a few times, and always got over 30 mpg no matter how hard I drove it.
The Camry hybrid is rated at 45 highway and 47 city and has every option imagineable. The lane departure is like having a 2nd wife to nag you, the the rest of the stuff is great, such as adaptive cruise which is great on lower speed limit roads as well and keeps you from tailgating the car in front of you. My wife probably gets 60 mpg with me about 40 as our driving styles differ somewhat....
At around $35.5k I also can't fathom getting a better car for the money. All the options, beautiful interior and styling, top rated reliability,.....
No way I was opting for electric. To me it's a pipe dream to believe an electric car will be as easy to charge and deal with as a hybrid. And most are more expensive than the premier ride we are now driving. When the mental migets now running our government are pushing something to consumers (which is not their jobs) invariably they haven't thought through the ramifications......
The Camry is really my wife's car. After it was delivered it was my turn and I bought a 2011 Corvette Grand Sport with less than 2k miles in an online auction and love it as well. But when I replace my daily driver Hyundai Sonate I'll likely get another Camry XSE Hybrid, just in a different color combo than my wife's....
Toyota was the early leader in developing hybrid technology and Toyota's in general rate excellent in frequency of repairs. Their corporate strategy to refine hybrids and offer them across their vehicle lineup seems ahead of most manufacturers, as for example Ford seemed like they were going all in on electric but recently seem to be backing off that and going more into hybrids.