The best ecomoding cars.

[arcosine]

G1 insights are fragile, I cracked the windshield brushing snow off, and the axle snapped, cant let it sit or the battery goes bad.

[19bonestock88]

I’m gonna vote for a Saturn... however even the newest possible S car is 16 years old, and replacement parts are getting hard to find(outside of normal wear items and such)... I vote for the Ion... it’s got a great powertrain and isn’t too much heavier than an S car... I’m averaging 75% above EPA with minimal aero mods and diligent hypermiling

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by arcosine

G1 insights are fragile, I cracked the windshield brushing snow off, and the axle snapped, cant let it sit or the battery goes bad.

Axle is a valid criticism. In the salt belt they tend to rust where the stabilizer/balancer is because it collects and holds salt. OTOH, most people don't bother to undercoat Insights because most things are aluminum, so steel parts suffer doubly. In areas where it isn't bathed in salt year after year, snapped axles are not a thing.

Battery self-discharges when sitting but is not damaged. If left for multiple months, the big battery should be grid charged before using.

I've never heard of anyone cracking a windshield before. I don't think the glass is different than in any other car.

~

Insight and VX get my vote. Honda Insight has a ton of great mounting points for an improved belly pan, responds well to grille blocks and WAI, and has a lot of great options for EoC. Due to absurdly high fuel economy, even small changes have big impacts on numbers.

[ocnorb]

No love for the cheap used Chevy Volts that are showing up?

My hunch is that they will be the 'next' Metro. (As a former Metro owner who has 2 used Volts in the garage.)

[Ecky]

Volt was on my short list and on paper looks amazing. I'm a bit leery of the combination of GM product plus expensive repairs if ever needed, but I'd be highly likely to own one.

I do wonder why the Volt is only rated for 37 (?) mpg on gasoline, whereas the Malibu hybrid, which is a larger car that uses the same drivetrain and a larger engine, is rated for 47mpg. 37mpg gas is actually quite bad for a small car with a 0.285 Cd.

On the other hand, 99% of my driving would be on electricity and the cost per mile would be as low as my Insight's, only with backseats and considerably more acceleration and creature comforts.

[ocnorb]

117k + on one of my cars. Wheel bearings and one ECM update. 90k is pure EV so the gasser is at 27k and has had 4 oil changes.

I get 41-42 on gas only highway trips. My best trips have been 46.5 mpg.

My commute is done all electric most of the year. In the dead of winter I have to burn a little gas each way. I figure cost/mile on electric here is a smidgen over $0.03/mile. Tough to beat. So far both our cars have been very low maintenance.

The next 50k miles should really be telling. FWIW, when I did the 100k mile service, which is basically just a transmission fluid change; the transmission tag says "Made in Japan".

[Ecky]

Considering it's an orbital gearbox, Toyota probably made it for them. It's nearly identical to the Prius' box.

Gas is ~$2.50 here. I find I average about 68mpg in my Insight (lower in winter, higher in summer) which is around 3.5 cents per mile. Electricity is ~15 cents per kwh here so a "gallon" of electricity is approximately $5, and any EV would need to get better than 135MPGe or around 250wh/mi to match costs. Approaching 250k with less than $250 in total repairs, aside from tires and such, so the value proposition of a G1 Insight is pretty hard to beat, if all you're looking for is A to B no frills.