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Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson
As for a hybrid: I live in the frozen wastelands of ND (it got above 0 degrees in sunlight today for the first time in nearly 40 days, and we've seen several days of -65 windchills), so I'm hesitant to trust a battery in that cold. I've also seen the damage on of those big Lithium batteries can do if it fails the right (wrong?) way.
Call me paranoid, but I'll stick with full internal combustion drive until the hybrids have been proven out more. Plus I usually run $1000 or less cars, and hybrid batteries alone are 3-4x that budget.
Most likely plan is going to switch to a little four-banger with a 5-speed. That's what I wanted in the first place but the wife pushed for a car we could all fit in (even though she has a minivan). When I did the math on what we could save a month if I could get a car to hit 40 MPG I think I persuaded her otherwise though.
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This is pretty overblown. Hybrid technology is 20 years old at this point, and Toyota's hybrids are typically a lot more reliable than non-hybrid vehicles. Toyota's planetary gear transmissions have no wear parts and if the fluid is changed regularly, they'll long outlast the rest of the vehicle. Taxi companies regularly put the better part of a million miles on them. Do that with any other automatic.
Your concerns about lithium batteries are well founded, but Toyota still uses NiMH in most of their cars for this very reason. It's a chemistry that's safe and reliable at subzero temperatures. Ask me how I know.
That said, the are plenty of good ICE-only choices. You could for instance get a first generation Civic hybrid and remove the hybrid battery, running it gas-only. They have no alternator and use EPS, which alone gives them a huge efficiency advantage. The gas engine is a reliable 1.3L lean burn 4 cylinder, and they come with either a CVT (not so good) or a very tall 5 speed manual. You can find these cars around here for under $1,000. They're good for 50-60mpg in good weather and very comfortable.