Quote:
|
Question: How have hybrids fared in Europe? I read that they were not as successful, partially because of the pre-existing high MPG diesels.
|
i don't have any sales figures so it's hard to say for sure if it's been a big success, that also depends on what toyota's expectations where with the prius. wich is pretty much the only hybrid we had untill recent
the price advantage of diesels caused by heavy but uneven taxing of fuels and the the vast range of refined diesel engines from small to huge power makes it an obvious choise for people who clock many miles.. in fact 50% of all cars over here are diesels and i assume they're the ones most driven too.
the looks of the prius are less uncommon as they might be elsewhere, with a vast fleet of hatchbacks and small to large mpv's on the road...the prius only just looks a little different.
that could be an advantage to some but it doesn't help if you want i car they screams 'look at me i'm a hybrid'.
on the other hand i think hybrids have one advantage and that's that they're far more efficient in dens traffic and traffic jams... something wich is part of a lot of people's dayly commute. than again more and more cars are comming out with a start stop system that just shuts off the engine when the car is not or very slowly moveing... if that works well enough the electro motor and heavy batteries are not really needed to cut down emisions.
a plug in hybrid or ev would be a different story, but i can't see the curent generation of hybrids become a huge success overe here... than again i think toyota realises very well that this car is not the holy grale, but rather a public testbed for new technology.
still i think most people over here don't really care about how many liters or horses are under the hood... they want a comfortable car that has goes when they stomp their foot down but at the end of the day doesn't break the bank at the petrol station.
the success of this honda will depend on how much it will cost in comparison with comprabable sized and equipted cars,and the prius of course... what gas prises will do and how the governement taxes or benefits it.
there are problems with fine particles from diesel engines, and perhaps in an attempt to meet european requirements my country might choose to support hybrids.