SnowStorm

Weird I can sometimes handle but this "uglification" seems pointless (except to get those out-of-work boom box designs employed!). I would rather they just go totally aero and be done with it. A Cd less than half this new model would do wonders for highway mileage! The many small technical improvements certainly sounds like the way to go. I like the heads-up display and AWD option but don't understand the need for two batteries. Are some markets still scared of Lions? The change I would pass on is lower height - would rather give up a bit of mileage for higher seats and more headroom.

A "loss of value" check just might work. I asked a VW owner just yesterday if her car was one that had "fallen from grace". She said it was and added something like "lost $7000 in value overnight". Now if VW said I could bring my 2010 car in and pick up $7000, $8000 maybe $9000 (add some for mpg loss), I think there would be precious few "polluters" left. I wish I knew what's going to happen - it could be real profitable to go out and buy a few VWs right now! As to "buy back" I don't understand how that helps. Half a million cars headed to the landfills and the smelters - not exactly a pollution free process! And what about the owners? They need cars - and liked their VWs - but there's no used ones to buy! They're gone! Will have to make half a million new ones! Now how much pollution does building a new car create? And how long will it take? Good luck finding a rental car in a few months! Maybe I'm missing something.... Oh I have it! Just give each VW owner an Electric Car and have done with it! P.S. What a mess - I knew we should have bought that Sportwagon!

With that hump in the back you'll need those 4 NRGs to haul the same amount of stuff! :lol: Its :spend: , yes, but there are some interesting things to consider: With electric cars you are buying battery and its not all about range (miles/charge). Its also about total miles the car can go before loss of xx% of capacity. The Model X battery is almost 4 times the size of cars like the Leaf or FFE. By that metric the "standard" configuration will probably be cheaper on a cost per "battery wear-out" mile. Plus you get all the other incredible features "for free". The unlimited mile 8 year warranty means you go 200, 300 even 500,000 miles with full warranty on battery and drive train. Try to get that on another car! Point 1 above is the reason they can do this. Free charging at their Superchargers. Gas has averaged about $3 over the past 8 years and a "similar" 7 passenger ICE SUV gets about 20 mpg so for 30,000 miles/year (The Enterprise is doing that right now) for 8 years that comes to $36,000! Let gas go to $6 bucks (or drive twice as far) and its $72,000! Now tell me which car was cheaper. And there's no time "wasted" while you charge - there are so many things you can do (in the car or out) that I won't even start the list.Of course the above points assume you drive a lot of miles - but lots of us do. Have I talked myself into one yet? Anyone else want one? Hey, you can always dream - with all the Reservations I don't think there will be any 0% finance offers any time soon!

Coming tonight! (Come on Ford! The Focus Electric is nice but its time for some new BEVs.)

Winter? That's when it snows and, at no cost, you're instantly transported into a magical, romantic world of beauty, wonder, quiet and - - - no alligators!!!

Looks virtually identical to mine (at 77k miles) - also how they looked at maybe 20k. If you replace them, they will probably look the same in another 10k.

We might take issue, though, with one statement in that interesting article: "Those cost curves will cross at some point, and hybrids will become the better deal, offering the same fuel economy for less money." I think the curves have already crossed. Per fueleconomy.gov for 2015, the first 21 cars sorted for best combined MPG (in a combined list of hybrids and diesels) are all hybrids. Price? VW Jetta diesel - 27K, C-Max - 25k. Still insisting that diesel is "best for highway"? Sorted on Highway the top 4 are hybrids!

obob, To a degree, you are both right. Rear toe is adjustable but camber is not (unless you call replacing control arms adjustable!). I replaced mine because I had inside edge wear - read about it here (see whole topic). I had lots of cupping too, also on the inside, but I had not rotated nearly often enough. My Michelin dealer says that the undriven tires are prone to cupping (I've had it on our Fit too) and that rotating the cupped tires to the driven wheels should help but it can take thousands of miles. They also say to rotate every 5,000 miles so that is what I'll do this time! (Now that I've bought a set from them they do it for free. :) ) I doubt there is anything fundamentally "wrong" with the C-Max - except that an adjustment for rear camber would be nice. joe, From my experience, putting the cupped tires on the front may sound worse at first but they eventually quiet down - at least somewhat. Keeping them on the back makes them get even worse. Frequent rotations is certainly important.

Just points out another advantage of electric cars - no emission tests. Strangely, I never thought of this before. (Yes, I know, there are "emissions" elsewhere but at least the car owner isn't involved - and there are clean ways to get electricity too.) This whole thing is insane - almost surreal - like it could be out of movie or something...

And bring over the B-Max too!

Agree with obob that you should be sure they really need repair (but that's for you to decide). Mine look "awful" compared to the front (76k miles) and pretty much always have. Right now the outer 30 to 50% looks rather mottled while the inner part is smoother but lots of grooves. My guess is its just from the light use they get being on the back, combined with hybrid driving that avoids friction braking as much as possible.

At this point I don't bother about the price difference. I want the longer engine life you supposedly get with E0 as we often run our cars 100s of thousands of miles. There is some reason they limit you to E10 (and its not about gas mileage).

Opinions and thoughts on "the roof": We love it. It is big - gives a nice airy feel (even with shade closed). Roofs that open make noise and can leak (especially if you forget to close them!) so I like the fact that it is fixed We close the shade when its hot and the sun is up - at which point there is a lot more heat coming in the windshield and other windows. In cooler weather the roof (shade open) preheats the car wonderfully!And A/C (not in TX but my 2C anyway): We love it. Best auto A/C I've ever had. Uses only 250 to 500 watts after pulling down if operated properly. "Proper" operation involves: (a) set temp to about 75 (b) adjust fan speed as needed, turning it up rather than turning temperature down. © use Recirculate!!! You don't want to keep bringing in outside air with all the extra heat and moisture. This item is critical to efficiency. (d) close unused vents (like back seat and right side passenger) - you want to cool the occupant(s), not the car! The variable speed compressor is how all A/C systems should work.

Glad to see the actual numbers from hybridbear and HannahWCU. And BTW, discussing the service advantages of electric cars on this topic seems to fit right in as it is the "dealers" that are fighting to prevent Tesla from selling their cars! Go back and look at the list of "service" items in the OP's first post. Most of them aren't even in an electric car. No HannahWCU, you are hardly off topic at all.

Great to see some real data - thanks for sharing it. We have a station that sells 87E10 and 87E0 on the same pump but our car has no consistent daily commute so I won't be doing a comparison. (Plus, I don't want to damage the Lifetime average!) Perhaps if you just switch back and forth on each tank you can continue to see the difference even through weather changes.

The "floating ball" type compass on the SE only jumps in 45 degree increments - quite lame. The internal OBDII data moves smoothly in 1 degree steps. They should have a real aircraft style instrument graphic like a heading indicator.

Well, you will, I think, be disagreeing with a lot of others here and certainly with a lot of websites. Now I don't want to just argue about it (our cars are too much fun for that!) but I do want to keep others from thinking that "premium" (other things equal!) will help them hit their mileage goal. Over 60% of your fillups changed more than 2 mpg from the previous one and some by 5 mpg so I don't see how a 2 mpg jump from a "malfunctioned" pump is all that significant. The great part is that we can all buy as we like and still get great mileage in a really fun car! :) SS

Its zero ethenol fuel that helps mileage - not premium.

Per fueleconomy.gov the Energi uses 37kWh/100 miles, Volt and Tesla use 35 kWh/100 miles. Using electricity only, there's very little difference between the Energi and the Volt or Tesla.

Thanks, Jus and Paul! The "newmoticon" is swell! Must be the world's first hybrid!

Please update SnowStorm to 725.1 miles, 12.61 gal, 57.4 mpg all indicated. (This trip was with new tires so actual mileage was about 1.8% higher - gallons pumped at fill-up was 13.3 gal.)

And do I ever want an electric car too! The decisions about how to drive efficiently would be so much simpler. And no oil and filters to change! As to dealers, Tesla may indeed have the right idea. Get rid of that independent network that supposedly makes its money on "service". What overall mileage do you get in the Fiat - watt-hours per mile? I've been wondering if I would get significantly better than EPA ratings with an electric car the way I do with the C-Max hybrid.

If you "know how Microsoft thinks", please clue me in!

Moving the wheels to the opposite side of the car may help but they will continue to wear on the same edge. I think the only real solution is to get the rear tires sitting up more nearly straight (less camber) so they stop wearing on the inside. See this post. Then keep rotating them - my Michelin dealer says every 5k miles.