Pic Dude Wrote:
>Somehow I don't see electrics/hybrids as "cool".  Cool is...
muscle car with big 460 V8 blown/stroked to 514 and high enough
compression ratio to generate flames out the exhaust!  With fuel
consumption measured in gpm (gallons per mile).
Now that's cool!  :-)

OK, we are all entitled to our opinions and there is no accounting for
taste.  Assume for a moment that I think the Insight is cooler than a
muscle car, and therefore you can assume I am insane.

Let's see:  3500 Miles per year, at 16 MPG is 218 gallons of gas.  Gas is
cheap in Missouri, we are paying about $1.38 this week.  That's $301.

I can already see how this is going. With the Insight, at an optomistic
57MPG, we use 61 gallons to go the same distance.  That's $84, for a
savings of $217 and change.

Say we drove more, many people put 12,000 miles a year on a car.  The gas
hog uses 750 gallons, at a price of $1035.  The Insight uses  210 gallons,
costing $290.  It saves $745 over the klunker.  Not great.

Now payback is another thing - payback compared to what?  I paid $5000 for
my used van, not a really fair comparison.  There are few cars with such a
tight amount of space as the insight, so how would one compare?

Car payments on a $20,000 car might cost me $300 a month, which makes the
difference in operating costs pale in comparison.  Not looking good.  If
the battery is going to wear out in 4 years the Insight is really looking
bad.  Anybody got facts on this?

All I really need to get around town is a car that carries two people and
two sacks of groceries, and the Insight fills that niche nicely.  I have a
pickup for hauling big stuff, and a comfy van for traveling or hauling
hordes of kids.

Well, there is still the "cool" factor to consider.  Anybody seen a used
Insight lately?

--Lawrence

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