The lower used price says something strong about resale
value ... or lack thereof.

To achieve high gas mileage, they use very high-end
components to get very accurate & efficient fuel control.
For example, the Insight uses wide-band O2 sensors, rather
than the regular O2 sensors most current EFI cars use.
However, when it's time to replace these, it costs >$600
a piece.

I'm sure I can get a regular Ford Mustang to give me higher
gas mileage with the more accurate wide-band O2 sensors.
Even more if the body were made with the same composite
materials, the wheel-wells covered, the car size shrunk
down and streamlined, etc.

My point here is that this is still not an
apples-to-apples comparison.  "Regular" combustion-engined
vehicles can gain a noticeable increase in fuel efficiency
using the similar technologies or level of technology that
the Insight uses, diminishing the apparent benefits of the
Insight.

Cheers,
-Neil.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of llile@SALTONUSA.COM
> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 2:28 PM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OT]: Gas & taxes (was Online electronics store)
>
>
> I wrote:
>
> >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?
>
>
> A quick peruse of Ebay motors shows that a 2001 model Insight can be
> bought for about $8800, whereas a similar  Civic goes for about $700 to
> $1000 less, give or take.  Given a few hundred dollars difference, the
> used Insight wins IMHO.  They seem to come with a 7 year warrantee on the
> electric system, does that mean the batteries last at least 7 years???  My
> experience with NiMh is pretty positive over NiCads, but that may not
> translate to a car.
>
> --Lawrence
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
> (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics
>
>
>

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics