Hello to All, Roger Stockton wrote:
> Sorry John, but what exactly are you disagreeing with? Here's what....You said: >How many shops are equipped to handle repairs > to aluminum frames & body panels competently, Respecfully, the above is what I disagreed with. Your words to me, implied that upon having an accident with an Insight, one would probably have a hard time finding a shop able to deal with working on the aluminum bodywork.....in my case, it took exactly 5 minutes to find the shop, and there were others that could have done work on it, too. You said: >and how costly is it? This implied to me, that after an accident, an Insight would cost more to have repaired than the average car. My Insight got hit at a whopping 45 mph, while it had the parking brake on! To only have approx. $5k of damage to a $20k car after such a hit, is remarkable! I would venture to say that any other car of the same weight and size as my Insight, would have been wiped out, or at least have had greater costs in repairs...can you imagine being hit the same way, while sitting along side the road in a steel-bodied Geo Metro? The body shop, who are experts on Hondas, said the same thing, that is, had I been in something like a CRX or other smaller Honda, that the damage would have been far more extensive (and thus, more expensive), and they credited the aluminum body structure for the way the car held up...said they'd seen it before with other Insights. In my real world case, because the car was made of aluminum (and engineered very well), it had less damage and cost 'less' to repair, than would have been the case if it had been made of steel, both in my opinion, and in the opinion of the body shop experts, who work on both steel and aluminum cars. > You were fortunate to easily find a local repair facility experienced in > the repair of aluminum construction cars... People in less > major centers will be less likely to find a shop capable of repairing an > aluminum vehicle at any cost. OK, I'll agree with you here. This is one of many reasons I like to live in a major city, such as Portland. > It cost US$5k to repair damage that looked like the car had only been > hit in the bumper at 10mph in a parking lot, and didn't require > repainting of anything except the [hidden] rear bulkhead piece that was > replaced. Sorry John, but that sounds very expensive to me. It looked minor only because of the high quality design and construction of the car. It wouldn't have looked that way, if I had been in a standard steel bodied car and the damage would have been far worse; the costs would be even higher. The body shop, who works on all kinds of Hondas, supports what I'm saying. Whether it looked minor or not, the point is, that after a major 45 mph impact, the car had minimal damage and a repair cost one fourth the value of the car. I'd say that's pretty good economy, and I'd bet the costs would have been far higher in a similar sized steel bodied car...It's also quite possible, I wouldn't even be here arguing with you, either...I came pretty damn close to buying the farm as it was! It's so frustrating, because I am religious about wearing my seatbelt...I even put it on when jockeying the cars around my house and going around my sedate neighborhood block. I had taken it off only to access my wallet (as demanded by a rogue cop), and then, what seemed like seconds later, was wholopped from behind! I'm sure, that if I had the belt on, I may not have even been hurt....damn! As I write this today, I'm cognizant of the fact that after endless months of doctors, neurologists, check-ups, MRI's, and specialists, today I have yet another doctor's appointment, an inner ear specialist, about my almost 5 month long battle with dizziness and balance problems since that severe concussion that knocked me out cold. > > The subject, was discussing a 100% electric Prius (read the > > post title)...you're describing a hybrid. > > Absolutely correct, John. If you recall the earlier posts in the > Insight thread, you will recall the mention of what might be done with > the perfectly good engine removed from the 100% electric Insight... > that's right, use it to return the vehicle to hybrid operation for > longer trips, but using the ackward trailer approach. At least this way, the car is a true EV, nothing hybrid about it, until you attach the trailer...just like my EV race car isn't a hybrid, just because I sometimes use a gas powered generator to charge it at the track. > Since the Prius ~does~ support pure-electric mode, it is possible to > achieve the goal of a Prius that can be driven on 100% electric without > having to sacrifice the hybrid capabilities or band-aid them back on as > a range-extending trailer. But, having the gas engine and all of its support equipment on board, makes it a hybrid, not a 100% electric Prius, as was the title of this thread. The electric Insight with 100+ mile range, most all of the time, would never need the gas tow-behind generator. Your idea for a 'hybrid' version of the Prius (gosh, does that sound stupid...an oxymoron?) , would unnecessarily pack around all that gasoline paraphernalia all of the time, compromising it as an EV. > This may or may not be at all what the person who asked the question had > in mind, and may or may not yield a vehicle that satisfies his mission... He specifically asked about a 100% electric Prius...that doesn't mean keeping the gas engine on board. If you did keep the gas engine, where do you put the batteries? This way for sure, there is zero space for batteries under the hood. There's zero space for batteries anywhere, except in the trunk....a great prescription for a poorly weight car that no longer has a usable trunk....it might just take a battery wizard to figure out where all the batteries could go....maybe we could start throwing out seats? Your idea for extending the EV only mode of the Prius is a good one, and it can and has already been done, but what you end up with, is still be a hybrid, not a 100% electric Prius, as the original poster asked for. A hybrid Prius with plug-in capability and say, a 20 mile city driving range, plus the ability to get up to speeds of 50-60 mph and still stay in the EV mode, is very possible with tricks done to the car's computer, and enough NiMH or NiZn batteries neatly tucked away in about 1/3 of the trunk space...I'd be all for that. The Prius could pull this trick off , but the Insight could not (not easily, at least). However, considering the 100% electric Prius idea (that means no gas engine on board) the Prius isn't the best choice, for all the reasons I previously stated in my other post. See Ya.....John Wayland
