Honda is supposed to be introducing a revamped CRX as the new CRZ in 2009. It will be hybrid.

Man I wish I designed cars for a living.

From this there are supposed to be about 4 (!) new Honda hybrids, the most interesting (to me, anyway) being a five passenger "five-door," which sounds to me like it might just mean a Prius fighter.

The CR-Z could be cool, though.

I saw a Prius New York Taxi in NYC a few days ago. As I thought about it I wondered why there were not more of them visable.

My dream is to have a plug-in hybrid and have the power supplied from a grid of PV panels at my home.
One day it will be a reality but a person of limited means such as myself has to make long term plans for such large purchases.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

Given the price of gasoline these days, if we had plug-ins now we could probably buy the electricity needed to charge them as green power (KUB GP Switch program) for the extra usage on our home utility bills and still come out ahead in operating costs.

Also, here's some hopeful news about the Volt.

My beloved Poka Dot, AKA Ye Olde Vanne has gone to Chicago with the intention of being converted to electric power.

The new owner is a member of an electric car club:

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I will be so proud of Polka Dot if this comes to pass. I get first right of refusal if he gets resold, though I'm not holding my breath.

The buyer says the electric cost is minimal and the expected range would be 30 miles between charges. Which would be just fine for a work van for me.

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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs

Read this speculative future timeline of automobile technology advancement.

Looking for an Escape Hybrid? There are two, count 'em, two currently for sale in East Tennessee.

One is a used 2007 at John Morris Ford in Lenoir City. It's white with a light gray interior and leather seats. It doesn't appear to have any other options, except a 120v AC outlet on the console. It has about 18,000 miles and they are asking $27,900. We drove it, and it runs and handles fine. We got about 32MPG on our suburban test drive with no speeds over about 45 and some stop and go. Acceleration is pretty good for a 4 cyl. SUV.

The other is a new 2008 at Ted Russel Ford on Parkside Dr. It's a darker but not quite dark blue (Vista Blue) with tan interior and leather seats. The dashboard controls are completely redesigned for 2008 and much nicer and more up to date than the 2007. They are asking list of $28,900 plus an extra $1000 for dealer add-on "finish protection". It has no extra options, does not have the 120v AC outlet, but does have a nicer stereo and an aux input on the front panel for your iPod, MP3, XM, etc.

According to reviews, the 2008 hybrid drive train is essentially the same, but with some software tweaks they have been able to get an extra couple of MPGs.

Both have AC with an "economy" mode that keeps you cool enough but allows the gas engine to shut off when stopped. In regular AC modes, the compressor runs off the gas engine so it never shuts off.

Both are five passenger with rear 60/40 fold down seats. One oddity is that you have to take the headrests off, pull the lower seat cushion out and up, then fold it down into the space behind the front seats. Once you do all this you get a large, perfectly flat cargo space, but you lose the storage space behind the front seats where you would normally be able to stow a cooler on one side and a camera bag on the other.

The 2007 seems overpriced by about $3000 to $4000 (which is probably why it has been on their lot going on two months), but it's the only used Escape Hybrid I've ever seen. The 2008 interior is much nicer, so I'd probably go for that, especially considering the difference in price of only about $1000 (or $2000 counting the "finish protection, which I generally refuse to pay but I'm sure they make up somewhere in the deal). When you add in the (up to) $3000+ tax credit, the new one is actually cheaper.

I'm tempted to go buy it, but it's not the color we want. I'd want the green or the lighter "ice blue."

Anyway, these are the only two Escape Hybrids for sale in East Tennesse that I'm aware of. I don't know how Ted Russel got a new one. The guy in Lenoir City said he special ordered one for a customer over a year ago and it never came in so they gave up.

P.S. Out of curiosity, I just went and checked the mileage on our Freestyle that we would be trading on an Escape Hybrid or something else.

Since returning home from our New England road trip last October, we've driven the Freestyle a grand total of 594 miles. In seven months. That's about 85 miles per month.

I'm not very good at math, but something tells me that $3000 or $4000 out of pocket to trade it in and make a downpayment on a new car, even if the new car gets 30% or even 50% better mileage, doesn't add up in the long run. What would pay off is to get rid of the damn thing and pay cash for a beater to have around in case of emergency, or just rent one when needed.

As the Mrs. says, "sometimes you need to do the math."

OK, then.

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I subscribed for 3 months last fall to Consumer Reports Car Buying Kit. I thought it was pretty useful.
$39.

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Then when we decided on car we printed out the dealer costs and went to dealer knowing what they paid for it with printout in hand.