We've previously wondered whether or not owning a hybrid car will end up saving you money or costing
more than a conventional car in the long run; a lively discussion followed.
Fully electric and plug - in hybrids cost
more than conventional cars, and sticker price was cited as the major barrier by more than half of the respondents.
Hence, it is hardly
larger than a conventional car battery and is housed conveniently in the luggage compartment between the wheel arches of BMW ActiveHybrid 7, safely surrounded by a high - strength special casing.
Hence, it is only slightly larger
than a conventional car battery and is housed conveniently in the trunk floor between the wheel arches of BMW ActiveHybrid 7, safely surrounded by a high - strength special casing.
Though the iQ doesn't get the vaunted 40 - mpg highway estimate that so many subcompacts are pushing these days, its mileage — 36/37 mpg city / highway — reads more like that of a
hybrid than a conventional car.
In the eyes of insurers, today's self - driving vehicles are treated no
differently than conventional cars when they're involved in a collision, according to Maureen Brown of Munich Reinsurance America, a firm that insures a number of companies testing autonomous vehicles.
The power lost by these systems in transferring energy could be enough to make electric vehicles and plug - in hybrid electric vehicles less environmentally
friendly than conventional cars, says Michael Kintner - Meyer at the Energy and Environment Directorate at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.
CEO Rick Wagoner ignored his opposition, convinced by GM's internal fuel - cell lobby, led by charismatic scientist Larry Burns, that the automaker was on the verge of a major breakthrough that would enable it to produce vast fleets of carbon - free vehicles that would be cheaper to
build than conventional cars, Lutz says.
«It has two to three times larger crumple zones at front
[than a conventional car],» he said, showing the front trunk (frunk) that's big enough to fit a golf bag.
They offer greater fuel efficiency and fewer greenhouse gas and particular
emissions than conventional cars, but still run on gasoline, a finite and (some say) diminishing resource.
BMW says the modular production methods developed for the i brand allow additional models to develop with less
cost than conventional cars.
And Fox Business host Gerri Willis suggested electric cars are not «contributing less to global warming»
than conventional cars:
«But by using much less energy during driving, the carbon emissions over the lifetime of an i3 is better
than a conventional car... and if you drive the car during the lifespan with renewable energy it is actually much better,» says Draeger, who previously oversaw R&D of BMW's i electrified models.