I recently discovered Toyota has a proto-type electric or hybrid FULL SIZE pickup!

sweet...the pictures on-line are great and sounds like a BIG truck


we have a F-150 super crew-- ok i love it...duh

but 14MPG man!!!!!!

I get about 200 plus miles per tank

i added a few this and thats and get about just under 300 horses.

But seriously, hybrid or whatever is the way to go...at $2.29 a tank for regular...we are gonna go alternative.

Funny, I never see my town on the news for High gas prices LOL

San Diego always makes it, but i think we beat them on occasion!! ouch!

I have a friend that has a Toyota Prius. It is really nice....can handle 4-5 people no problem, good space in the hatch, interior is nice, handles well, and the power of a good 4 cylinder car.....AND she gets around 50mpg!

I was looking at those. They seem like there built well. We just need to figure out how to get OPEC out of the picture... An alternative fuel needs to come forward.

so the car can a least get out of its way up hill?


how was the back seat? roomy?

thanks

oh yeah...it can go up hill...no issues. It is not a speed demon, it was designed to mimic the performance of the 4-cylinder Camry.

A six-footer can sit in the back. I am only 5'7"....and it is roomy.

Biodiesel's the way to go, man. Just fill up your easily-modified diesel truck with used french-fry oil and away you go!

Actually, the current Car & Driver has a "Frugalympics" shootout between the following:

Honda Civic Hybrid
Toyota Echo
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI

You can read the on-line article, Here.

This also looks interesting: Ford Escape Hybrid

If you search for "Hybrid" at the site, you will come up with about a page of hits.

Still--- we need a truck

can't be too far down the road


i just wonder how powerful they can be..i maen a truck does need some power.

ford does have an experiemental full size truck with the hybrid motor, but i dont have a clue to its horsepower.. but, from what i have seen, there is no current hybrid technology that can create the type of torque and horsepower that the common person needs in a truck..

but, i am open minded, and would not rule out the fact that they will be able to make it in the future.

bigjohn

"Common person needs in a truck"? To carry groceries or to do real work?

If you can wait until the fall, than this may interest you.

I love Honda's, so this from Car & Driver piques my curiosity:

"High-performance Honda hybrid: In a departure from Honda's tiny-engined hybrids, the 2005 Accord will offer a V-6 along with its electric motor. As with all hybrids, the extra power from the electric motor boosts performance as well as fuel economy, so with a 240-hp V-6 as a partner, the Accord should be the fastest of all the hybrids. Tweaks to the familiar 3.0-liter engine include cylinder deactivation, or "variable cylinder management," which shuts down three cylinders in cruising or deceleration situations to maximize fuel economy. Honda claims the hybrid will accelerate faster than the current V-6 Accord while achieving the fuel economy of a four-cylinder compact like the Civic. No word on pricing, but expect the hybrid Accord to come in at about $27,000 when it arrives in showrooms at the end of the year."

Oooh... if only they would offer it in that sweet wagon that's in those Rube Goldberg British commercials.

--in the US, that is. If they offered that wagon in any form in the US, I would have bought one by now.

my mother had Cads when i was growing up....wah wah wah

My uncle always has been a CHEVY guy

sure it is a religion as to what cars you do and don't like.

but seems like every GM car has a CHEAPness about it.

Just an opinion.

ANd btw way..VETTES kick ass...and Barrettas.

so i am not 100% against GM just 99.09 %

My undertanding is these electric engines can be tuned for more power vs conserving the battery drain. So I think that higher powered hybrids are not too far off.

ken- i was just referring to non-commercial or non farming and ranching users of trucks. being in texas, we have more trucks on the road than any other state in the union. at least a third of them are used for heavy towing and agricultural reasons. those trucks use the big diesels and there will NEVER be a hybrid market to satisfy the people in that buying market.

by saying common person, i meant regular use.. taking loads of leaves and tree limbs to the dump, pulling small trailers and boats, etc.

i have a chevy, 4-door, 1 ton, with a V8 350, and i use it for towing my boat, my moms 24ft travel trailer, and our 15ft flatbed. i only get about 12 MPG, but my truck can do things and tow things that others cant.. thats why i bought it.

bigjohn

I figured as much. I live in CA, where trucks are often used with 20s to cruise around in. Or to really irritate your neighbors and block their parking space. Asshats...

yes, it always makes me mad to see when people tkae perfectly good trucks, and slam them down to the ground, and put big fat tires on them, and put all the ground effects kits on them so they are only 2 inches off the pavement.. its just stupid.. a perfectly good waste of a good truck. they make them completely functionless??

bigjohn

glad you said OFTEN


SInce you are in the bay area..man a poped is really the best mode

I am about 2 hours east of Redding in the N tip of the Sierras (2 hours from Reno) ...we get snow every year..etc.

You know My wife has a Suburu- not only is it killer on gas...but is can get up hill on ice...that little thing is bad!

they look pretty cool on a Impala...or other "family cars" lol

and i can dig them

but seriously..what is a TRUCK for?

to work and to cary things and people.

ours is our family car...and not in the pussy SUV way

we often have my wife, son and mother ---so why not a car with better mileage? because we ALSO carry a load..maybe projects (wood, etc) or fire wood, or LOADS of gravel (that sucked) or Dirt(that sucked too)...all these strange jobs

or obout 30-40 bags of cement at a time..that reallllllly sucked.

man, I'd rather the grocierys

BTW i put a K&N cold air intake, and have a flowmaster-- I do get 14mpg now...lol

and about 300 ponies.

still..if electric can do it..we are there man.

GAS SUCKS!

I lived in San Bernardino, Crescent City and Arcata, and now east of there where gas is always very high.

When I was in OKC it was sooooooo cheap.