lolder Report post Posted April 17, 2010 I couldn't agree more on the cat warm-up. Geesh these emissions laws are rediculous. In the winter months in Phoenix, I must drive 5 minutes before EV is even an option. I couldn't imagine what it is like for folks that live in real cold weather. I'm torn on the memory seats. They're cool on our 2003 Tahoe, but they're starting to flake out, transitioning from convenience to irritant. Now you have to adjust the seats and mirrors every time you drive the thing, even if you were the last one to drive it. Electronic features would be better if the degraded gracefully. Too often, they go wacky before they die altogether. My biggest desire would be: Plugin/Lithium option (as already mentioned). Think of the range! Diesel/hybrid option. Think about the extra mileage and durability diesel engines have. I wonder why diesels are not appropriate for hybrid technology?Just a reminder on what has been discussed on this forum previously. A bigger HVB is not desirable for these hybrids. All the energy comes from gasoline and the EV mode is actually less efficient than the ICE despite the 60+, 99.9 mpg readings in EV. That comes at the expense of the ICE running and all the losses in the generator-charge-discharge-motor cycle. The HVB needs only to be large enough to accept regenerative braking, provide transient acceleration power and to allow modest EV mode cycling at lower speeds to improve ICE efficiency. The proven durability of the NiMh batteries should not be exchanged for Li-Ion when there is no need for more battery capacity. You might save only 50 lbs. Now a plug-in is a completely different design problem. The 14 mile plug in Prius, I think is a foolish marketing ploy. A much more expensive HVB and car is going to yield little improvement. The Chevy Volt manufacturing cost is enormous and plug-ins are not going to be anywhere near as economical to run as expected. If equivalent road taxes were applied to grid electricity used to charge vehicles, there would be no energy advantage right now. If vehicles start to use less petroleum, these taxes will inevitably be applied to electric grid vehicle battery charging. Plug in vehicles do remove the energy production to a different, perhaps remote location and may benefit from renewable or non polluting energy sources. Pure electric plug-ins may have lower maintenance costs at the expense of range anxiety. I remember 40 years ago driving around late at night in a diesel Mercedes with an almost empty tank looking for an open service station with a diesel pump. That was not fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FFHdriver Report post Posted April 20, 2010 No - a handle to pull down the trunk lid to close it without having to touch the trunk itself and whatever dirt/grime has accumulated on it. No, My FFH has a leather look strap on the inside of the trunk to close the trunk with. Looked at the strap on a Fusion at the dealer today. It's nice and should do the job, but I think I'll keep using my handle mounted under the license plate. I didn't get a price for the strap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
