vangonebuy Report post Posted September 24, 2014 The fact that the Volt only seats 4 is what eliminated it for us. We far too often have to take 5 people in the car.AGREE,Prius, Volt, Leaf. All 4 passenger vehicles. The Fusion was the only 5 passenger that was of interest to me. I need the extra seat and use it quite often. FFE was something I looked into. But the trunk space shut me down. Show me anytime you drive 5 people and don't need to put something in the trunk for space. What I need now is a hybrid minivan. The rolling toaster is getting old and I really don't ever want to buy a vehicle that gets less than 30MPG. Ever! 3 corncobs, hybridbear and GrySql reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted September 24, 2014 Prius does seat 5. I had 2 car seats and a 14 YO in the back, was a bit cramped, but they still fit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkegel Report post Posted September 24, 2014 Prius does seat 5. I had 2 car seats and a 14 YO in the back, was a bit cramped, but they still fit. It has thee sets of seat belts in the back seat? Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybridbear Report post Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) It has thee sets of seat belts in the back seat? Dave AGREE,Prius, Volt, Leaf. All 4 passenger vehicles. The Fusion was the only 5 passenger that was of interest to me. I need the extra seat and use it quite often. FFE was something I looked into. But the trunk space shut me down. Show me anytime you drive 5 people and don't need to put something in the trunk for space. What I need now is a hybrid minivan. The rolling toaster is getting old and I really don't ever want to buy a vehicle that gets less than 30MPG. Ever!The Prius & Leaf both seat 5 in the sense that they have 5 seat belts. The Focus Electric also seats 5 although I would not want to be in the back seat with two other people. The Volt has only 4 seat belts & 4 captain's chairs. I also hope to see a hybrid minivan. Toyota makes multiple hybrid minivans in Japan but they refuse to sell them in the US. Edited September 24, 2014 by hybridbear Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gigi Report post Posted September 24, 2014 Buy the FFH because of FFE's Trunk Space?Nope. Bought the Energi because it could go 21 miles on electricity and we had another vehicle for when we needed trunk space. 1 corncobs reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vangonebuy Report post Posted September 25, 2014 The Prius & Leaf both seat 5 in the sense that they have 5 seat belts.Maybe they can fit in the back seating sideways. Adults shoulder to shoulder would be very uncomfortable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talmy Report post Posted September 25, 2014 Regarding the "car with trunk space for travel and the FFE for around town" solution, why not FFH for travel (assuming it has enough trunk space) and an electric car for around town? Seems that might be the most forward thinking solution. Can't say we practice that -- FFH and TCH both with enough trunk, but ignoring the electric option. Our younger son and daughter-in-law have gone another route with a Tesla (yes, for travel) and Fiat 500e electric for around town. They do have a gas powered car for when they actually need one, as well as, and somewhat off-topic, a DeLorean for time travel. 2 hybridbear and machoman1337 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybridbear Report post Posted September 25, 2014 Regarding the "car with trunk space for travel and the FFE for around town" solution, why not FFH for travel (assuming it has enough trunk space) and an electric car for around town? Seems that might be the most forward thinking solution.That's what we've done. Very cool that your son & DIL have a Tesla & a Fiat 500e! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrySql Report post Posted September 25, 2014 As long as you don't have 4 kids and tow a boat... 1 acdii reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talmy Report post Posted September 25, 2014 That's what we've done. Very cool that your son & DIL have a Tesla & a Fiat 500e! Electric cars are a move I'm not yet ready to make! Kudos for your (and their) courage. I must admit that modern electrics are nice to drive. I had the lucky experience to "test drive" an experimental electric car at Cornell back in 1972. It certainly wasn't ready for public consumption. :) It used a Renault R8 body/chassis, VW automatic transaxle (very bad choice), Otis elevator motor, and was packed with lead-acid (only choice at the time) golf cart batteries. Regenerative braking from a knob on the dash, which you needed because the standard brakes were inadequate to stop a 5000lb compact car. When plugged in to charge, the body was at 60 volts, shocking anyone who walked by and touched it. It was the most difficult to drive car I've ever driven. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted September 25, 2014 For our daily commute a Volt would work since we usually only have the two kids when out of school, but there are plenty of times where there are 5 of us going somewhere, and I don't always like to take the MKT out, only because, like the FFH, short trips suck up gas, and I would rather get 34 MPG in the FFH than 13 in the MKT. What kept me from getting a pure electric, like the Focus is range. I need a guaranteed 100+ mile range out of it, since my daily drive with the wife, dropping off the kids is 95 or more miles if there is a lunch trip too. It's 45 miles each way without any side trips. I would have liked to get a FFETi, but my dealer is not EV certified, and I did not like how the dealer CC got his from came across the subject. He was, you don't want this car, and I got bad vibes. That and I highly doubt they would sell it for invoice to me like mine would. If something were to happen to mine and it got totaled, the first thing on the list would be a used FFE Ti, if I could find one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talmy Report post Posted September 25, 2014 What kept me from getting a pure electric, like the Focus is range. I need a guaranteed 100+ mile range out of it, since my daily drive with the wife, dropping off the kids is 95 or more miles if there is a lunch trip too. It's 45 miles each way without any side trips. What's needed are employers which provide (usually free) chargers. Mine is installing them as part of its Green policy, but since my commute is only 1.5 miles (which I often just walk) it doesn't really matter what sort of car I commute in. My previous employer (which I left about 8 years ago) provided electric outlets and there were two employees who had converted cars to electric. That was 25 miles each way and I could have done electric with that and had a sizable savings in fuel costs but I don't know if it would have recovered the conversion expense. Even lead-acid batteries would have given the needed range. I see quite a few businesses around here that have chargers with solar cell arrays -- not sure if they are for employees cars or company cars. Lots of commercial charging stations around, but they cost like it's gasoline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted September 25, 2014 I work for a small company that rents its office space, so the chances of getting a charging station are about the same was winning powerball. 1 hybridbear reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
