Ford working on F150 hybrid

Hannibal wrote:
There's still a whole lot of ignorance about hybrids floating around. The Prius battery pack is smaller than the two batteries required for a diesel pickup and last way longer so the environmental claim is a nonissue. The cost of a battery pack at 10-12~ years is less than the cost of a transmission in a conventional vehicle at about the same time and mileage. My work vehicle, a Prius, has a 1.8L gas engine combined with it's hybrid motor/generator. Acceleration is not a problem at all. Honda's hybrid isn't the same. It's engine runs any time the car is driven. The Prius will run on battery up to 42mph. There are no fan belts or timing belt to worry with. The a/c compressor is electric so I stay cool in the summer heat on battery power. The money I save on the fuel cost difference alone, $700-800 a month for the F250 verses $150~ a month for the Prius pays for the Prius and then some. Wife drives the F250 for her short commute. I drive 100+ miles a day and average 52~city and 47~ interstate. The hybrid works great for me. My niece likes her several years old Yukon hybrid giving her 22~mph city. I think the F150 hybrid would be a good thing for some if the ignorance were ever replaced with facts about them. The only regret I have is that I didn't buy one years ago.

You wouldn't guess that the Prius is capable of acceleration when you get caught behind one in traffic. Perhaps the drivers are always trying to outperform their previous MPG best. I feel like I could out run one on foot.

But in all seriousness, there is nothing wrong with hybrids. I knew a guy with a Escape hybrid with well over 100K on it and stated he had not noticed any degradation in MPG or battery performance.

The reason the hybrid battery packs can last for 10 years is because of the aggressive battery management system included with hybrids. You'll never get your laptop battery to last 10+ years without showing reduction in performance.