Can you imagine the horror of millions of these over-hyped and under-delivering Rube Goldberg Four Wheel devices, piloted by their smug enviro terrorist owners clogging every freeway lane in the country?……SHIVER. The only bright spot is them discovering to their horror and my delight, that the absurdly great mileage they were expecting is just plain absurd, and the out-of-warranty maintenence costs will result in having to choose between said four wheeled device and the annual gift to Consumers Union or Save the Whales/No Nukes/Adopt a Snail Darter Foundation.

I drive my Prius in California car pool lanes and get very angry at other Prius drivers trying to maximize thier MPG in the carpool lane. To me, the carpool lane is the 80+ zone. If you can’t keep up the pace, GET OUT!

To other Prius drivers, if you want to maximize your fuel efficiency, drive in the city where the Prius gets better mileage than the highway. Even going 80+ in the carpool lane, I still acheive 40+ MPG…still better than most cars could dream.

Nice Nick. Hah!

prius drivers are the biggest group of asshole drivers i have encountered, bigger than the luxo barge group…driving in the fast lane thinking the prius can accelerate like a normal car…but now i know the truth, they drive slow on purpose!

Nick, you are an idiot.

Nich and gsh are both idiots.

Gar. I wouldn’t buy a hybrid because I’d hate to have to front the bill for fixing the thing. Those battery packs are *expensive*. Good luck for you early adopters, though.

IMHO, the real idiots are people who drive SUVs thinking that they behave like normal cars. I have been so close to getting rammed or sideswiped by an SUV so many times, it’s scary. What I don’t understand is how people think a 4,000-5,000lb SUV would make a better all-around vehicle than, for instance, a Subaru Forester or a Volvo XC70. Sorry I got a bit off topic.

moody

No need to single out the Prius – LOTS of people drive slow in the carpool or leftmost lane. Rudeness when it comes to lane discipline is endemic to all vehicle segments, as far as I can tell.

When it comes to carpool lanes during traffic though, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go fast when the lane next to you isn’t. People pull into the carpool lane at 30mph all the time, so if you’re going 80 you’re running a risk.

Carlos is right. This problem (slower driver in the leftmost lane) has existed before Prius, and doesn’t just apply to carpool lanes during traffic hours. However I have been close to crashing into other cars pulling into the carpool lane from a dead stop. It’s as if they can only see what is immediately to the left rear of their car. BTW, I’m NOT a Prius owner.

anybody that drives slow in the left lane and carpool lane makes me angry, not just hybrids. someone else pointed out that the Prius still gets 40mpg while going 80, so whats the deal with going slow?

Perhaps if states were smart like Virginia, they’d completely separate the HOV lanes from the regular traffic lanes as is the case near D.C. This eliminates the possibility of morons crossing over into the HOV lane even when there is a double line. Also, there are two HOV lanes on I-95 near Washington, so you can pass a slower vehicle. Municipal governments such as Atlanta’s and Charlotte’s don’t seem to get this. It’s no wonder the HOV lanes don’t work as well in those two examples, and that’s why you have clogged lanes that move no faster than regular traffic lanes.

Signs.
The signs that say “left lane is for passing only”, and “slower traffic keep right,” and “Minimum speed X.”
The DOT just need to put more of those up.
When people know these rules are government sponsored, they are more willing to comply than some angry motorist behind them. The latter will just make people drive slower.

Like the posts above said, Priuses aren’t slow, with 10.7 second 0-60 time.
It’s just certain drivers.
A Chevy Malibu I-4 has a 0-60 of 9 seconds. I’m sure I can find slow examples of everyday cars, but I can’t seem to find the web site that I frequent, with all the 0-60 times.

It’s not the driver… It’s the State you were raised in. Aggressively conscious hard-at-it drivers are well known in the Northeast, especially NY. Our drivers don’t rubberneck, don’t pull out in high speed lanes, and we don’t drive Hybrids that can’t take the snow. It’s all because we’re more aware due to the extreme variances we experience yearly on the road. Besides, my 82 Chevy Blazer gets around 8mpg/Hw… And I’m damn proud to be an American!

What does being an American have to do with anything? Do you associate cars with horrible fuel economy with America? Why would that make you proud? What about the Escape hybrid or the RX400h?

Also, blanket statements about the disposition of American North-Eastern drivers, as you called them, are just not going to be accurate. Don’t generalize.

One other thing. The Prius, by the standards of most modern cars, IS slow. My 1993 940 Turbo Wagon does 0-60mph in 8.9 seconds, and it feels fairly lethargic. Beyond that, what their 0-60 time is has no bearing on whether or not they drive 55mph or 70mph in a carpool lane. I’m fairly certain that every car in production for sale in the US as a complete, highway capable vehicle, can make 110mph. I’m not saying you’re wrong, Jim, I’m just arbitrarily correcting my perceived errors in your reasoning.

On another note, I doubt that a Prius makes 40mpg at 80mph. Hybrids are more efficient than normal cars in city traffic, but I don’t see why they would be more efficient on a highway; there’s no regenerative braking. Unless the Prius weighs less than I think it does (3,000lbs), I don’t see how that’s possible, especially at 80mph, no doubt at around 3,500-4,000rpm on the tach.

moody

Here in California, or at least the LA area, I find that Priuses go the fastest, with the exception of the occasional psychotic in a rice rocket racing with a guy in a lifted Chevy. They keep pace very well and I have had no problems with them. The real danger to carpool lanes are minivans. I have to go around 9 out of 10 minivans. Keep in mind that I go anywhere from 80 to 85 mph and I still am keeping with traffic and occasionally getting passed myself. These guys are doing under 65 and are usually so full of people that they are hanging way low.

Oh and by the way… The rest of us are finished liking New York. Your 9/11 sympathy has worn out and we now realize you’re still the douche bags you always were. Have a nice day.

Prius owners are the biggests assholes??? Come on, blanket statements like that get us no where…..I’m sure that Prius are using up the lanes compared to before where it wasn’t used much…Its been used.Period. If you can’t go 70-80 mph don’t blame the Prius users, blame the LAW you jackasses 65 is speed limit here in California (for most of the carpool lanes and freeways). As someone staed earlier, it is imperative that one be responsible and ASSUME that someone WILL jump onto the carpool lane from a dead stop…..That’s a smart driver in my book.
BTW, why can’t a Prius owner be proud of his investment? We are getting better gas mileage then most and we’re proud of it…We’re supporting a great technology that can and will only wet the appetite of car manufacture to be creative and make cars that are fuel efficient.
Oh and can many of the idiots on this comment page relax with the speculation of the BATTERY and other maintenance cost for the Prius?….That has yet to be a real problem even for the early PRIUS PIONEERS….Please list FACTS and trash the scuttlebutt because it reaks of sour grapes…..

Of course the hybrids are hogging the carpool lane! Driving ‘em on the expressway negates any fuel savings one would get from them.

The speculation about the cost of replacing batteries is indeed just that, although the batteries in a Prius likely wouldn’t fail for 5-10 years. How about not swearing at people?

moody

When some asshole in an H2 is coming up rather quickly on my ass when driving my wife’s Prius at 73MPH in the carpool lane, I merge to the right and let the dildo go past, even though he/she is burning up enough gasoline for five cars. Sure, he/she is an asshole, but the carpool lane is kinda like the fast lane, in that, when someone is using it and wants to go faster, the California state law can be read on signs along the roadways, which read, “SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT”.

-he who stacks pork

I live in California, and it’s a bigger issue than people living elsewhere can fathom. The idiots drive so slowly in the carpool lane that even the other lanes move at a quicker pace than they do. Prius drivers are arrogant. It’s proven that Honda’s hybrids get better mileage, and there’s no debating against the fact that Honda’s hybrids at least look like cars, and not like a Japanese ****roach. Even so, I see hybrid Civics and Accords speeding in the carpool lanes, like it’s supposed to be. People buy Priuses because they want others to know they’re driving a hybrid – not to save money.

I just bought my Prius on Saturday. Used 2005.

I own a new Bentley and Range Rover…both get 15 MPG. In the Prius, I am getting 50 MPG, savings some dough, and yes, looking forward to driving it from my home in San Clemente CA to Santa Monica, a 70 mile drive each way in the carpool lane.

I have seen the Prius rush by me (many of them) in the carpool lane, and decided to do what the law is encouraging….saving fuel by getting a concession, driving in the carpool lane.

I of course hope it does not clog the lanes too much, and love the posts. I promise people….I will drive as fast as the car in front of me allows…with an eye on people coming in illegally over the double yellow line.

As for the batteries, 7 year warranty on the entire car. They can replace the gerbils running on the treadmill powering this little wierd looking car (yes, I think it is funny looking….kind of like me).

I DO own a Prius. It is the first non performance car i have owned in many years. someone posted a comment about driving in snow. I drove this car up to big bear several times this past season for the fresh powder (snowboarding) and it did VERY well. Far better, in fact, than my BMW 330i with traction control, or even my Acura CL. I was very impressed with the snow handling and even passed several people who were busy getting stuck. And for the record, I grew up in D.C. and refuse to put chains on my car’s tires unless the roads are a sheet of ice.

One more point, though. About the carpool or fast lane. i am the most aggressive driver i know, and I cannot stand being trapped behind some jerkoff (in any car) going 65 or 70 in the carpool lane. As far as i am concerned, it should be 80mph or get the f@(k out of the way!!! i rail that Prius at 85 or even 95 some times and she does okay. Handles like a brick – but does okay… I am doubly frustrated with slow-a$$ prius drivers in the carpool lane by themselves becuase it gives all prius drivers a bad name and makes us look like a bunch of pansies. It is actually kind of funny how hard some drivers will fight to avoid letting me in front of them in the Prius. Of course, i get there anyway and am usually gone before they know what happened, but it is still very interesting. I know this is becuase so many Prius owners are out there driving around with the little screen on the dash set to the fuel efficiency monitor mode and trying to coax the last bleeding drop of advantage out of the prius. Give it a rest and drive the thing would ya’? I mean what difference does 3mpg make when you’re already getting 41? Geez!

Peace

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The battery life question…

This is nothing more than a negative publicity campaign promoted by god knows how many different sources. The toyota Prius is designed to go the same distance as any other toyota vehicle – 250,000 miles or more. This is with NO REPLACEMENT of the battery bank. I have heard this rumor ranging from 70,000 miles to 130,000 miles and none of it is true. Toyota will verify this and there is an interview with some Toyota engineer big-wig on line somewhere (don’t know where anymore) but it he clearly stated that the batteries are intended to survive the life of the vehicle. Don’t believe the anti-environmental hype put forth by big oil and automotive profiteers! There is a simple reason they don’t want you to buy a more efficient car – and it isn’t becuase they care about you or the environment. If you really want to gain some insight, go see “Who Killed the Electric Car.” This movie will knock you on your a$$! Really pi$$ed me off actually. To think that the Prius is merely a sort of dumbed down, compromise of what is really available technologically is kind of annoying. Not surprising at all, but definitely annoying. I very highly reccommend this film. If you can find it anywhere, it is a bit more real world tangible than “An inconvenient Truth.” – although i studied enviro-science in college and have to add that just about every single thing represented in that movie was accurate. Scary and sad, I know.

Anyhow, cheers.