I took my neighbor with me to go to Lowes today. It was way to hot out to not have the AC running, so my current mileage is toileted at 42 even.
Anyways, he loved the way the car felt inside for a compact. He envisioned no AC, no power anything, no tach, and pleather type seats. He thought the gauges were great, and liked the chrome accents.
I started the car, and he asked "is it running, or is that the electric motor?" It's running I told him. Once we started rolling, the questions rolled out as well. Is it in Electric, how do you know what the mileage is, when will the engine cut in, the list went on and on. We coasted down a big downhill, before getting ready to ascend a mild uphill. I asked him to watch the tach. I parked the tach at 3000rpm, and kept it there through 60mph, with a about a 50-60 percent assist. He was baffled. "How many gears are in this thing?" Infinite I told him. I told him it is constantly variable, so there isn't any shifting per-say.

He had a big grin on his face. He couldn't believe it is quieter than his Caddy STS, smoother tranny, and the torque for a little four banger.

I let him drive it home. He couldn't get used to the auto stop, and mileage dropped to 40.3 after only a couple of miles. He could care less. He was having a ball trying to keep the mileage up, maintaining speed, and watching the charge, and assist guages. I think his favorite part was starting the car. I shut down the AC for a while so he could get 80mpg at about 50mph in traffic. I kept answering his questions. The main ones were the difference between the Prius and Civic. He thougth all hybrids were the same. I told him part of the reason I bought the Civic was the simplicity of the design, but if he is interested in buying one, he should check all the hybrids. Might have another hybrid in the neighborhood.

 

Thanks for the account Challenger1, it was nice reading.

The only other thing I could suggest for the next time you have a 1st time hybrid passenger is to put the climate control on full auto, temp set low so the fan is blowing really hard....with the ECONO button set to ON.

That way when AutoStop activates the whole car suddenly and without warning just goes "dead". Then look at them with a concerned face for only a moment. Click the key to START, but still nothing happens of course.

Priceless.

 

Next time I'll have to do that to some unwitting soul. When the car goes dead, say "What just happened to my car?, What did you do?" That would be funny. Just an update to the story, he has driven the Prius, Civic, and Accord. He likes the Accord best. He wanted to drive an Escape, but the dealer wanted over sticker, and only had one, and it was on the show-room floor. We were talking about the cars, and he said he wouldn't have ever considered a hybrid if he hadn't ridden to town with me. He had no idea about the Accord Hybrid, and loved the power, and feel. I told him to check out this message board. He would be suprised with the mileage folks are getting with the accord.