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The story
An article noting that most new cars now come as hybrids (HVs), with pure gasoline-only models on the decline, became a hot topic on 5ch’s News Speed+ board. The thread ranged widely: worries about HV battery degradation and replacement costs, the cost-benefit math of whether fuel savings actually offset the higher sticker price, and pushback that gas engines are still genuinely needed in rural settings like farm equipment and mini trucks. The thread also cited data showing the average age of EVs in China is just 1.8 years, highlighting how differently cars are used there compared to Japan.
Published 9/13 (Sun), 8:30 AM
Toyo Keizai Online
Look at the powertrains in today’s new cars and hybrids (HEVs) dominate overwhelmingly. A growing number of models don’t even offer a pure gasoline engine option anymore.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Besides, pull the engine out of an HV and you're basically already looking at an EV.
Isn't that just e-Power? Or does it apply across the board?
My ride's a pure gas engine car — manual transmission, two-seater even… (^o^)/ boom.
Go say that to a farmer's face. Kei trucks, tractors, farm equipment, the whole lot.
Not bad, but automakers keep bailing on it. Volvo's diesel wasn't bad either, but it's gone from the lineup now.
Sounds like a truck. That's embarrassing.
That's just what's convenient for the automakers. Next they'll probably say 'we made it in time for the 22nd century' (a riff on the Prius's old ad slogan, 'we made it in time for the 21st century').
Sounds like something a Nissan fan would say.
I've got that turned off, though.
Isn't that just a worn belt squealing, not the starter?
How many people even keep a car long enough to need a battery replacement?
True. People tend to overlook the auxiliary battery too.
If you don't drive much — mostly around town with the occasional trip or long drive — I think a pure gas car pays off better than an HV. Newer gas cars get something like 20km/L (~47 mpg) on the highway these days.
It kicks on way less than a regular gas car does…
Do you even drive, or do you just ride trains? lol
So then I start thinking, why not just get an EV?
Realistically
Realistically it comes down to gas or EV — a hybrid is a genuinely awkward middle ground.
If you're planning to trade it in aggressively every 1-2 years before the battery degrades, though, a hybrid might make sense.
It'll easily last 10 years — maybe down to 70% capacity, but still going. If anything, EVs are the ones that are done for in 3 years lol.
Assuming you'll aggressively trade it in is the wrong premise to begin with.
These days the Aqua is the mainstream pick.
The Corolla series is what actually carries on the old Prius's role now — people who saw the Prius as just a practical, cost-effective tool have already switched over to that. But older folks who don't like the name 'Corolla' still insist on the 'Prius' name and keep driving one.
What matters is cushioning the blow if a disaster or Middle East crisis turns you into a 'gasoline refugee.' I'm not really counting on breaking even on the price difference.
If we're talking cost-effectiveness, a compact gas car is really the only choice.
Pretty much nobody, honestly.
Most European 'hybrids' (wink wink) are basically that too.
Which one's actually more of a 'real' hybrid, that or e-Power, I wonder.
Feels like you'd have to become one of those users kept on a leash by the automaker, trading in every 3 years like it's a subscription.
Drove my Prius 210,000 km and traded it in for 30,000 yen — never once replaced the battery.
Apparently in China the average time before people trade in an EV is now just 1.8 years.
> A report by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) and Hejun Consulting found that the average age of electric vehicles (EVs) in China is 1.8 years — far below the 8.2 years for gasoline cars.
> This was reported by the Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald.
>
> "Vehicle age" refers to years elapsed since new registration. According to the report, that's shorter than the span many people keep using the same phone.
>
> According to the newspaper, rapid advances in batteries, software, and semiconductor chips — along with falling used-car prices — may be behind this accelerating trend toward early replacement.
> An EV's average resale value three years after purchase is reportedly 43.35% of the original price, lower than for conventional cars.
○ China's EVs average just 1.8 years old, under a quarter the age of gas cars — local paper reports, Bloomberg, 7/13
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Behind hybrids (HVs) becoming the mainstream choice for new cars lies not just tightening fuel-economy regulations and a worldwide push toward electrification, but also automakers trimming their pure-gasoline lineups to hold down development costs. Opinions in the thread split mainly over whether an HV’s price premium actually pays for itself in fuel savings, with some arguing that the less you drive, the more a gas car makes sense. There was also the point that Suzuki-style ‘mild hybrids’ work on a different mechanism than a full hybrid capable of running on motor power alone, yet both get lumped together under the same ‘hybrid’ label — a common source of confusion. The thread also cited a report that the average age of EVs in China is just 1.8 years, but that reflects a trend toward early replacement driven by rapid battery and software advances and falling used-car prices — a very different context from how cars are actually used in Japan.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Automobiles] New cars are all hybrids now… why are pure gasoline cars being discontinued one after another? The “2030 problem” and automakers’ thinking behind it.”
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