Update: It appears there's a PHEV minivan around the corner.

Source: Auto Blog

Well, now that I have been searching for information on hybrid minivans, there appears to be one coming up on the horizon, which Chrysler is saying is "Late 2015."

This is supposed to be the first hybrid minivan targeted for US release, which is still 14 years after Toyota released their first hybrid minivan in Japan. One surprise, however, is that this will be a PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle) which should have an electric range of 74 miles before going into hybrid mode. For reference, the Chevy Volt has a 38 mile electric range before kicking over into hybrid mode.

Here's some reference shots of the current Chrysler Town and Country minivans which could look similar I would think (photo credit to www.autoblog.com):

2013 Non-Hybrid Exterior

2013 Non-Hybrid Interior

I was unable to find a proposed price of the vehicle, but Toyota sells their hybrid minivan for 3,918,437 Yen in Japan (About $34,190) for the base model. Also, Toyota's Plug-In Prius carries an additional $5,000 on it's price tag for it's plug-in feature, which would make it safe to assume that these could go for $40,000+. I hope I'm wrong.

Hopefully this will be a catalyst for other HEV/PHEV minivans in the US market. What would be the price point you would be willing to purchase a PHEV minivan? How about for a HEV minivan?

Review: iOttie Easy View 2

iOttie Easy View 2 on Amazon

As mentioned earlier this week, I have been reviewing the iOttie Easy View 2 dash mount for our vehicles.

My goal was to find a strong suction that would adapt to various surfaces of dashes (too bad I can't test this in a Tesla Model S, if only). My other requirements were to hold my iPhone 6 Plus with a case on it and retail for less than $20. After several searches, this one trickled its way to the top of the list.

Now, I have had my fair share of cheap department store solutions but those always tended to break within a week, not hold up the phone well, or just plain stink (literally and figuratively). I just needed something that worked and not break the bank.

When I received it, I was surprised at how small the box was. I was starting to wonder if it would really fit my iPhone 6 Plus at all. After opening the package I did a quick test to see if it would fit. I was quickly shown that it fit rather comfortably, even with my Spigen Tough Armor Case. If you are  looking for a no fuss dash mount for your iPhone 6 Plus, just stop here, you have found it.

Now for some more of the fundamentals. The first thing to address is the suction/stickiness of the suction cup. I tried every surface type on our minivan which varied from smooth, textured, curved, and flat and held up like a champ. It simply wouldn't budge. Then I realized I hadn't even clamped it down yet! Once I had that clicked into place, it was going nowhere. I will say though that if you need to move it ton another car or another position, it can be done, but it takes some serious effort. (Which is what you want out of a dash mount right?)

 Next test was to see how well it held up my iPhone 6 Plus and case. The main thing I was looking for was wobble, or the arm falling under weight, or the whole thing coming off the dash altogether. I am happy to report that none of those thing occurred. In fact, after driving around with it for some time it held up perfectly. I was still able to make some minor adjustments while I drove around however. Here are a couple shots of my phone mounted on it.

Landscape

Portrait

There are just a couple minor quibbles with this unit, but they are extremely minor. My first is that I had a hard time telling if the phone was all the way on. It's kind of hard to explain, but I have a hard time knowing if it's all the way pushed back against the back, mostly due to the clamped edges clamping down so tight. I found that if I wrapped my had behind the flat part of the mount while installing the phone that I could could ensure it was pressed back all the way. My second complaint is that I feel there should be some arm movement to allow for additional minor adjustments. The mount on the stationary arm does allow some movement for small adjustments and rotation, but I still feel like there could be a tad more. For the price however, these are easily forgiven.

I highly recommend the iOttie Easy View 2 as a sturdy and affordable dash mount for your phone, especially if your looking for one for your iPhone 6 Plus. The iOttie Easy View 2 also comes in four colors too for a little variety: Black, Red, White, and Mint.

LWT: Nest Learning Thermostat 2.0

Buy Nest Learning Thermostat 2.0 from Amazon

This is a new series of articles called LWT, or Living With Technology. These won't neccesarily be reviews per se, but rather a look at day-to-day usage of technology in our lives with real world scenarios and numbers. The first installment of these articles will be on the Nest Learning Thermostat 2.0.

Let's just get it out there, the Nest Learning Thermostat is a very cool device, and a very practical one at that. Nest manages to take something as boring as a thermostat and turns it into a beautiful, connected device. The real beauty of it is that it does so much more than just look good, it serves as an energy saver which translates into utility and money savings. So here's the question: Does it save money? In my scenario, yes, and I'm well on my way to saving more.

Here's our scenario: we bought a new house near Boise, Idaho in 2011 with 2500 square feet, four bedrooms, and standard thermostat in the stairwell. My wife and I have three kids with a fourth on the way. That last bit plays a role in my monthly energy savings.

First off, the Nest retails for $249, so it's not too hard to calculate where the savings break-even point is. We bought and installed our Nest in June 2014. This is how are current savings so far have been calculated:

$0.079675	2013	2014	Difference	Savings
June kWh	842	880	-38	-$3.027650
July kWh	1386	880	506	$40.315550
August kWh	1604	1478	126	$10.039050
September kWh	1670	960	710	$56.569250
October kWh	889	539	350	$27.886250
Total	6391	4737	1654	$131.782450

According to the numbers, we are already slight more than halfway to having the Nest pay itself off. Here's what I think contributed to our overall savings.

1. Lock - This is where I learned how much our kids mess with things and the thermostat was no different. With the Nest, you can lock in a certain temperature range so that if the kids mess with it the Nest will not go outside of those bounds. I most certainly could not do this with my old thermostat. Gone are the days of the "mystery" temperature spikes and drops.

2. Schedules - This is an area that really shines for the nest. This is ultimately what prevents some of the wasteful cooling in the summertime (I've really only had it for warm weather seasons). Instead of just leaving it at a constant 70 degrees the whole winter, whether people were home or not, you got exactly that, 70 degree all summer long. Here's the thing though, during the middle of the day is when most of us weren't in the house anyways, but the old thermostat would work hard to bring those temperatures down to 70 degrees all day long. This is really is quite wasteful. There's really no better way to explain it than by showing our schedule during the summer which my wife said she didn't even notice (in other words, worked for her):

3. Auto-Away - This is one of the neatest features and one that worked rather well. The long and short if it is that the Nest determines when no one is home and will simply shutdown the unit all together. This once proved incredibly useful when we left on a trip and I had forgotten to turn it off. While not perfect, it definitely proved useful.

4. Remote Access - Really, having remote access to your thermostat is quite nice and really how I set my schedule. It let's you monitor, adjust, and set schedules in real time since the thermostat is connected via your home Wi-Fi. My wife likes to make small adjustments in the middle of the night and can do it without having to get up  of bed at all (or "Honey, can you get up and go change the thermostat for me?"). It's really quite nice to have that kind of control over the thermostat to ensure that you're saving money.

At the end of the day, I am already saving money and halfway toward the Nest paying itself off. It looks good, is fun to play with, and money savings also translate into energy efficiency and reducing waste. In my mind, the Nest is a win-win-win proposition.

Do any of you have a Nest Learning Thermostat? What are your savings if you do have one? Post your comments, questions, and thoughts below!

Discussion: Amazon Echo

Source: Amazon Echo Link

Well, you have to hand it to Amazon, they truly surprised everyone in a day where there are rarely surprises. The Amazon Echo was certainly not on anyone's radar and there's not really anything like it out there. Really, Amazon's R&D is certainly alive and active.

The whole idea behind the Amazon Echo is to have an always connected device in the home that gives you access to music, news, and other useful information. The device actually looks pretty good and appears like it could be useful in sundry circumstances.

The Amazon Echo is not yet available, though Amazon mentions it will inform customers exactly when it will be ready for the masses in "a few weeks." The retail price is set at $199 and $99  to Prime members for a limited time.

It does raise the question though, what problem does it solve that can't be done with a cell phone? Also, how will consumers respond to the Amazon Echo, will it be a smash hit? Or better yet, does Amazon expect these to be a smash hit? It's certainly new and different and time will ultimately tell if it goes the way of the Fire Phone, or it could be the next Kindle for Amazon.

I'll just throw my two cents in. As much as I want to like the Amazon Echo, there just seems to be something missing, I just can't put my finger on it. The bizarre thing is that I actually want one, though more at the Prime member price of $99 than at the $199 price point. I personally don't know what problem it solves, but I would love to be proven wrong. Maybe I just need to give it a try which is what I intend to do when I review it once it's out.

Feel free to share your thoughts below? Do you think it will be a hit? Will you buy one?

Discussion: Why do we not have hybrid minivans in the US?

Sources: Toyota Japan, Honda USA

We recently came to a point in our lives where it just made sense to go out and shop for a new minivan. We have never bought a new vehicle before and were not sure what to expect. In fact, a 10 year old car for us was a "new" car.

Everyone has different needs at different times in life and there's usually a vehicle that fits just about any of those needs across a wide spectrum. One of the first thoughts I had was to look into a hybrid gas/electric vehicle. I mean, hybrid technology has been around for the better part of a decade now, surely this technology would have found it's way into the minivan category. Much to my surprise, however, this is simply not an option in the US at this point.

This raises some questions:
1. Is the technology not there yet to make this feasible?
2. Is the market not asking for it?
3. Are there political reasons as to why this has not occurred?

There is no doubt (at least in my mind), that the EV is here to say and will likely become mainstream. So there has to be some explanation as to why we have not seen the hybrid/electric minivan reach the market.

I then heard from a good friend of mine who was in the same situation as me recently (we both have a wife, three kids, and one on the way) and recounted a much similar story. He then sent me these links:

http://www.alphard.com.hk/index_en.html#hybrid
http://www.toyota.com/esq/pdf/hwt-vehicle-cards.pdf

So, they do exist...in Japan...apparently, and for almost 13 years! Where has the US been?

Let's take a quick look at the specs of the 2014 Toyota Estima which I think is catering more toward the budget-minded according to Toyota.
- Price: $34,190 (¥3,918,437)
- Fuel Economy: 40-42 MPG (17-18 KM/L)

I need to do more research, but there's got to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. I mean, this is roughly how much we spent on the 2015 Honda Odyssey EX which specs like this.
- Price: $32,275
- Fuel Economy: 19-28 MPG

If I had the option between the two vehicles mentioned above, I would have chosen the 2014 Toyota Estima for sure, simply due to the savings in fuel.

I want to hear all of your thoughts and what you may know about the state of hybrid/electric minivans in the US (or lack thereof) and if you would buy one if you had the chance. Sound off below!