When Hybrids Do (And Don't) Make Sense

prostoalex writes "Recently NPR, CNN Money and Wall Street Journal Online have all dedicated some time and space to discussing hybrid vehicle pros and cons. It seems that hybrids do not make much financial sense if (a) you're buying after getting yourself into a debt with not really good interest on a car loan, (b) your battery requires replacement after being out of warranty, (c) your daily commute is not too long, so the price markup you pay for a hybrid does not translate into long-term gas savings." From the CNN article: "They may make a social statement you're interested in, but if you want to save money because of rising gas prices, you're heading down the wrong road, at least for now."

Comments

short distance? charge it.

[TheSHAD0W]

Several people have been charging their hybrid's batteries overnight from the AC mains, and for a situation where the commuting distance is short, this makes plenty of sense. You may never even have to start the engine, which will still of course be available for longer trips.

Nope, sorry. Electricity is still more efficient.

[leoxx]

It is a myth that switching to electricity would cause more pollution due to the nature of how the electricity is generated. Even taking into account that the energy comes from coal and the losses due to transmission, electric cars are still more fuel efficient (and thus cheaper and cleaner) than gasoline powered cars.

Re:The Prius does have an electric water pump

[Technician]

Obviously running the engine a lot in stop and go traffic affects the gas mileage a bit in that car, but the lowest my weekly average has ever been is 45mpg (combined city/highway, my drive to work is about 50% of each). That's still better than the best my old Contour ever got under the best circumstances (37mpg).

The worst I got in my Prius was 28MPG. That tank included a 12 hour shift being used as an emergency generator for the house during an Ice storm. It ran lights, a fridge, a freezer, the fireplace fan, and the TV.

If I just drove places, I would have gotten better mileage. The best mod for a Prius is an inverter.

To get that mileage, I turned off the heater because there was no need to defrost the windows or heat the car. Why burn the gas? In that generator mode, it would start up every 20 minutes for so and run for 3 or 4 minutes and shut down again.