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.

How convenient does the "right thing" have to be?

[jmason]

a Kung Fu Monkey blog entry from a month ago said this:

Kevin Drum recently quoted a study which re-iterated that there's no "real" advantage to buying a hybrid. It's only just as convenient - so if you're driving a hybrid, you're doing it for some other reason than financial incentive.

That made me think: what a perfect example of just how fucking useless as a society we've become. We can't even bring ourselves to do the right thing when it's only JUST as convenient as doing the wrong thing. And that's not even considered odd. Even sadder.

Re:Or maybe...

[mfarver]

"The batteries in hybrid cars are quite toxic"

Not at all. The current generation of hybrids are all running Nickel Metal Hydride "D" batteries, which are pretty safe overall. See Panasonic's disclosure. The worst chemical in them is the Potassium Hydroxide... which you should avoid contact with but which is not generally considered toxic. (Like the lead used in convential starter batteries)

You can simple toss NiMH batteries in the standard municipal waste stream, although recycling them is always a good idea.

The batteries carry an extended warrenty, 7-8 years IIRC. Accelerated testing has shown that they will probably last considerably longer and the price for replacements has already fallen to about $1500.

Buying a hybrid might be hard to justify financially (since the gas savings are unlikely to offset the price premium for a long while) but its still a good thing environmentally.

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:Some key points missed on NPR discussion

[Sloppy]

going down hills charges them too, more than going up hills depletes them.

If that's true, then I have an idea for how to build a perpetual motion machine. It looks like our society's energy problems are about to go away.

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.