10 Responses

1. gas

2. Because knowing that I’m contributing to polluting the environment gives a guilty consience….
   so I would feel better about myself and also feel great about not giving those damn oil companies all my money.

3. For me…gas prices.

4. It would be “why the hell not?”

5. An electric car would have to be charged. The main charging source would be an outlet…..one that is powered by electricity generated from fossil fuels. You’re not really helping anything by using electric. Energy is never free.

   Cost of replacing the batteries in the Toyota hybrid car is about 5 grand…..and it’s gonna have to be done in about 5 years or so.

6. If all of the diesel in the world was gone, and if electric cars lasted longer than the life of their battery. Do you know the cost of replacing the gigantic battery array? Chemical reactions cause most rechargeable batteries to fail in under five years.
   They would have to cost around 500.00 dollars for me to want to get one.
   Electric cars are like Bick lighters, once their battery is dead(out of fuel) they are totaled, not worth repairing.

7. Of course a hybrid runs on gasoline and / or an electric motor. They do not get power from the power grid unless they were modified by their owners to be plug-ins
   There are only a hand full of “full hybrids” including the Toyota Prius, Ford Escape SUV, Mercury Mariner SUV and Honda Insight. Many of the more recent hybrids are “mild” hybrids that don’t really get much in the way of fuel economy. Full hybrids get fuel efficiency by charging the battery during braking, turning off the gas engine at idle, and turning the engine off under low driver demand for power. That is, they can actually run as an electric car briefly. Mild hybrids can’t do all of these tricks, especially the running as a electric only car, so get less fuel economy.

   For these cars you pay more but get better fuel economy. Whether it pays depends on the cost of fuel, and yes, the cost of new batteries. The federal government is giving generous tax breaks for some of these vehicles which can swing the equation.

   If you have a long view of things, say 5 years, you may get you money back with the tax break. But in the end, you need to either like the image of the hybrid, or have a personal dedication to using less fossil fuel.

8. First, to reduce the amount of exhaust emissions and greenhouse gasses I am putting into the atmosphere, second for the thrill of the cutting edge technology.

   Gas prices are a stupid reason since the premium you pay for a hybrid vehicle negates any saving on fuel. If I wanted to save money on fuel alone I’d choose a Volkswagen TDI diesel or a Toyota Corolla (40 mpg) instead and not have to pay so much for hybrid technology and have a $5000 bill for a new hybrid battery after 4 or 5 years. You’d save more with a Corolla, Yaris, Civic HX or a TDI then you ever will with a hybrid.

   The best reason to buy a hybrid is to reduce your emissions. Aside from that, buying an old Volkswagen or Mercedes diesel and running it off of 100% renewable non-toxic biodiesel is better for the planet in a lot of ways overall when you break down the effects of manufacturing that brand-new hybrid car and the effect of disposing of its batteries and so on.

9. Hybrids are snazzy!

   I think that eventually, like high definition TVs, hybrids will have to be the only thing on the market. However, they’re pretty expensive now, and according to Consumer Reports 2006 Car edition, economically still not worthwhile even when you factor in the savings in gas.

   However, if I had the money, I would totally get one! I don’t understand why people get SUVs when they use up so much gas. Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth starring Al Gore? Yeah, I would drive less and save gas mileage when I do!

10. I drive a pure electric vehicle. I do it to save money. But I also enjoy driving it. Here’s a picture of it:
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    http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/775
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    Don’t believe the disinfo about electric cars polluting. Electric motors are several times more efficient than gas engines. Power plants burn fuel at much higher efficiency than your gas car does. And distributing electricity by wire is far, far more efficient than trucking fuel around the countryside.
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    All these efficiency improvements mean that the EV can travel further on less energy. That means much less pollution per mile, no matter what the power plants burn. Plus, a decent percentage of electricity is now made from non-polluting sources.
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    It’s absurdly easy to prove the efficiency argument by looking at fuel costs. It only costs about a tenth as much (in electricity costs, compared to gasoline) to go an equivalent distance in a pure electric vehicle versus a conventional vehicle.
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    The improved efficiency of electric drive also explains why hybrids get better fuel economy, despite using the same fuel to charge the electric side. The fuel economy will improve still more dramatically when we get plug-in hybrids.
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    Now for a look at the future of electic cars. This car will be out next year. It charges in 10 minutes – and can drive for up to 250 miles per charge:
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    http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/
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    Incidentally, it’s easy to turn any pure electric car into a hybrid. Go to your hardware store and buy a generator. Plug the car into the generator, and charge the batteries with it.
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