Thinking of a Hybrid? Think again!

DFTowel · 06-16-05, 09:26

$10 PER GALLON GAS TO BREAK EVEN WITH COST OF SOME HYBRIDS
http://www.sema.org/main/semaorghome.aspx?id=53071

White95Max · 06-16-05, 09:31

Maybe some people are willing to pay the extra money to use less fossil fuels.

I can see myself having a Civic hybrid sedan as a DD sometime in the future. I'll have a powerful car for a weekend cruiser.

andriver · 06-16-05, 09:50

I think folks that buy a hybrid either buy it as a style statement or to truly conserve the environment.

Mr. Clean · 06-16-05, 10:16

Actually, I've seen/read @ $5/gallon range as a break even point. But regardless, I agree with the points made by White95Max and Andriver people are likely to choose to drive a hybrid for reasons other than fuel cost alone.

Setec Astronomy · 06-16-05, 05:40

Quote:

Originally posted by White95Max
I can see myself having a Civic hybrid sedan as a DD sometime in the future. I'll have a powerful car for a weekend cruiser.

If you go for the Accord Hybrid it's actually quicker than the standard Accord.

Ben Z. · 06-16-05, 06:26

Aren't some states offering $$ incentives to go with a hybrid?

SpoiledMan · 06-16-05, 07:42

Yeah, you get a fair shake on taxes for buying hybrid. It wouldn't take that long to recoup your dough. One of the TV car shows did that math and it came out to about 90k miles of driving which is a more accurate way of measuring than the cost of a gallon of gas.

White95Max · 06-16-05, 08:11

Quote:

Originally posted by Setec Astronomy
If you go for the Accord Hybrid it's actually quicker than the standard Accord.

Yeah I forgot about the Accord Hybrid. That's probably what I would get. I'm referring to a time when I have a family, and need a car to haul kids around (no more than two!)

Hemi57 · 06-16-05, 10:29

Maybe it is slight off topic but.....

Our local paper did an article about a comparison between petrol (gas to North Americans

) and diesel Audi A4. The purchase price difference was about $2,500 and they calculated it would take about 140,000 klm (87,500 miles) to recoup your extra purchase costs.

Econoboxes are not for me, thank you very much.

krsjuan · 06-16-05, 11:19

Has any one here ever looked into bio-diesel? From what I've seen it brings fuel costs down substantially.

splattj · 06-17-05, 04:43

Quote:

Originally posted by andriver
I think folks that buy a hybrid either buy it as a style statement or to truly conserve the environment.

Yeah, conservation of the environment. Right.... If you take into account the pollution generated creating the batteries and their components, and add to that the waste at the end of the car's life, you're not conserving much.

Really, the best thing I can say about buying a hybrid is that it sends a message to the automakers that there is a market for a car that uses less or even no gasoline. And that spending money on R&D to better produce clean, efficient cars that run on a renewable resource is worthwhile.

Then again, if battery and solar power forge on at the rate they're going, we won't need the gasoline component at all soon:

http://www.physorg.com/news4081.html

http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/02/03...0300431600.htm

For now, I think these would find some homes quickly:
http://www.theaircar.com/

wannafbody · 06-23-05, 05:42

they're a scam- they had carbs in the 70's that got 30 mpg- Gm accidentally put at least 1 on a production car