Hybrids, just a fad???
I used to own a little blue honda civic hybrid, loved my car, especially the gas mileage!!
Then I sold it to move to hawaii, which didn't work out, so i came back to the mainland and started car hunting. Being the eco-minded person i am, I naturally went for the hybrid, and diesels that can be converted to veg-oil. Then came the conversations...
A friend of mine did lots of research and the truth of the matter is, hybrids are just a hyped up fad. Apparently the total savings over 5 years is $80. Hybrids run partially off the battery, that's the electric part of the gas-electric engine, so they have more than one battery, which is not only an environmentalists worst nightmare - the only part of a car that is not recyclable is the battery - it's also expensive.
Also figure in you pay a few thousand dollars more for a hybrid than the regular car of the same kind, and that's before the inflated dealer markup, which i was seeing for $5000 +, they said they can do that because these cars are so hot they get sold before they arrive in most cases. Just because of that I wouldn't buy one.
I only had my car for less than 3 years, so maintenance was the same as any other car i've had. I also had a $2000 tax rebate, which really didn't wind up being $2000 back in my pocket at the end of the year, but that's another rant, lol.
I checkout the 06 prius, and it getting to be more of a computer than a car, i'm afraid people will be too busy watching the screens than the road. In my engineering mind all i can think is, more electrical components, more drain on the battery, more chance to break-down. The car is started using the computer screen, not a key. So i figure if one electrical component goes, there goes the car, imagine how much that will be to spend, and these days everything is made disposable, computer components like that aren't made to last years.
Time will tell, but it looks like the next generation of alt-fuel, more sustainable cars is on the way.
So in the end I didn't buy a hybrid, I miss my little gas sipper, and one day i hope to go car-less, or at least switch to veg oil-powered, for now I went traditional with a standard car that fit most of my needs, especially space wise, without having to pay insane prices.
In the meantime... I'm going to try Krystal planet's fuel catalyst which is an aftermarket way of saving 10-20% on fuel consumption. I love this idea, i heard about it a long time ago, remembering that back in the 80s-90s many mustang owners wanted to save on gas so they installed these on the fuel lines, or something like it. They even have one that you can drop right in the fuel tank! With today's gas prices, and how many miles i put on my car (70k in 2 years) this will well be worth the $$$.
Then I sold it to move to hawaii, which didn't work out, so i came back to the mainland and started car hunting. Being the eco-minded person i am, I naturally went for the hybrid, and diesels that can be converted to veg-oil. Then came the conversations...
A friend of mine did lots of research and the truth of the matter is, hybrids are just a hyped up fad. Apparently the total savings over 5 years is $80. Hybrids run partially off the battery, that's the electric part of the gas-electric engine, so they have more than one battery, which is not only an environmentalists worst nightmare - the only part of a car that is not recyclable is the battery - it's also expensive.
Also figure in you pay a few thousand dollars more for a hybrid than the regular car of the same kind, and that's before the inflated dealer markup, which i was seeing for $5000 +, they said they can do that because these cars are so hot they get sold before they arrive in most cases. Just because of that I wouldn't buy one.
I only had my car for less than 3 years, so maintenance was the same as any other car i've had. I also had a $2000 tax rebate, which really didn't wind up being $2000 back in my pocket at the end of the year, but that's another rant, lol.
I checkout the 06 prius, and it getting to be more of a computer than a car, i'm afraid people will be too busy watching the screens than the road. In my engineering mind all i can think is, more electrical components, more drain on the battery, more chance to break-down. The car is started using the computer screen, not a key. So i figure if one electrical component goes, there goes the car, imagine how much that will be to spend, and these days everything is made disposable, computer components like that aren't made to last years.
Time will tell, but it looks like the next generation of alt-fuel, more sustainable cars is on the way.
So in the end I didn't buy a hybrid, I miss my little gas sipper, and one day i hope to go car-less, or at least switch to veg oil-powered, for now I went traditional with a standard car that fit most of my needs, especially space wise, without having to pay insane prices.
In the meantime... I'm going to try Krystal planet's fuel catalyst which is an aftermarket way of saving 10-20% on fuel consumption. I love this idea, i heard about it a long time ago, remembering that back in the 80s-90s many mustang owners wanted to save on gas so they installed these on the fuel lines, or something like it. They even have one that you can drop right in the fuel tank! With today's gas prices, and how many miles i put on my car (70k in 2 years) this will well be worth the $$$.
posted by Design By Bain at 1:41 AM
2 Comments:
I agree with you, lori. I think Bush putting in support/tax breaks for hybrid owners in the latest budget plan is proof enough that it's not good news. Ten years ago, I would have supported anything that slowed global warming but we're now officaly in a post-climate change world and little steps to reduce emissions or save oil is not going to work.
Enviromentalists need to start changing their attiudes towards a lot of things. One of the main things is Nuclear power. as scary as that word is, the reality is that with new techonologies, the risks are low and the potentional for power is huge. The military has used nuclear powered submarines for decades with a lot of sucess. The future of automative fuel may lie in tiny fusion reactors in every car.
I vaguely remember reading something stating that the tax breaks weren't enough of an incentive, and that there would be special parking spots for hybrids soon. I may have made that up (although I do think I read it somewhere), but if I did, it may be a good idea...
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