Hybrid car ignorance on MSNMoney
The costly secrets of hybrid cars, a new article on MSNMoney, opens with the Sierra and Silverado hybrids and questions the fuel efficiency of hybrid vehicles.
Excuse me? Anybody whom starts an article about hybrids with the Sierra or the Silverado already demonstrates either their ignorance or bias of hybrid cars. Neither the Sierra or Silverado are full hybrids. In fact, in my book, they don't even count as hybrids.
Strike one.
Then the author discusses gas mileage and how long it is going to take to make up hybrid costs. Not until several paragraphs later is the hybrid car tax credit mentioned - probably because neither the Sierra or the Silverado hybrids qualify. Additionally, new tax credits might make hybrids even cheaper, but that also isn't mentioned.
Strike two.
Finally, the EPA numbers. "Then there's the issue of whether these cars actually get the mileage they claim."
THEY DON'T CLAIM IT. EPA numbers are determined by the government. The inaccuracy of the EPA numbers affects ALL vehicles. So, you can't compare the real world mileage of a Toyota Prius with the EPA numbers of a standard Civic or Tahoe. It's either real versus real, or EPA versus EPA. The reality is, that big SUV of yours doesn't achieve 16 mpg, more like 11, so I'll take the 50 mpg Prius.
More important, one would think every Prius owner hates their auto, yet 94% of owners would buy another one. How many SUVs have that kind of buyer loyalty?
Strike three.
Why are there so many questions regarding hybrid cars? Hybrids recover their 'extra' costs in 6 - 8 years. The average life of an automobile is longer than that, so the technology not only pays for itself, it reduces the cost of the vehicle over the long term. That's called an investment.
For a decade or two many auto manufacturers created SUVs with $10 - 15,000 profit margins. Yet, these vehicle account for a significant percentage of all accidents and all automobile-crash related deaths. Now that's value!
More important, how much does gas really cost? How much is the life of a soldier dying in the Middle East worth? How much does the dirty air that is causing health problems to millions of people cost? Why are past CIA directors and the Pentagon so worried about foreign-oil dependency? Why did the top 4 oil companies profit more than 20 billion in the first 3 months of the year?
If one looks at the state of the real world, one realizes that the problem is not the cost of hybrid cars, rather it's the cost of gas guzzling vehicles and American ignorance that is the real cost.
Demand nothing less than hybrid vehicle efficiency. The costs of hybrids, in the long run, are much less than the gas-guzzling, terrorist supporting, planet-killing costs of huge SUVs.
Excuse me? Anybody whom starts an article about hybrids with the Sierra or the Silverado already demonstrates either their ignorance or bias of hybrid cars. Neither the Sierra or Silverado are full hybrids. In fact, in my book, they don't even count as hybrids.
Strike one.
Then the author discusses gas mileage and how long it is going to take to make up hybrid costs. Not until several paragraphs later is the hybrid car tax credit mentioned - probably because neither the Sierra or the Silverado hybrids qualify. Additionally, new tax credits might make hybrids even cheaper, but that also isn't mentioned.
Strike two.
Finally, the EPA numbers. "Then there's the issue of whether these cars actually get the mileage they claim."
THEY DON'T CLAIM IT. EPA numbers are determined by the government. The inaccuracy of the EPA numbers affects ALL vehicles. So, you can't compare the real world mileage of a Toyota Prius with the EPA numbers of a standard Civic or Tahoe. It's either real versus real, or EPA versus EPA. The reality is, that big SUV of yours doesn't achieve 16 mpg, more like 11, so I'll take the 50 mpg Prius.
More important, one would think every Prius owner hates their auto, yet 94% of owners would buy another one. How many SUVs have that kind of buyer loyalty?
Strike three.
Why are there so many questions regarding hybrid cars? Hybrids recover their 'extra' costs in 6 - 8 years. The average life of an automobile is longer than that, so the technology not only pays for itself, it reduces the cost of the vehicle over the long term. That's called an investment.
For a decade or two many auto manufacturers created SUVs with $10 - 15,000 profit margins. Yet, these vehicle account for a significant percentage of all accidents and all automobile-crash related deaths. Now that's value!
More important, how much does gas really cost? How much is the life of a soldier dying in the Middle East worth? How much does the dirty air that is causing health problems to millions of people cost? Why are past CIA directors and the Pentagon so worried about foreign-oil dependency? Why did the top 4 oil companies profit more than 20 billion in the first 3 months of the year?
If one looks at the state of the real world, one realizes that the problem is not the cost of hybrid cars, rather it's the cost of gas guzzling vehicles and American ignorance that is the real cost.
Demand nothing less than hybrid vehicle efficiency. The costs of hybrids, in the long run, are much less than the gas-guzzling, terrorist supporting, planet-killing costs of huge SUVs.
Labels: chevy silverado hybrid, Civic hybrid, Foreign Oil Dependency, fuel efficiency, Hybrid Vehicles, prius, toyota
posted by Dahcredyns at
6:17 AM
2 Comments:
On one level it is fine for people to explain the costs and economic payback of hybrid cars (even weak pseudo hybrids like those from GM) ... but you have to stop at some point and realize that for most of America it doesn't matter.
We buy the cars we want. We have extra money to spend on wants, dreams, peer group acceptance, or whatever ... and so we do.
You want to sell some hybrids ... try this:
Q: Will it get me laid?
A: Oh yeah, "earth girls" are easy.
Thanks for the laugh.
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