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The Real Costs of Owning a Hybrid
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The Real Costs of Owning a Hybrid
Does the fuel economy of a hybrid offset the higher cost? We take you through the possible hidden costs and benefits of owning a hybrid vehicle.
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While the owners love the gas milage in town, some have complained about their gas milage on their first trip. Remember that a hybrids milage is much higher in city driving because they use the electrical side more, it is lower on the freeway because the engine is worked harder. Just an FYI.
Too bad our government will not allow them to be sold here.
75 mpg is pretty damn good.
Ford also has cars in Europe that top 70 mpg which again, are not allowed to be sold here. Don't buy the pollution lie they try to sell you either, do the math....
1) I didn't find any hybrid vehicle which was only $1,700 above the price of a similar vehicle when I was searching for a vehicle.
2) Dealers are much more willing to negotiate a much lower price on a traditional car rather than a hybrid vehicle.
3) Interest charges for paying all that extra money up front are discussed. And if you pay for it all in cash, the lost interest.
4) The extra costs of replacing a battery or charging system when it needs to be replaced. (The first car I bought in lieu of a hybrid is still running past 180,000 miles and I don't have that extra huge expense to keep using it. With a hybrid, I would have probably needed to buy a new vehicle again by now)
5) Extra charge of fitting your garage with a charging station (not necessary, but probably a good idea if you are doing hybrids)
6) There are other cars available which just as good of gas mileage and are not hybrids.
In addition, when it comes to disposing of the batteries in these cars, there is NO recycle program set up yet! With the 2004 hybrid batteries just now hitting the recycle stage, with more expected each year, what does THAT say about polluting our planet?
So, add the extra costs of these cars in purchase dollars, the additional costs of the electric used to propel them (for very short distances of 50 miles a battery Avg.) and what really is the difference? None! You are actually paying more for the 'privilege’ to run a 'supposedly' (and extremely untrue) planet saving vehicle! Add to that the fact that the added pollution in terms of creating the extra electricity you need to run these vehicles as well as the fast approaching emergency of what to do about the inability to properly recycle the batteries, and you are actually adding MORE pollution to the environment then if you simply drove a reg. fueled car which has all of the pollution features required by law and is in proper working order.
I love when the government and environmental agencies try and shove ‘new’ and ‘better’ ideas down the public’s throat. They will stoop to any available low in order to push their agenda and you can pretty much figure that it is generally full of lies and holes and will cost you more then the prior established. Wind farms are not only not feasible as a steady, reliable (they have to have wind so can’t be used in most areas of the country) energy source. Coal plants are our main source of electricity but with the Administration and Environmentalists influenced “war’ on coal is (closing coal plants at an alarming rate and consequently) driving up the price of coal causing electricity prices to soar around the country. If you are lucky enough to have energy supplied by a nuclear plant, that’s great, but the costs of building and maintenance of a nuclear plant are always offset by increased electricity rates for the consumers. Environmentalists claim that we all leave a carbon footprint which is detrimental to our planet. We leave less of a footprint today then they will admit and not much more then we have for thousands of years on this planet because of all of the environmental laws in effect today! So their idea that man is bad for earth and therefore has no right to walk on earth is absurd. People need to wake up, stop listening to governments, which are highly influenced by large business, lobbyists and their own pocketbooks, AND environmental groups with their inefficient, expensive and ridiculous ideas, and start using common sense. Google for facts and you will find them. Do your own homework and don’t rely on skewered ‘Government’ websites for your figures, because I guarantee that these sites stats ARE skewered…to meet someone else’s agenda and rob you of more money while making you feel ‘good’ about the robbery through misinformation, in the process.
My parent's Prius, at 75K miles started having battery issues and they were quoted $6k to replace the HV Battery assembly by the dealership. They were made a generous trade offer on a new Prius though. They turned it down and traded in on another manufacturer. My neighbor also owns a Prius and her battery began to weaken substantially at around 65K miles, this dealership quoted her $5,800 for replacement, more than what the car books at. Hybrid design is a fantastic concept and is truly a green product that helps reduce our output of greenhouse gases, but don't go into one thinking its going to save you money,
However, they have found some of the cheap options that drastically reduce their expanses on any car maintenance. They gather some valuable tips from online sites like HiPerformer.com and then follow them properly.
What are you talking about???? I have owned several hybrids and I have NEVER "plugged" one in....
So.... Aside from turning on the lights in the garage to be able to see my way to the car, I've never used even 1 WH for my car.
That's why you purchase an extended warrantee when you purchase the car..... My battery is covered for 10 years or 100K miles.... Actually, the hybrid is cheaper to maintain and, what repairs are required, are less expensive...
Why are you discussing "OIL-FIRED generation of electricity"???
Modern hybrids DO NOT "plug in" to AC power... My Prius averages 48mpg.
And no, I don't work for Toyota ^_*
This article appears to be about hybrid vehicles, which receive their charge not from the power grid/coal/solar, etc. These vehicles generate their own power, and store it locally, the power generation and storage don't rely on coal or the power grid.
You may have been thinking about a plug in hybrid, which is a different type of vehicle.
Yes, any type of hybrid may be bad for the environment due to the production and eventual disposal of all those batteries.
You don't plug hybrids in. That's what the gasoline engine is for. To charge the car's battery.
You plug all-electric (no gas motor) in.
Vahybrid
emeraldisles, the word you are looking for is skewed meaning leaning one way, not skewered meaning to have a rod poked though. Don't be afraid of education. You seem to be talking about electric cars. the article is about hybrid cars. Hybrids make electricity by converting kinetic energy into electricity when the vehicle is slowing down. Normally the brakes of a conventional vehicle convert kinetic energy to heat via friction. Energy can not be destroyed, it is converted from one form to another. Hence, hybrids use energy normally wasted and use it for low speed travel and to power the functions of airconditioning when the car is stationary. Hence the engine doesn't have to idle. hence, you save fuel and reduce emissions.
One factor not discussed is that the internal combustion engine (ICE) only works about 50 percent as much on a hybrid, as it does on a non-hybrid. Also, when stopped in traffic, especially in the summer, the most damaging part an ICE operation, the hybrid system shuts off the ICE. Thus the wear on the ICE is only about 35 percent of a non-hybrid car, making the ICE last far longer.
My car runs just as well as it did when I drove it brand new off the lot. Maybe I am a rare case, but I have many friends that also own hybrids, and all of them love their cars.