Monday, May 29, 2006

Reasons to drive a hybrid car


1) It pays you back.
2) You get a tax break.
3) At the pump, giggle as an SUV pulls up next to you.
4) Chicks dig green... super green.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

No it doesn't pays you back. Unless you drive the car for more then 7 years.

Justin said...

Re: ahsir

You seem to be contradicting yourself. You you said no it doesn't pay you back, but you also say yes it does pay you back, but in X amount of years. (^_^;) Its like saying, eating won't make you full, unless you eat until you're full. Well... duh!

How quickly the car will pay you back in monetary terms is determined by the price of gas and the model of hybrid. It will also depend on how you drive. Naturally, you'll save more with highway driving. But you save no matter what when you compare a hybrid side by side with a regular car.

Average Americans keep their cars for 10+ years. So a hybrid does pay you back, eventually.

Anonymous said...

Justin:
I was trying to let you think a bit more. The longer the time , the lesser on resale value, and Newer tech on gas saving. and A lot more you need to consider.

Here is my WHY it doesn't pay you back.
The Amount of money you pay for the car. and the amount of money you save from Gas using Hybrid engine doesn't work that~

There is a Test I saw in "cars" Mag in Taiwan they put the hybird vs Alts in a 3.5 year test. 2 cars runs similar roads and copy simlar payload. (2 passanger maxium usually, but altus sometimes carries 4) and by the end of that test period, The Mag Compare the whole maintance cost of the 2 cars, Selling price, the amount of gas you buy thru out the year...

(Price of Insight in America 19k )

Anyways, they found the hybird does save a lot on Gas, but the selling price did not cover the gas money that was saved. (Insight cost about 1200k NT where an Altis is about 600k NT)of course, Taiwan prices. The selling price and Maintance cost are just too high. Also, the amount of payload actually increase your runs.

BTW.
Average life time of an American car (includes Toyota and Hondas~) is about a bit less then 8 years.
We are not even in America. ai..

Well, "Eventually", there would be a tech that is Cheap enough for everyone to get. I have to say thou, For people who drive Hybird engines are a different BREED of drivers, cos they ( or You, justin) are willing to Pay more (or a lot more) to buy a Greener Environment, and I respect that.

Justin said...

Re: arthur

You may be right. Indeed, hybrid cars are more expensive than regular cars. However, I'm not sure why there's such a big difference in Taiwan. Here's the comparison for Corolla vs. Insight in the US:

Corolla CE - $14,105
Corolla XRS - $17,880
Insight - $19,330

In Taiwan, it appears that the Insight is double the price of the Corolla. Not sure why that is, but I guess its obvious that people won't pay double to get a small two seater even though it may double your MPG stat.

What I want to see, is a comparison like this:

Civic DX - $14,760
Civic EX - $18,460
vs.
Civic Hybrid - $22,150

or:

Corolla vs. Prius

Because with the Prius you get a lot more gadgets, unlike the barebones Insight model. The Insight design is also over 5 years old. They need to use the new generation of hybrids for a fair comparison.

Eight years for keeping a car sounds fair, but what's more important is mileage. Though without proof, I'd guess that the average people keep their cars is 100K miles. That would be a good and easy way to figure out.

I'm not sure what the issues car magazine had with maintenance, but in general, hybrid car maintenance should cost equal or less than regular cars due to less wear and tear on the engine and brakes.

There IS hope! Ethanol looks to be somewhat promising.

Anonymous said...

The reason is where the car is Made. Insight is made in US ( I think), But others are MIT man.

And Taiwanese made are So much cheaper,because~~ less Tax, shipping cost, Quota.
it is not the "obvious" reason you thought it was..

Anonymous said...

And the Average Ppl drives about 120k pre year. And in HK and Taiwan is a lot less. For hilly roads and Stop and Go traffic like the ones in HK, the switch between Elect. and Gas engine does bring out some concern for some users.

My point is there will be More and more cars coming out in the near future. NO need to jump on the bandwagon too soon.

The reason why I said it is "obvious" last time is , well, yeah, ppl Would not buy it.. but the reason for high price is NOt that obvious.

Ethanol~

Justin said...

Re: arthur

Just to clear things up: perhaps I didn't use the best wording, but what I meant was that it is obvious that people would choose a car that costs NT600k rather than a car that costs NT1200k.

I was trying to say that I didn't know the reason for the price gap, but it is certainly obvious that people are going to choose a car that costs so much less whether it is a hybrid or not. That price difference certainly does offset the benefits of a hybrid.

I'm just glad that more people these days (including car makers) are taking hybrid technology and alternate fuel technology into consideration. The world certainly needs it =)