Over-hyped Hybrids
Nathan Humphreys
Consumers are constantly bombarded by an electric buzz about the “silver bullet” to “America’s oil addiction,” and some companies are only too happy to provide consumers with over-hyped “technological breakthroughs,” hoodwinking the American public into redirecting tax subsidies into their pockets. Electricity is seen as the panacea for America’s energy crisis, even though fully electric cars are currently unrealistic given their meager power and range.
Hybrids are often cited as being “the next best thing” in ending America’s oil addiction, but in reality hybrids are more hype than help.
Hybrids do get better mileage, but lack of power, expense of maintenance, longevity of battery life and unforeseen problems with a new technology are a just few concerns expressed by perspective buyers, journalists and car enthusiasts.
Despite what manufacturers say, hybrids don’t offer more fuel efficiency than four cylinder economy cars already available in new and used car markets.
Take the popular Honda Civic, which averages about 30 mpg in all-around driving verses approximately 43 mpg for the Civic Hybrid.
In gallons per mile, 43 mpg equates to approximately .023 gallons per mile and 30 mpg is approximately .033 gallons per mile.
In monetary terms, assuming gas is $3 a gallon (a rough average of this summer’s $4 and the current $1.85 a gallon), the hybrid costs about .07 cents per mile and the regular Civic sedan costs about .10 cents per mile.
This means for every 100 miles, the base Civic costs $10 against the Hybrid Civic’s $7.
While the $3 difference does add up, the savings are dismal when compared to the base price of the vehicles.
A new, base-model Civic costs around $16,000, while the base-model Civic Hybrid runs about $25,000, according to Kelly Blue Book,
So it would take 300,000 miles for the Hybrid to break even with the regular Civic in cost alone.
The solution to better-than-hybrid fuel economy comes from the technology used to get through the gas crisis of the ’70s: diesel.
Diesel provides good power, and thanks to new emissions reduction features, diesel engines have about the same emissions as regular gasoline economy cars, Popular Mechanics reported when reviewing the 50 mpg 2009 Volkswagen Jetta.
The Jetta isn’t alone. On their Web site, Popular Mechanics listed several other diesel cars, such as the British Honda Civic, with equivalent mileage.
Another advantage diesel has over hybrids is longevity, which Popular Mechanics reports can easily be more than 250,000 miles. More longevity means fewer cars in junkyards and less energy used to produce new cars.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of diesel is that the engines can run on the “greener” bio-diesel and can be easily converted to run on alternative fuels like ethanol.
The reality is that internal combustion engines provide quick energy with little hassle and are able to refuel quickly.
The cure for the oil addiction isn’t simply redistributing tax subsidies, which only trades one bad industry for another, but wise use and further innovation of what we already have.
