Americans: We Want Hybrids!
My friend Bill bought the first generation Prius when it came out. While he thought it was the cutest thing ever, I thought it was pretty funny looking. But, here we are another generation into the design and the Prius is… well, it's a little less funny looking. The best looking one now goes to the honda civic, but the Prius is bigger and, being a hatch, it's more versatile. And I wonder if that's the reason Most Americans Now Say They May Buy Hybrid Cars. I know prices of gas are the major motivating factor, but I wonder if these more mainstream designs are at work here. While the original Prius was fine, the current Prius design is really quite modern with a big passenger cabin that doesn't feel at all cheap. So, what's next? If you are Ford or GM, you have to be concerned. You have no hybrid cars for sale. If you are Toyota or Honda… keep on, uh, truckin'.
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Lots of car buyers nowadays want hybrid cars, one of the possible reasons could be the soaring prices of gas. Proper car maintenance may also help in saving gas consumption. Information regarding the 2006 Most Fuel Efficient Cars at: http://autopartsnews.blogspot.com/2006/02/2006-most-fuel-efficient-cars.html
The problem with the hype over hybrids (which I personally like) is that it ignores the question of whether or not owning one will actually save the owner money in total costs. And the answer is apparently – No. Consumers Reports did an extensive study (April 2006 edition) of six hybrids. “In our analysis, none of the six hybrids we have tested recovered its price premium in the first five years and 75,000 miles of ownership.” They factored in everything from the purchase price premium (and tax credit in the U.S.) to extra financing costs, etc. Eight different cost and/or savings categories.
In some cases by the way the actual fuel savings vs a conventional gas model is minimal and less than people think. The Escape and RX 400h get only 26 and 23 mpg respectively. The Honda Accord Hybrid actually gets 25 mpg which is a terrific 2 mpg better than the V6 Accord EX gasoline models. Wow!
Hybrids are certainly greener overall because they pollute less but it would seem that until prices come down a chunk there are no real dollar savings to be found, in fact the buyer actually ends up paying more in the long run.
So – anyone for a small diesel?