Hybrids

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Edmunds main clients are auto manufacturers, and why publish data that makes your client look bad? Just not good for business, so I'd take any so-called study issued by Edmunds with a grain, peck or barrel of salt. [mmmmmmm, barrel of salt / Homer Simpson voice]

Anyway, Wired writer jggsf puts it this way:

Autopia
It seems that the people who buy hybrids must all be insane. Edmunds did another analysis of the cost of buying a hybrid compared to standard vehicles, and they generalize to say that hybrids don't save money. Well, an argument is only as good as the assumptions, and here's where Edmunds' analysis falls short.

First, despite the negative generalization, Edmunds states that the Prius and Escape hybrids both pay back their premiums in fuel savings when compared to their closest models in under three years. So while these hybrids do make sense for purely financial reasons, Edmunds puts the negative spin by saying it “still takes 2.9 years for the Escape Hybrid to break even.”

This makes it sound like a long time, when most businesses would happily buy new technology that would pay back the additional cost within 3 years. If my water heater was about to die and I could pick a slightly more expensive model that saved money after less than 3 years, I'd buy it, wouldn't you?

Edmunds say the Honda Civic Hybrid takes 6.1 years to pay back the cost over a standard Civic. So comparing it to the already fuel efficient standard Civic doesn't look like a great deal. (I'll keep my Civic Hybrid for at least 6 years, so I'm not upset).

But why not compare hybrids to the standard vehicles from Ford, GM, or DCX? Why, because that makes Detroit look really bad.

Using Edmunds' formula as best I could, the Prius pays back the extra cost in less than a year and a half when compared to the Dodge Stratus. The Honda Civic Hybrid takes less than 4 years to pay back the cost over a Chevy Cobalt. And the numbers for the Escape Hybrid look even better when you compare them to your average SUV.

Auto emissions are never quantified in these studies, but it matters to us, as does noise pollution, and so forth.

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2 Comments

You're right. I think the people who are likely to buy hybrids don't just do so for the sake of the perceived monetary savings on gasoline. They also do it for the "green" effect, which is just as important (if not more so) to them.

I would have bought the Prius even without the monetary advantage, since I don't do a lot of driving. It's a nice, comfortable car with lots of room that's pleasant to drive. BTW, I went for a long drive today and got 60 MPG sustained with up to 75MPG for several minutes at a time.

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This page contains a single entry by Seth A. published on August 25, 2006 4:49 PM.

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