Comments on: AskPablo: Should I buy a hybrid?

By: When To Go Green

When To Go Green — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:51:16 +0000

If you’re interested in knowing if it makes financial sense to trade in your current vehicle for one with better fuel economy, check out the free calculator at http://www.whentogogreen.net

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:13:00 +0000

On the hybrid question, you missed some very important considerations that you should rework into the article.
Hybrid cars have much higher resale values than other vehicles. I routinely see 2 and 3 year old Priuses selling for almost $20,000 even though you can get new stripped down ones now starting at $20,900. Another option is that some insurance companies offer a discount for hybrids.
A report by Intellichoice last year showed that every hybrid saves the owner money over a 5 year period http://www.intellichoice.com/press/Hybrid-Survey-2006

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:12:13 +0000

On the hybrid question, you missed some very important considerations that you should rework into the article. I imagine many people asking themselves this question will read your column, so it is worth revising.
Hybrid cars have much higher resale values than other vehicles. I routinely see 2 and 3 year old Priuses selling for almost $20,000 even though you can get new stripped down ones now starting at $20,900. Another option is that some insurance companies offer a discount for hybrids.
A report by Intellichoice last year showed that every hybrid saves the owner money over a 5 year period http://www.intellichoice.com/press/Hybrid-Survey-2006

By: joe

joe — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:32:11 +0000

Even if the pay back is 10 years on a hybrid that is roughly a 10% return on your money. That beats any C.D. rates at the bank. And the savings is non taxable.
The bigger issue are every gallon of gas that I do not use provides the following benefits:
Lowers the trade deficit.
Lowers the demand for gas, thus keeping price in check.
Lowers co2 levels in the atomospher.
Lower the risk of sending my sons and daughter to war to fight for oil.
Saves a gallon of gas for future use.
Keep money out the hands of the oil mafia.
Increases money in the bank.
And makes me feel good when people are complaining about high gas prices.
If you are driving an SUV for pleasure, you have lost the right to complain about gas prices!
Why aren’t these drivers embarrased to put $100 in to the gas tank?

By: Pablo

Pablo — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:06:06 +0000

The graphs are payback period (in years) on the Y-axis vs. miles per year in the x-axis. So find your miles per year and go up to the curve for a particular car to find the payback period.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:30:42 +0000

Hello Pablo
It’s evident that you’ve put some effort into making graphs to aid in the visual understanding, but the axes aren’t labelled so I’m having difficulty understanding what the graphs show. Perhaps it’s miles-driven-per-year vs. payback period in years? Could you please describe the data?
Thanks

By: Pablo

Pablo — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:26:22 +0000

Mike,
Please see: http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/askpablo-time-to-get-a-new-car-002538.php

By: odograph

odograph — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:38:03 +0000

Mike, it is complicated by who you would sell your car to. If you sell it to someone coming from a poorer performing car, and somewhere down the line you bump an old truck or SUV off the road, it’s a win.
If it doesn’t truly “bump” any bad performers off the road, it might be a loss, all told.
(It’s easier accounting if we send our old car to the crusher … but we try not to do that in real life.)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:24:16 +0000

I’ve never seen a comparison of a hybrid versus not buying any new car at all, i.e., continuing to drive an older, well-maintained car (for those of us in rural or semi-rural areas) that gets fairly good fuel mileage and meets emissions standards, rather than using the energy (which term can be exchanged for carbon use/factory emissions, etc.) to build a new vehicle. If I drive my 2003 27 MPG car for three more years, don’t I save a lot more money/energy/carbon credits than if I were to purchase a new vehicle, even the very latest and best hybrid? And why isn’t this qquestion asked more often?

By: Pablo

Pablo — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:02:51 +0000

I did not use “bottom of the barrel” non-hybrids. I used models that are available in both hybrid and non-hybrid. I used the average price of the the non-hybrids vs. the MSRP for the hybrid. Price is not the only important factor and I am very aware of that. This is why I provided a chart so that you can use your own assumptions to put the various impacts of gasoline combustion in terms of the “true cost.”
Pablo

By: Steven Bissell

Steven Bissell — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:45:17 +0000

Odd that I stumble on this article on Environmental News Network (ENN). The point of hybrids, for some of us, are a reduction in pollution, not saving money. And this article, like almost every other one I’ve read, compares a top-of-the-line hybrid with bottom-of-the-barrel non-hybrids. Why not compare a standard hybrid with a standard non-hybrid and see?

By: Pablo

Pablo — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:01:32 +0000

pdq1966,
Regarding the life-cycle impact of a hybrid vehicle, please see my previous column at: http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/askpablo-time-to-get-a-new-car-002538.php

By: odograph

odograph — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:13:59 +0000

BTW, I agree that if you can get those $28K+ car buyer to go to “no car” that would be the biggest environmental win.
But until then, stepping down from a more expensive car (that $50K Hummer that never sees dirt) is a big improvement.

By: odograph

odograph — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:53:35 +0000

“The production cost (both financial and environmental) is much higher for hybrid vehicles.”
That’s a perfect example of a misplaced argument, based on this will-o-the-wisp idea of “equivalents.”
When a Prius costs $20K and the average new car costs $28K it takes some forceful blinders on our vision to think that costs must be “much higher” for the hybrid.
It would only be “higher” if you forced yourself to consider a few cars at the bottom end of the US market.