One person's economic analysis of just how green owning a hybrid is
We linked to AutoblogGreen reader Jason Coyne's blog last week when he posted a review of the Toyota Camry Hybrid he recently purchased. He then wrote in to say he appreciated the extra attention his review got from that link (among others) and that someone sent him feedback on the review questioning just how green hybrids are. So, in good blogger fashion, he took a whack at the topic with a post titled "Are Hybrids Really Green - An Economic analysis of the real cost and benefits of owning a hybrid." Coyne breaks the costs down to two aspects: personal cost and cost to society, and figures that both come out ahead because he bought a hybrid. He wins because he saves an estimated $9,000 over the life of the car and society wins because hybrids emit fewer emissions and investing in a hybrid is voting with his dollars to encourage the auto manufacturers to make even cleaner cars tomorrow.[Source: Geeks With Blogs]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AMcA 10:44PM (7/12/2006)
My question: what is the added cost to society of the production of a hybrid. Hybrids contain fantastically expensive batteries, that are fantastically expensive because they are made of rare metals. Which are expensive because it's an energy intensive process getting them out of hte ground and refining them. That's a big factor that needs to be figured in here.
(Ha! Mr. Coyne, while patting himself on the back, neglects to figure in that he's going to have to drop a $5000 battery into his Camry somewhere 60-70-80,000 miles down the road. That throws off his savings significantly.)
Reply
Steve C. 8:18AM (7/13/2006)
See my comment on Jason's site. The hard reality is that when you consider the energy used to manufacture the batteries and other sophisticated systems in a hybrid (not to mention the environmental issues with their proper recycling/disposal years into the future), there may be no net savings of fossil fuel over the long-run.
Reply
M1EK 12:12PM (7/13/2006)
"glects to figure in that he's going to have to drop a $5000 battery into his Camry somewhere 60-70-80,000 miles down the road"
FUD, pure and simple. Take your lies somewhere else.
Reply
MikeW 1:27PM (7/13/2006)
http://auto.consumerguide.com/articles/index.cfm/act/featuredarticles/article/FA_hybrid_batteries.html
Keep the battery pack between 45%-75%. The battery will last a decade.
Maybe lithium type batteries will allow a greater percentage 45-90, one can hope.
Reply
Stphane Dumas 2:06PM (7/13/2006)
Is it my imagination, but it almost looks like a "war" between 2 schools of taught: hybrids and biofuels (biodiesel and ethanol, sometimes called "bioethanol" in France and to a latter extent butanol or biobutanol) like the old Beta vs VHS debate in the 1980s?
Saab might founded a way to improve E85 performances by adding turbo with Biopower
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/27/saab-introduces-new-2-3t-biopower-engine/
Then we could refresh our memories of a Ford Escape hybrid-E85 who combined the 2 ways (hybrids and biofuels), its like having our cake and eating it too, here a link to a French site about it
http://www.leblogauto.com/2006/01/ford_rajoute_un.html I didn't found the link at Autoblog, sorry for the inconvience -_-;
Reply
elisa cousins 6:04PM (7/13/2006)
I agree with you, Jason. It is not just about saving the money on the gas. It might not be much cheeper to buy an hybrid but the more people do it, the more OUR dependence on oil (domenstic And foreign) will decrease. We cannot continue to think that we are going to wait until the next better idea coms along and do nothing. Changes do not happen overnight and just like it took a long time to get to this point and it is going to take some time to undo what we have done and chage our way of living.
Koodos to you!
Elisa
PS does anyone know what the real mi is for the RX400h and the Highlander Hybrid? I am trying to make my mind betweek the two and I do not know what to do!
Reply
Real Estate Guy 4:18AM (10/25/2006)
There seems to be alot of anti hybrid feelings out there which I find interesting. First people said it takes 5 years to pay back the extra cost of the hybrid. As far as investments go taking 5 years to get your money back is not to bad. It seems this argument is given less and less. In its place now there is an argument that hybrids dont have a positive environmental benefit because its expensive to make the materials. This seems a little silly. I think there is something else that is underlying the anti hybrid fevor.
Reply