Hybrid’s the way to go, man!

One more reason to buy hybrid cars — you don’t have to stop for gas on gridlocked roads during a massive evacuation exercise. I am not yet in a position to buy a brand-new car but couple of my friends, some of whom have professed to being eco-fans, have chosen not to buy hybrid cars. I fail to understand why. Of course, they cost a little more but then shouldn’t the gains in fuel efficiency and warmth to your green soul be incentive enough? As I mentioned before, the hybrid won hands down in the evacuation mess that Houston was subjected to as hurricane Rita neared. Some hybrid owners enthusiastically reported on the Houston Chronicle blog:

“My folks drove to Austin from League City in their Lexus hybrid and 21 hours of driving later still had 1/8 tank of gas left – plus they had my 87yr old grandfather with them and ran the air conditioner all day unlike most people who ran out of gas. 3 cheers for the hybrid!”

I find that story so pleasing that I could have run out and bought a hybrid if I could afford it. Boing Boing reported on one Chronicle employee who drove a Prius completed the 30 hour, 170 mile trek on three-quarters a tank of gas.

Future car owners, do you still any more reasons to buy a gas-guzzling automobile?

Tweet This“Hybrid’s the way to go, man!” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=939] was published Thursday, October 6th, 2005 at 11:58 am by Patrix, filed under Business, Environment, Travel, and tagged as , , , , , . Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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  • http://www.wadias.in/site/arzan/blog/ arzan

    U r very right. I have driven a hybrid a few times and the cars are really cool. Besides the hip factor, i think the environmental considerations are very much needed.

  • http://curiousgawker.blogspot.com/ gawker

    I think most people are still waiting for the technology to mature before investing in it. There was a report on CNN or something that even with the raised fuel efficiency, the extra cost of buying a hybrid made it economically not viable. But lets hope someday in the near future, this technology will progress to a point where the hybrid will win with respect to cost of maintenance.

  • http://superstarksa.blogspot.com aNTi

    Patrix,

    Economically speaking, a hybrid would *probably* work in India, but it might not work here in the US. You asking why? The main reason is the premium that you pay for hybrids. I have read that it takes more than a decade for the savings in fuel costs to offset this premium. How many decade old (bread and butter) cars are being used by the first owners here in the US? Which is why I say that it might *work* in a country like India, where I think ppl think (or at least used to think) of a car as a long term investment.
    I am a firm believer in the pollution control and such, but unless hybrids become much more cheaper, budget car buyers are not going to touch them in the long run.
    In any case, for hybrids to really play a role in reducing pollution, we have to figure out a way of charging those batteries without relying on our domestic electricity supplies, which comes as a result of the combustion of the same fossil fuels that we seek to reduce. So where is the point?
    I am not rubbishing hybrid technology, but only that it has a long way to go.

  • http://www.animaha.com/blog anya

    Lets see a Standard Civic costs somewhere around 14-15 thousand dollars, whereas a Civic Hybrid will put you back some 20-21 thousand dollars. This difference is somewhat same, if not more for the corolla-prius comparison. Thats a big difference to pay for a car the same size and less power. While the hybrid – particularly the hybrids Toyota pioneered are fantastic pieces and ideas of engineering, the common man is just not ready to shell out 5-6K more for the same package.
    Well, then the typical american person doesnt own a civic or a corolla do they. This is because they are made to long for pickups and SUVs by the car companies themselves over years of targetted advertising. Its hard to make a group change direction and priorities suddenly.

  • http://ipatrix.com Patrix

    Well, thanks for all the economics argument; I am quite aware of those. I also am a firm believer of the consumer is the best decision-maker for buying something, thus defining market trends. But I appealed to the emotional and green side of the people amongst the more environment-friendly among us, supposedly the ‘intelligent class’. Sales of SUVs and trucks are falling as much as 55%. I know, why would you shell out extra for a hybrid car when you definitely get one cheaper? Well, get your ultra-expensive Apple iPod anyways. consumers not always make choices based on cost. We have to sell a brand to them, make buying hybrid ‘cool’.

  • http://superstarksa.blogspot.com aNTi

    You have a point there with the emphasis on the coolness factor. And that trend is catching up.
    Early this year, instead of limos, I heard that the stars were ferried to the Kodak theatre in a fleet commprising solely of the Toyota Prius.
    And Ford seems to have got an insight into what should be done with their hybrid SUV Escape. But even then, its early days.


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