The energy required to create the batteries, electric motors and supporting electronics in hybrids is never recovered in the gasoline savings they produce in their 5-6 year lifespan.
The pollution created in manufacturing the batteries and the electric motors is never recovered in the lack of pollutants expelled by hybrids. It mearly pushes the source of the pollution from a distributed source (the car) to a central place (the factory). Those who say hybrids will prepare us for fuel cells, haven't recognized that the energy required to produce hydrogen (a substance with less specific energy than gasoline) is way, way more than the petrochemical breakdown process that makes gasoline. To go to fuel cells, the US alone would either need several new nuclear power plants, or use the most vast resource we own, coal, and use it to power and fuel hydrogen creation. So again, we lose the pollution benefit of fuel cells, because the energy creation demand just moves to another locale. (distributed to central) All new hybrids are subsidized in pricing tremendously. It's no secret they Toyota uses its immense Camry profits to underwrite the Prius. If they were priced at cost, they would flunk the 5 year payback test. --- In [email protected], Geoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hybrids are going to remain a vanishingly small percentage of the > total vehicle sales for the foreseeable future. They're being much > ballyhooed in the press right now, but the total cost of ownership is > significantly higher than a similar gasoline- or diesel-powered > vehicle. At the end of the day, total cost of ownership is a big > factor in what drives repeat sales. > > DCX has wisely taken a minimalist approach to the hybrid vehicle > market so as to concentrate their development dollars on products that > can sell in large volumes at a significant profit. The LX platform is > an excellent example of this. I had the pleasure of being able to > drive the hemi-powered versions of the Charger and Magnum briefly > around a short, low-speed course at the All Chrysler Nationals in > Carlisle. The overwhelming impression was WOW! what a great pair of > vehicles! They truly are the life's blood of DCX; they will ensure > the company is here and remains profitable for many years to come. > > The fact of the matter is that DCX doesn't need hybrids to remain > profitable and viable in the marketplace, and it's good to see that > they've avoided going to the unnecessary expense of developing a > product line in that space. GM and Ford, by contrast, both of which > are floundering in virtually every segment of the market save possibly > one or two vehicles per each, are pissing away development dollars and > time chasing the hybrid fad, all the while watching their market share > decline sharply. It's a shame to see, especially since my livelihood > depends on all of the domestic automakers doing well. But bad > management and product miscues at Ford/GM are nothing new, and will > probably continue until the brands are nothing but vague memories. > > -- > --Geoff > MML Moderator/Admin/Occasional SAA > '92 Acclaim; '98 Intrepid; '03 Grand Caravan > Read about the MML at: http://www.moparmailinglist.com > Subscribe to the MML at: http://mopar.tamu.edu/mailman/listinfo/mml Web: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid> Subscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Moderator: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
