thowing gasoline on troubled waters

[Huw Powell]

> As gasoline prices climb

Actually, prices have been fairly stable.  But, the dollar has tanked 
against other major currencies.

>> THE HIDDEN COST OF HYBRID CARS
>>
>> Hybrid cars are hitting our roads in ever increasing numbers as 
>> purchase prices come down and fuel prices go up. But the substantial 
>> hidden costs of owning a hybrid car could make it a financial time bomb.

Gee, didn't we always know they used batteries?

>> Owners of 'environmentally friendly' hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius 
>> and Honda Insight may be hit with a bill for up to $7000 when their 
>> car's battery dies less than eight years after purchase.

>> "A replacement battery on the Insight retails for $6840," said Honda 
>> spokesman Mark Higgins.

and from lower in the article:

 >> Toyota lowered the price significantly on the Prius battery pack,
 >> from
 >> $4500 on the first model to around $3000 on the latest version

>> Toyota's manager of alternative fuels and specialized vehicles, Vic 
>> Johnstone, concedes the batteries, like the car itself, are built to 
>> last less than a decade. "The life of the car and the battery are 
>> supposed to be the same... around 8 to 10 years," he said. "We're not 
>> expecting to replace them [the batteries]. In fact we only hold one 
>> [replacement] battery in stock nationally."
> 
> Interesting - buy this car and expect to discard it in eight to ten 
> years . . . ! Average Prius sells for $24,000, so you have an annual 
> cost of ownership of between $2,400 and $3,000.

Most new car buyers don't keep them for their "lifetime" anyway.

>> Despite the dramatic price drop, hybrid ownership remains a nod to 
>> better fuel economy, not financial savings. CarPoint's review of the 
>> Prius, published in October, compared the hybrid's fuel consumption to 
>> a similarly specified Toyota Corolla, and reached the conclusion it 
>> would take 15 years before the Prius' fuel economy paid off the extra 
>> purchase price.

doesn't that analysis depend on a hidden assumption (or two) - one, the 
cost of fuel for the time involved, and two, the number of miles driven 
per year?

>> Add battery replacement every eight years to this equation, and 
>> replacement parts costs as the vehicle exceeds its planned life of ten 
>> years and components wear out, and owners have no chance of ever 
>> seeing a dollar back.

OK, so they are perhaps not "cheaper" in dollars to drive than a 
Corolla.  But no car actually gets you money "back" (unless you buy it 
used and sell it for more...).

> Conclusion - these vehicles are an EXPENSIVE way to "feel good"

But far cheaper than, say, an SUV, which people also buy to "feel good"

> After a careful look, I'd suggest these vehicles be avoided - they ain't 
> no bargain, and the cure appears worse than the disease.

Nickel was described, a few paragraphs below the scary word "toxicity" 
as "mildly toxic."  Sure, you don't want a landfill full of the stuff, 
but we plate things with it all over the place.  And it *is* reclaimable.

> Give them ten more years to solve the problems, then come back and try 
> again.

Sounds to me like a poorly written article sourced mostly from gasoline 
industry handouts.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi

http://www.humanthoughts.org/