Top 3 Reasons
To Buy Hybrid Cars
To save money
O.K. this isn't the best reason to buy a hybrid, but it
isn't as impossible as many critics would have you believe.
If you live in a city, hybrid
cars offer the best ability to save money on gasoline;
however, not all hybrids are equal in city driving.
Honda hybrids are not the best for city conditions. Unlike
Ford and Toyota hybrids, Honda hybrids do not function on
electric power only at low speeds.
In city driving, the Toyota
Prius can easily achieve 45 mpg or more. Something like
the Ford Focus, achieves just 17 mpg. In fact, in the city,
the far majority of ALL conventional vehicles are going to
achieve less than 20 mpg. Even worse, many trucks and SUVs
will achieve less than 10 mpg in the city. Here again, the Toyota
Highlander hybrid or the Ford
Escape hybrid offer their best gasoline savings. The Lexus
RX400h does its best here as well, but who buys a Lexus
to save money?
To reduce pollution
Pollution, like fuel economy, is a tricky subject. For
example, why does smog develop in cities? Is it just because
of the large number of cars, or are driving conditions an
important factor?
Congestion, stop-and-go, and idling bring out the worst in
our vehicles, except for hybrids. A Prius or Escape hybrid
will function on mostly electric power in these conditions,
and in these conditions, conventional vehicles simply offer
no competition. Overall, hybrids produce far less pollution
than conventional vehicles, and in the conditions that
produce the most pollution, hybrids perform their best.
To help end foreign oil dependency
Why do people buy Hummers, Cadillacs, and BMWs? Why do
people put rims on their cars? Don't they want to make a
statement?
For many hybrid buyers, buying a hybrid is a message that
says, 'I am willing to fund fuel efficient technology.' This
message is especially aimed at automakers whom have
contributed to America's yearly increase in foreign oil
consumption - automakers that have for decades successfully
lobbied Congress not to raise fuel efficiency standards nor
to make the EPA accurate.
How do you put a cost on foreign oil consumption? How much
does it cost to maintain a military presence in the Middle
East to protect America's oil addiction? How much money does
it cost to influence the politics of the Middle East? How
much money does it cost to try to stop the flow of money
that moves from oil into the hands of terrorists?
How much? How many lives?
If the real costs of foreign oil dependency were added into
the price of gasoline, the question of hybrid costs would
immediately be over. Since oil wealth largely runs America,
should we be surprised those costs are separated?
Only in America can Hummer ads fill the advertising slots of
articles criticizing the costs of hybrid cars. Only in
America is materialistic ignorance more acceptable than
intelligence.
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