Posted by
Greg the Great's Nanobrain on Friday, May 16, 2008 4:24:28 PM
No big shock there. I looked to see why hydrogen cell cars are not used... It is an odd thing. Every car company that I looked at showed various models of hydrogen cars that they are working on or have produced.
I was pleasantly surprised that Ford and BMW are the two most active, at least from what I can tell. The reasons that we are wasting time and money on hybrids is because producing the hydrogen is not simple. So this brings me to a real question...
Why are we, in the USA, not building nuclear plants left and right? Clean energy, and lots of it, plenty of hydrogen production. It makes no sense. Build them.
I have researched this hybrid thing. The truth is simple - worthless. The emissions from the hybrids are only a fraction less then that of a standard car. One might argue that if everyone had one it would add up. Well, it might, but nothing that will make a difference at all. Some say it is better than nothing, and I say it is nothing. A fad to make us feel better about ourselves. Some have told me that it is a way to save money. Of all the arguments, that is the one that is the easiest to laugh at.
Hybrid Camry vs Standard Camry - if you have a hybrid, you might not want to read the rest of this, especially if you bought one to save money because the following is not flattering to your intelligence.
Hybrid MSRP: $27,389
Standard MSRP: $21,855 both with the 2.4L engine
Difference: $5,535.00
Hybrid MPG: 33 - average from Toyota.com
Standard MPG: 26 - average from Toyota.com
Difference: 7 MPG
Averaging 15,000 miles annually driven
Hybrid: 455 gallons of gas (15,000 / 33)
Standard: 577 gallons of gas (15,000 / 26)
Price as of today: $3.75 (PA)
Hybrid: $1,706 cost of gas (455 * 3.75)
Standard: $2,164 cost of gas (577 * 3.75)
Difference: $458.00
Savings over 5 years: $2,290
Over ten years: $4,580 (WOW, that is not bad)
BUT....
You paid $5,535.00 more for the hybrid...
You have lost close to a $1000.00
Of course very few people really keep a car for 10 years, the average is 5, so if you are average, you lost $3,245.00. Think about that. If you would have just put that $3,245 in a ROTH IRA, in ten years you would have an estimated $7000.00
Some will say I don't get it. I don't. I have seen as many reports verifying global warming as I have on global cooling. I can tell you that the Sun, that big yellow ball in the sky, has not had sun flares for several years now. Since that is the major contributing to warming on the planet, I have a feeling that warming will not be too much of an issue over the next ten years. Oh, maybe it will. 20 years ago we were all heading into a new ice age. Or was that yesterday.
If you really want to make a difference in the World, push hard for nuclear and hydrogen. But hey, if you want to spend a little more, get nothing in return, but feel good about yourself, buy a hybrid.