By Peter Choi
Hybrid cars and the idea of the battery powered car is no longer a mystery. It was less than 20 years ago that we were making jokes about electric cars and never complaining about $.99 cent per gallon gas. The days where $10 dollars would fill the gas half tank and everyone not knowing what MPG stands for was only 20 years ago. We are living in a different age in time where MPG does matter and we have the technology to produce battery powered cars. The question is why reliable and environmentally friendly are these cars?
First off let's understand why we are trying to switch from our comfortable gas powered cars to hybrids that barely make any noise when driven. Here is what an average gas powered car produces:
* Carbon dioxide is the dominant greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
* Carbon monoxide, when inhaled, impairs the flow of oxygen to your brain.
* Sulphur oxides contribute to respiratory illness, and aggravate existing heart and lung diseases.
* Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) react with compounds in the air to cause acid rain and ozone (the main reason for smog).
* Particulate matter are an established cause of lung problems, including cancer.
* Hydrocarbons, in their many forms, irritate the lung and other tissues, contribute to birth defects and cause other illnesses including cancer.
* Lead damages organs, affects the brains, nerves, heart, and blood.
These are just some of the things that our gas powered cars are contributing to our environment. Now knowing this it is only obvious for one to think hybrid cars are the only alternative to gas powered cars. We tend to fear and hate things that harm our bodies and threaten our safety, and the points above do a great job in creating this fear and hate towards gas powered cars. But like the unbiased skeptical consumer that we all are, we must also view a different perspective on this issue.
Hybrid cars are very complex and involve the use of 2 engines, a gas powered engine and a battery powered engine. The theory behind the hybrid is use battery power at low speed (like in traffic) and gas powered engine in high speeds. It is safe to say, under the basic principle law of consumer products, that the more complex something is, the easier it will break. Hence leaving the hybrid cars vulnerable in maintenance costs and break downs. The advanced technology will also require higher repair costs as well.
Hybrids tend to get around 48 to 60 mpg which is about 20%-35% better when compared to the Honda Civic which gets 36 mpg. But when we compare the price of the two cars we are looking at anywhere between $20,000-$30,000 for hybrids and $14,000-$19,000 for a Honda Civic. It becomes much more clear when we compare the price the cars. Also when comparing the annual fuel bills between the Honda Insight and the Honda Civic, we do not see a great difference. Theoretically, you will only save around $2500 in fuel costs from owning a hybrid for 10 years. From this information we can only wonder whether the hybrid is a product marketing to reap profit for automobile companies. Hybrids have become a fad and trend like thanks to Hollywood stars arriving to events in their Toyota Hybrid. Who doesn't want to help the environment? At the same time we all know by now that being green and eco-friendly means the big bucks for companies all around the world.
But there are also advantages of driving a hybrid and the low emissions they create. They may be just what we need in our polluted cities and the future of transportation. But I believe it is safe to think that hybrid vehicles are still not stable and need further development to prove its reliability and justification to change. Because as we all know, driving a $25,000 hybrid car is not the only way to sustain our environment.
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