80% of Americans would switch to hybrid cars if they could afford them

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Just goes to show that...

...most Americans are sheep.

Ok, lets do some simple math (high school math teachers feel free to use this as a problem in your class). Lets compare a Honda Civic Sedan with a Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan. The difference in price is about $8000.00. Using Honda's own highway numbers of 45 MPG for the hybrid and 36 for the regular gas engine sedan and assuming $4.00 per gallon gas (I actually saw it for $1.71 where I live today) how many miles would you have to drive before you saved $8000 worth of gas (the difference between the hybrid and the sedan).

The answer is....drum roll please....360,000 miles.

Now, I drive a lot of miles - 26,000 per year. Question 2: at that rate how many years will I have to drive that hybrid before it make economic sense?

Drum roll again.....13.85 years.

Question 3. Repeat the two questions above for $10 per gallon gas. You get 144,000 miles and 5.54 years at my 26000 miles per year - even with $10.00 per gallon gas.

The conclusion: If you are doing this to save money on gas, you are a fool.

Even if you are interested in going green, this makes no sense. May I make a recommendation for you? Buy a reasonable gas engine economy car like the Civic getting 36 MPG and invest the $8000 you save in a company that is working on something that stands a chance of being a real economic success (i.e. it can stand alone without government subsidies). You will be contributing to "green-ness" while hopefully eventually making a few bucks along the way.

Posted by: cornpie   Posted on: 11/21/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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