Comments on: CNNMoney Tackles Seven Hybrid Vehicle Concerns

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 04:23:19 +0000

Weekly Roundup – 10/05/06

Here’s a quick look at some articles from across the MoneyBlogNetwork that caught my eye over the past week.

Jim runs through a list of concerns associated with hybrid cars.
FMF wants to know if you’d spend six years in prison in return f…

By: Cory Aldrich

Cory Aldrich — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:27:50 +0000

@ #7 – You could take the positive spin and say 85% of a larger number is still more than 85% of a smaller number.

By: real people, real finances

real people, real finances — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:18:09 +0000

An nice advantage they had in our area is that they qualified for the commuter lane even with a single person which could save you a lot of money wasted sitting in traffic jams.

By: samerwriter

samerwriter — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 01:37:12 +0000

“But you will save the environment”? How so?

Hybrids don’t pollute a whole lot less than other comparable cars, and as mentioned in #7 above, their mileage is not what the sticker says. Despite the propaganda from hybrid owners, eager to justify their purchase, other comparable cars generally do not miss their mileage targets by a similar percentage as hybrids.

With the added whammys of high price and fast depreciation, I can’t see the argument for a hybrid over other high-mileage cars (like the civic non-hybrid or VW TDI series).

IMO, purchasing pollution credits seems like a much better way to “save the environment”. See, for example, http://www.terrapass.com/

Putting that $2000 – $5000 hybrid premium toward pollution credits instead would likely have a much bigger impact than the hybrid.