slagehammer

http://www.reason.org/commentaries/d...20060719.shtml


Thoughts?

yayitzian

iTrader: (4)

i never like hybrids anyways.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Pretty funny that Toyota claims a 100k mile life expectancy for the Prius...

Not surprising at all about the costs and economy. Hybrid technology isn't ready yet.

ish

iTrader: (7)

doesn't shock me. I have been against current hybrid technology for a while now.

thebankman

iTrader: (7)

As hybrid production becomes as mainstream as production of V8 powered vehicles which share similar frames, such as Hummer, Escalade, etc., won't energy costs be driven down to the levels of, say, the Hummer and its variants?

turfshark

iTrader: (3)

the 'dust to dust' theory means very little to an average driver at the pumps. if i drove a hummer, (those things are fugly anyway) i would find little consolation that it took less energy to build and then dispose of my suv than a hybrid, while i am paying $100 in gas to filler up.

plus hybrid technology is relatively new. it is hardly perfect and will get better and likely cheaper in the future as does all technology.

GotBoost?

iTrader: (3)

First I'd like to say this is MY OPINION, and I'm not trying to start any isht........

I'm not surprised either, however, I think this study was aimed at those environmentalists that are trying to crack down on all of us non-hybrid owners/enthusiasts..... in otherwords.....a big part of what police look for when pulling over a "modified car" are things that are NOT smog legal....correct?.....and i think those "illegal" parts were made "illegal" because certain environmentalist groups that happen to have major pull with our governmental lawmakers used "higher pollution" as a reason to ban these above mentioned parts. Therefore we cant put them on our cars because they wont pass smog.....granted I understand that there's the whole "streetracing" issues as well....but you have to admit, being sent to the smog ref for "modified exhaust" or "modified intake" is a bunch of bs......

This study basically says that by Americans buying hybrids, "may" clean up OUR (local) environment here in the states.....but the production of these vehicles in other countries is making the pollution WORSE in those areas. Plus wherever these cars are scrapped is also a major issue for landfills, or auto recycling places.....its the same issue that we had a few years ago with all the "E-waste" generated by the scrapping of old computers and similar electronic things that are filled with all kinds of toxic elements. So until there are specific recycling places that can handle the "hybrid" waste from all the batteries, electronics, motors and other similar parts that make a hybrid a hybrid, the fact is its currently a burden to the environment. You cant just stuff a hybrid into a car crusher/shredder, and drop it into a melting pot to recycle the metal, it has to be carefully taken apart and discarded appropriately.

Anyways, again, this is just my view on this subject.....and I'll be sticking with my "gas guzzling" non-hybrid for quite awhile yet.

-Ted

sjt

iTrader: (2)

what a bunch of haters... if hummer are that environmentally friendly, where do rotaries stack up?!?

syncopation

iTrader: (3)

The reason foundation is a psuedo think tank that frequently publishes misleading informaiton without citing actual data or referred journals. Be careful what you read on that site. They disguise "commentaires" to look like real journalism.

You won't be surprised to find that one of the big funders of this foundation is big oil (Exxon).

I liken it to the Discovery Institute and such.....

excel

iTrader: (2)

hybrids are there for the people that complain too much

Hollandaze

Bah, forget a hybrid. I'd rather buy a Scion xA or something for $10-12k less and lose the extra 4-5 mpg.

WRXakaBooSTi

iTrader: (12)

"As for Hummers, Spinella explains, the life of these cars averaged across various models is over 300,000 miles."

wtf? BS! i dont believe this fact... i dont know many old cars with over 300,000 miles on them, let alone a stupid hummer that was probably purchased on an impulse buy.

i think the reason all the hybrids require so much energy to build is because we dont build many of them and have not perfected the process. of course if you dont try and perfect the process, youll never have perfection. this study is trying to lead us to believe that we should abandon hybrids. imo, we can a lose a little bit now, and win a lot later.

bclee

iTrader: (1)

I think this is not a real study, it's, well, to be blunt, a piece produced by a corporate think tank for lobbyists to use on politicians. So I guess I have to dismiss it out of hand as irrelevant and wait until some actual independent scientist says something about it. (Take it from me, I'm a scientist even.)

The "Reason Foundation" is funded (through in some cases many layers of various foundations) by several oil companies, foundations founded with oil money, chemical companies, and auto manufacturers -- American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, DaimlerChrysler Corp. (how many hybrids to they make?), ENRON (before they went under), Exxon Mobil, Ford, GM, Koch, Snell, and White Star Oil Company just to name a few. So you want to take their word on this stuff?

Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of what passes for "green" these days is complete b.s., quite possibly including hybrids. (For sure including hydrogen cars unless we start making the hydrogen with solar power.) But this report is b.s. too. Please ignore it and go to someone other than a lobbyist if you want something other than propaganda.

WRXakaBooSTi

iTrader: (12)

thank you, i didnt feel like bringing up the fact that oil companies have so much power and can manipulate whatever they want. glad someone else brought up this subject.

hatchy

iTrader: (5)

go diesel. or a 1980s CRX HF. 50mpg.