Bought a Hybrid Vehicle Today

[Mission9]

Real men drive muscle cars from the 1960's.  

[SeaBull]

My wife wants to get a Jetta TDI soon which gets 32/2?mpg of diesel. I would like her to get a Hybrid but I think a diesel is as close as she'll get. i would get a hybrid SUV myself if 28 mpg for "fuel efficiency" actually meant something. I'll need an SUV when we move back to Seattle though cuz you can't take a civic hybrid up into the mountains or lakes or to the ski lifts. I wish Subaru's would start making hybrids or the VW SUV's

On the other hand, buying a hybrid for my wife wouldn't be the only way to reduce her carbon footprint.

She's a vegetarian and according to this report I made up for this post she'll save the cattle ranchers raising 3 cows a year which will prevent 365x3 days of cow farts, which is the equivalent to taking 1 car off the road a year....so she actually drives 0 cars 0 miles a year.

[Velcro]

My wife wants to get a Jetta TDI soon which gets 32/2?mpg of diesel. I would like her to get a Hybrid but I think a diesel is as close as she'll get. i would get a hybrid SUV myself if 28 mpg for "fuel efficiency" actually meant something. I'll need an SUV when we move back to Seattle though cuz you can't take a civic hybrid up into the mountains or lakes or to the ski lifts. I wish Subaru's would start making hybrids or the VW SUV's

On the other hand, buying a hybrid for my wife wouldn't be the only way to reduce her carbon footprint.

She's a vegetarian and according to this report I made up for this post she'll save the cattle ranchers raising 3 cows a year which will prevent 365x3 days of cow farts, which is the equivalent to taking 1 car off the road a year....so she actually drives 0 cars 0 miles a year.

I guess that kinda depends on whether or not the cows you don't eat mean less cows exist... my hunch is that is determined not by the demand for steak, but by how horny the bull's are  

Saving a cow would actually keep more alive, meaning more farts  ;D ;D

[SeaBull]

My wife wants to get a Jetta TDI soon which gets 32/2?mpg of diesel. I would like her to get a Hybrid but I think a diesel is as close as she'll get. i would get a hybrid SUV myself if 28 mpg for "fuel efficiency" actually meant something. I'll need an SUV when we move back to Seattle though cuz you can't take a civic hybrid up into the mountains or lakes or to the ski lifts. I wish Subaru's would start making hybrids or the VW SUV's

On the other hand, buying a hybrid for my wife wouldn't be the only way to reduce her carbon footprint.

She's a vegetarian and according to this report I made up for this post she'll save the cattle ranchers raising 3 cows a year which will prevent 365x3 days of cow farts, which is the equivalent to taking 1 car off the road a year....so she actually drives 0 cars 0 miles a year.

I guess that kinda depends on whether or not the cows you don't eat mean less cows exist... my hunch is that is determined not by the demand for steak, but by how horny the bull's are  

Saving a cow would actually keep more alive, meaning more farts  ;D ;D

According to more research I made up for this post, the average life expectancy of a cow is 10 years for a normal cow or 4 years for a beef cow. Therefore in (10+4)/2=7 years, my wife will have singlehandedly saved the environment and will be receiving that $25 million check from Richard Branson.

Also, I don't think ranchers just let horney bulls run rampant...simply based on the fact that it's totally destroys my theory.

[crambone]

I drive a Toyota Echo.  I am 6'3" and 260 pounds, so everyone says I "don't get into" my car, I "put it on"...haw haw haw

Anywho, it gets around 44 miles to a gallon.  It's mostly highway miles, since I live in Lakeland and work in Tampa.

It looks ugly, but at $3.09 a gallon, I am smiling at the pumps.  It only costs me $30.00 to fill up my 10-gallon tank, and I can go over 400 miles with that much fuel.

[SRQ]

Serious note to all hybrid drivers:  You need to be extra mindful of blind pedestrians.  They have always used their hearing to know if it was OK to cross a street.  Silent run hybrid's are deathly for them.

[USFMikeB]

Based on my commute for work alone, I'll use approximately 750 gallons less gasoline a year.  I'd be interested in hearing what other folks are doing to reduce their carbon footprints, ESPECIALLY those that incessantly whine about things like oil consumption and global warming.

What kind of vehicle?  Can you let us know if the car actuall lives up to the promised mileage?  There are several reports out indicating that hybrid vehicles are being "overrated" by up to 1-1/2 times the actual mileage an average driver gets with the vehicle (the hybrid SUV's being the worst).   Also, do you do a majority of in-city commuting or highway?    

I'm just interested, I don't see how you can recoup the losses associated with burning fuel to generate electricity (changing energy from one state to another) just by the potential for recouping some of the braking power.  

To me, I think the best energy reducing measures for the typical household are adding insulation in your attic (to a point,) installing low emmisivity glazing, (aka window shading/tinting) spending the extra money for more energy efficient appliances, using flourescent lighting, and insulating exposed hot water piping.  These are some very good environmentally friendly expendatures that can ususally provide a relatively short term (10 year or less) payback.  Regular maintenance on vehicles and home heating / cooling systems is also very big.      

When deciding to pursue energy reducing measures, my equation is pretty simple:  does it ever generate a payback, and if so when?  No payback means it's not really worth the while or money invested and there is probably a better way to help the environment elsewhere.  

If the hybrids really do get the advertised mileage, then it's a pretty simple equation and your 750 estimated gallons per year would give you a great short-term payback for the extra money spent on the hybrid, versus a conventional vehicle of the same size / performance.  Please keep us updated on how it works out for you.    

Twilly, it is a hybrid SUV, with estimated fuel economy of 34 city and 30 highway.  So far, I'm averaging 32 mpg, which I'm pretty happy with.  My commute is about 85% highway, but there are some bottlenecks in NOLA right now due to a combination of the shift in population centers and road construction.

As far as the payback on the incremental cost of it being a hybrid, it's definitely covered.  The hybrid models typically come with more options as standard, and the ultimate difference in cost for mine came down to about $4K for the hybrid systems.  The federal government has a tax credit for hybrids, and that is going to offset alot of that extra cost in one shot, with the rest being covered in less than a year in gas savings.  So, I'm able to reduce my costs, reduce consumption of gasoline, reduce my carbon footprint, all of which combine to make me feel pretty good about doing my part.

[twillybull]

Hey Mike,

I'm glad you're actually getting the mileage advertised.  It is a pretty good deal then (with the mileage you drive).  I've read a lot of reports (including an interesting article in Popular Mechanics) indicating the hybrids were being severly overrated in fuel efficiency.  

I am all about doing right by the enviroment, but sometimes I feel like we can get snowed over with BS  (IE... newspaper and plastic recycling, two of the best examples of a good intention, but a bad scientific decision for the environment).  The hybrid vehicle seems to be a potential candidate for such.  Speaking of BS, the next Penn and Teller ******** episode is going to include a segment on hybrid vehicles, they do some pretty good research on that show, it'll be interesting to see what they have to say.  

As for my environmental impact, my wife and I bought a small house in the city to be closer to work (in lieu of a larger house in the suburbs).  I ride my bike (weather and site - visit schedule permitting) to work.  My wife works out of the house and e-commutes.  We travel less than 10k miles a year including personal trips and vacation.  The environmental benefit of not commuting is fairly significant and makes me feel good, but even that is secondary to the personal value of time I save each day.  Any additional money for "environmental motivated" purchases I could spend on a vehicle with better mileage than my V6, stick shift S-10 wouldn't produce a payback for me personally and that money would be better spent elswhere.          

On the down side, it's harder to play hookey from work when eveyone at the office drives past your house.   :

As far as ethanol is concerned, unless sugar is used (meaning the mafioso Florida sugar industry drops its artifically inflated prices) then ethanol really isn't a cost-effective solution to replacing / alleviating our reliance on gasoline.  This solution would be a helluva lot more feesible if we were to spend money on highways in and out of Mexico instead of building half-assed fence sections, but that's another debate alltogether.  

[ChiTownBull]

love the fact that i take public transportation every day....saw Chicago has the highest gas price in the country at 3.69 per gallon on avg.

[Mag Pie]

I got myself an 05 Toyota Corolla June 05.  Averages 42 mpg on the highway and about 34 on the street.  Not bad.  I just hate paying it every month! :-(

Rizzo and I took a trip to Ft. Lauderdale last week, with the cruise control on at around 75 it averaged almost 50 mpg.

C-Rolla's rule!