Wednesday, April 2, 2008

To Buy or Not to Buy A Hybrid

As the prices of gasoline keep on the rise, we cannot help but to wonder whether or not we should buy a car. Think about it, is your car really an asset, or is it a liability? Even 4-cylinder cars are spending $40 plus dollars right now. What is there to do? Buy a hybrid... and pray to God that the battery doesn't die.

As of late, we have been bombarded with just how awesome a hybrid is. The car stops using the gasoline engine, and, in a way, recycles some of the energy you just wasted. The hybrid also provides the perfect solution to contamination since it reduces the emissions of CO2 (since you aren't using the gasoline that much). Have you, however, heard anyone mentioned anything serious about the hybrids batteries? I bet you haven't.


Doing a quick Google search you might find that it is not as easy to find the prices of hybrid car batteries. Most websites only tell you just how awesome the hybrid and how you should stop doing everything and go and buy a hybrid NOW. However, they often omit the price of the batteries. When people omit telling you something about that which they are speaking about, you know it cannot be good. This is not the exception as $3,000 is not such a far fetched quantity in the world of hybrid car batteries. Hybrid batteries are supposed to last as long as the car itself hence, you should start to rule out buying a used hybrid since, more than likely, they batteries are dead. What is there to do? Sit down and wait...
Another technology that completely throws away gasoline are cars that run on ethanol. Already several corn plantations have been set aside to produce the ethanol for these new types of cars. Is there a catch with this cars? I do not know, but with corn being potentially cheaper than oil, is it not worth the try?

4 comments:

Oscar said...

Your posts always confuse me. For example

"Hybrid batteries are supposed to last as long as the car itself hence, you should start to rule out buying a used hybrid since, more than likely, they batteries are dead."

I don't see anything wrong with buying a used hybrid. There is something wrong with buying a dead hybrid.

Of course the batteries would be more expensive since hybrids are battery operated. AND batteries are covered by most warranties of hybrid cars so it is not as if your paying out of pocket if (heaven forbid) you need to recharge or replace your battery.

Ethanol is another great alternative to rising cost of gasoline but it is fueling the rising cost of tortillas in Mexico as many maize farmers have started selling their produce to ethanol plants instead of markets.

Agustin B. said...

Isaac you may want to look up the 04/07/08 issue of TIME or if you're interested I have it and give it to you but I had already heard that ethanol is not a good alternative to gasoline and the article claims that ethanol is actually contributing more to global warming becuase in Brazil farmers are cutting down the rain forest to plant soybean crops for biofuels.

Oscar said...

Issac. Do your research. Check out hybridcars.com for a lot of useful information. For example:

"The hybrid battery packs are designed to last for the lifetime of the vehicle, somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, probably a whole lot longer. The warranty covers the batteries for between eight and ten years, depending on the car maker" located in the frequently asked questions page.

Also:

"Maintaining a hybrid doesn't cost any more than a conventional car, and may even cost less due to decreased wear and tear on the engine and braking system. You’ll probably want to take your hybrid to a dealer, especially considering that Toyota offers a 100,000 mile warranty on emission components and battery pack, and that Honda offers an 80,000 mile warranty on the same—on top of the traditional 3-year/36,000 mile warranty on the conventional systems."

As for your other comment on maize, a while ago there was a pest that destroyed more than a year's worth of crop causing massive supply shock and driving up the price. When the Mexican government finally got everything under control ethanol producers started buying up the crops.

On a different note, I'm glad my advice helped out with your slowed down computer. I also would recommend just moving whatever you don't use on a day to day basis onto a secondary storage device. You may also want to optimize and defragment your hard drive.

dancingintherain said...

hi isaac!! could you please contact me: dancingintherain_17@hotmail.com...UTEP michelle q...LPI...