Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Hybrid technology is an investment, just like wall insulation, or a high efficiency furnace. If you purchase wall insulation and a high efficiency furnace for the home, and then move out 6 months later, you will never recover the initial investment. Spending extra for higher efficiency is a long term strategy.
|
I still don't know if hybrid technology is an investment yet, but I am studying pretty hard. I am more optimistic after reading all the great information on this thread, but I have to see exactly how and why hybrids use less energy than an ICE only, especially since they are very difficult to compare with an ICE only version of the same car. It would be a lot easier if faith in such things would work for me.
I strongly agree with this longer term investment concept, and this is what I base my reasoning on with my EV conversions. When one buys a new car, regardless of if it is full ICE, hybrid, or full EV, the value of the vehicle after a decade is usually about 10% of what it sold for new. With EVs, the battery pack has an expected life expectancy of ten years, and the replacement battery pack will exceed the book value of the car, rendering it totaled. The critical EV components are very proprietary, and do not work on other EVs the same way universal ones do. When I do an EV conversion, I start with a chassis that has already fully depreciated to junk value, and then use components that can be used in any conversion, so the major components become assets that are not related to the cars value. My finished conversions will always have a book value comparable to junk, but the assets inside of them can always be liquidated or used in other conversions. These assets are the difference after a decade between going with a conversion or buying a new EV from the local automall.