Quote:
Originally Posted by Galvatron1
The OP cites the hybrid vehicle requires premium fuel. Doesn't that bump it up to ~$0.45/gallon difference? It's more expensive than that if you factor in the environmental costs of mining that extra lithium, cobalt, etc. Not to mention the couple of extra thousands a hybrid cost over the regular version.
|
The extra cost is already factored in, because you get 200k miles out of the initial purchase. The replacement cost is basically unimportant because what car has much value left after 200k miles?
The environmental argument is weak. Mining a small amount of materials for a hybrid and using it over the course of 200k miles is insignificant compared to "mining" the extra fuel consumed by a non-hybrid.
As I said, if you want to argue that a Gen I Insight would be cheaper over the lifetime of the vehicle and possibly more environmentally friendly, I'd probably agree. Get to the size of a Toyota Camry or larger, and I disagree.
... and all that only addresses half the reason to go hybrid, as I said. Performance is the other reason.