Over the next few years automakers will be rolling out a variety of electrified vehicles to help them meet sharply higher government fuel economy requirements. But absent higher gas prices or larger consumer incentives, the new technologies are still too costly to justify. What's worse, you're often paying for more than just better fuel economy.
All things being equal, a hybrid power train adds about $3,000 to the cost of a car in exchange for a 25% improvement in fuel economy. At $3 gas it would take about eight years to break even on the purchase, says research firm CSM Worldwide. ...
K.I.S.S. Keep it simple....SMART. smarts are simple in that their technology is internal combustion, light, recyclable, small.. wait SMALL footprint, I get 50mpg city and 43mpg hwy as per my scangaugeII. and with the fuel savings compared to my previous vehicle it's practically paying for itself.
According to the IRS Standard Mileage Rates
Business 50 cents per mile (Down 5 cents per mile from last year)
If you drive 600 miles per month in Business miles, Thats less than 25 miles a day,
You Should be reimbursed from your employer $300. Now that should only cost you About $40 in gas, leaving you $260 a month for car payment, Insurance, and Maintenance. We can thank all those SUV Owners for keeping this Number so High so we can take advantage of it and make some money on our little cars.
Payback is not the criterion most hybrid or electric vehicle proponents are focused on - reducing petroleum consumption and reducing emissions are what matters to them.
Payback is not the criterion most hybrid or electric vehicle proponents are focused on - reducing petroleum consumption and reducing emissions are what matters to them.
The extra thousands of dollars people spend on hybrids is not an abstraction. It is real money being spent on the R&D, mining, and manufacture of these complex vehicles and poisonous metal batteries. It means someone else used up $3,000 worth of resources and, yes, emissions, in order to create these overly complex machines.
Is it really worth it from an environmental perspective to use $3,000 worth of resources upfront, when the payback may never materialize? Why despoil our planet that way?
This thread could get VERY political very quickly... be careful what you say and how you say it.
It becomes very hard to calculate total cost of ownership, because it varies for each person, but the hybrid cars do require lots of miles and/or many years of ownership to be the lower total fuel cost.
One can even make a case that the lowest fuel cost is an incorrect standard to use. For example, there's a psychological element to the car one drives. Thus, if one does pay more, but receives a sense of satisfaction, for them it was a good choice.
If we're going to argue lowest cost per mile (gas + car price), then the Pure wins over the other smart fortwo models. This ignores that fact that those who paid more for the higher features aren't buying lower cost per mile, but special features.
My smart replaced an aging Toyota pickup, an 11 mpg increase on my daily commute. The wife wouldn't ride in the truck, so for trips we took the Nissan Xterra, which gets 20 mpg highway, now we take trips in the passion, which more than doubles the mpg of the Xterra. The P/U didn't have air bags so insurance was about the same as what I pay now for the passion. Discounting the fact that the Toyota was paid for ('93) my gas usage is way down. I think I did the right thing in buying my smart.
Not to mention on the hybrids the extra pollution caused by mining the nickle in what could only be considered as a brownfield environment, shipping the nickle across the ocean from Canada in a monster ship that uses about 70 gallons of fuel per hour to China for smelting (A process that is so nasty and toxic that only China can do it), loading the processesed nickle back into a monster boat that uses 70 gallons of fuel per hour and then shipping it to Japan or the USA. Then if the car is built in Japan, you load the built car onto the monster boat again to haul it all of the way back across the ocean to the USA.
Its like the other green scams out there - Use CFL's they are better for the environment (True, they use less electricity, but you shouldnt throw them in the dump because of mecury), Use only rechargable batteries because you can use them over and over (true but you cant just throw them away because they contain cadmium), Use only reusable shopiing bags they dont pollute (unless you consider the monster ships that bring them from China spewing PM/PM10 all over the place as they carry the lead based painted logos to the stores selling them)
but you shouldnt throw them in the dump because of mecury)
Indeed, these "green" lamps are highly poisonous and can kill you, your pets, or your children. Here is what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says you should do when you break a CFL "eco" light bulb:
Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room
Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug
Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
Disposal of Clean-up Materials
Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
All I know is, the government thinks these things are poisonous. Who here has never been exposed to a broken lightbulb? Is this a risk worth taking? I'm not about bringing one into our home.
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"the car", "la voiture"
1 - LT N FLFY
2 - Forests ride
3 - Little Blue
4 - Big Red
1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
This ignores that fact that those who paid more for the higher features aren't buying lower cost per mile, but special features.
Little Red Hat
Martian Rover
Martian Rover
Today
Linear Mode
