pic: Ethanol powered car from GM

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

My wifes best friend recently purchased the Toyota Hybrid (the Prius?)

she is the head nurse at a hospital, and her husband is an industrial engineer. Nobody tricked them into buying the car, they understood the long term cost vs the money they would save on fuel

and they had to take what they could get from the dealer when they could get it, at the list price, because the car had a 3 month back order.

Let's say you drive 15 000 km per year, and you have a choice between a 45 MPG Prius and a 30 MPG Corolla sedan or wagon (similarly-sized cars). At $0.95/L, you save $372.42 per year*. Now, if you keep the car for seven years, that's $2 606.96. Does the Prius cost more than that much above and beyond a Corolla? And that doesn't even take into account the interest you could earn on that money, if it were in hand and invested over that timeframe. And it doesn't count the cost of service for a Prius (which has many expensive components due to its low volume) versus that of a Corolla (which is ubiquitous).

Of course, there are some comparisons that can be made, that do save money—between buying something like a Dodge Magnum and a Toyota Prius, for example. These are comparably-priced cars. Or if you really do drive 45 000 km per year, the Prius can save some money.

The trouble is, people see "hybrid", and think that they're automatically doing something fantastic by buying it. It has to be right for the use that you put it to; current hybrids are not a solution for everybody, so long as cost is a factor.

*U.S. gallons, Canadian dollars, and gas is currently around $0.78/L.