PRINTNot all they're revved up to be
The hidden costs of hybrid cars
Taryn Wood
April 10, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Americans are increasingly turning to hybrids to fight high prices at the pump, but they might want to weigh all the costs before buying an eco-friendly vehicle. Bob Lutz, vice chairman of global product development for General Motors, has predicted that hybrid cars will make up one-third of GM’s vehicle sales by 2015.
Kate Driskill, new vehicle sales manager for Joe Machens Toyota in Columbia, sees increased demand for hybrid cars every time gas prices go up, particularly in the past several months.
“We have a hard time keeping them in stock,” she says. “They pretty much sell as quickly as they come in. Last year when gas prices increased, it was the same scenario, but this year it’s really cutting into people’s budgets.”
Fuel savings are great, but the initial investment might be a little hard to swallow. The popular Honda Civic Hybrid starts at $22,600, about $7,600 more than the conventional Civic Sedan. But the Civic Hybrid gets an estimated 45 mpg on the highway, compared to 36 highway mpg for its gas-guzzling counterpart. That means the hybrid will travel 126 more miles per tank, which, at current gas prices, saves almost $11 with each fill-up. When traveling an average of 12,000 miles per year, the hybrid lets you pocket $206 annually. At that rate, it takes almost 37 years to make up the difference.
For Winifred Colwill, the decision to buy a hybrid car had to do with more than just saving at the pump. “I think getting off the fossil fuels is what’s important,” she says. Colwill took advantage of improved technologies last year when she replaced her old Prius with a more efficient 2007 model of the hybrid car.
So even though the finances don’t work out, there should be that warm and fuzzy feeling every time you get behind the wheel. After all, it’s better for the environment, right?
Well, maybe.
It’s true that a hybrid car causes less pollution than a more fuel-combusting vehicle. A gallon of combusted motor gasoline emits about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the Energy Information Administration. This means the Civic Hybrid releases about 55 fewer pounds of CO2 per tank than its conventional counterpart.
But what about the hidden environmental costs? Development, testing and manufacturing also impact a car’s carbon footprint. Toyota’s Prius, the original hybrid car, scores poorly in these areas because of its nickel-based battery pack. Its components must travel thousands of miles from the smelting plant in Sudbury, Ontario, to a Japanese battery plant. Calculating the energy consumed through manufacturing processes and the materials used, the Argonne National Laboratory, a research center of the U.S. Department of Energy, found that hybrid cars require more energy per pound to produce.
Still, the hybrid craze might have run out of steam when it hit the SUV sector. Compared with the most fuel-efficient hybrid SUV, the Ford Escape, smaller cars such as the Ford Focus require less energy to build because they weigh less and get better gas mileage. Add in a starting price tag of $26,640 for the Escape Hybrid, and your wallet will start to wonder what you were thinking.
Technology is advancing — automotive developers are working on a lithium-ion battery that over its lifetime is less toxic than nickel batteries — but until it’s perfected, think about stretching another few years out of your old wheels. It’s probably easier than trying to stretch 37 out of a brand-new hybrid.
