Hybrid Car Benefits – Why buy a Hybrid?

March 11th, 2006

Lexus RX 400h SUV

Consumer Reports admitted they were wrong in their recent Automotive issue which was just released. Consumer Reports magazine said that hybrid cars were not that good of a deal and later admitted that 2 of the models were ok. It got me thinking of the calculations that they did not consider when they reviewed the hybrid automobiles.

One consideration is that the gas prices may still skyrocket. This factor is very real. There is a great amount of instability in the Middle East that threatens the cost of gas. Iran is threatening to block routes that deliver the oil which could add an extra expense. In a five year period we may see outrageous gas prices. This could become real savings.

Another cost to factor in the vehicle is the cost of smog emission as the vehicle gets older. It is almost unimaginable that a hybrid vehicle would ever have a problem passing smog. This could keep the cost of the hybrid vehicle down in the long run as it would probably cost less to maintain to pass the smog test. In states such as California smog emission test could more difficult to pass in the years to come and the cost required for the repairs to older smog test failed vehicles could rise.

The gas motor on the hybrid may not get as much wear and tear when driving it and may last longer. There is a potential for the batteries to wear out but hopefully suppliers of the batteries will become plentiful and the price will drop.

With the government rebates I would think it would help cancel the extra cost of the hybrid vehicle. There were also shortages that drove the cost of the vehicles up in price. In time, with more hybrid vehicles available the price will start to drop as well.

The perk of helping the environment could out way the extra cost of the hybrid vehicle. Since people are not always buying things because of the price, the benefit that the hybrid offers to the environment is a selling point in itself.

Possibly in the future the cost of the batteries will become less expensive to replace. It is possible that automobile manufacturers will come out with hydrogen fuel cell-powered transportation which would replace the current hybrid technology.

It is hard to say that the hybrid car is no better than the regular cars out there. There are benefits to driving them.