Are Hybrids Worth it?

I decided to stay clear of anything controversial with these blogs; no politics and no religion, but this one is gonna’ tackle both. The politically driven and faith based automobiles known as ‘hybrids’ – politically driven because there’s government money and favors in them; money in the form of subsidies, and the favor of having the right to drive in HOV lanes alone.  They’re faith based because some people believe in them with religious zealotry, and might even develop a holier than thou attitude as a side affect of hybrid driving.

Are hybrids all they’re cracked up to be?  

First of all, the gas mileage on Hybrids is very good, but it doesn’t really live up to the claims.  The EPA does their testing in laboratory conditions, not on real roads in different climates (or with hills).  Hybrids are well suited for EPA’s methods of testing mileage (on a belt and in a lab). In 2007, the EPA developed some newer more accurate ways to test, they’re scheduled to go into affect this year; there is no such thing as perfection in these tests, but let’s hope whatever they’ve done is an improvement. 

In case you don’t know what makes a hybrid a hybrid, the cars combine different types of energy.  Hybrids have two motors, one is gas, the other electric.  The gas engine powers the car, and also generates a charge for the very large battery.  When the battery has enough of a charge, the car’s computer signals the car’s gasoline engine to shut down, and you can drive on the car’s electric motor as long as the battery lasts. When the battery starts to lose its charge (or the car needs extra horsepower), the computers will automatically have the gas engine start up again, recharging your battery as it also powers your car.  In other words, all you need to do is drive, your car’s computers figure out which power source to use. You’ll still need gasoline, but you’re supposed to get a lot more out of a gallon. It’s similar technology to the old diesel/electric submarines you see in old war movies.

They aren’t perfect; if you live in an area with a lot of hills, your battery will drain much faster climbing them (think about how much harder it is to ride your bike up steep hills). In some conditions, a larger, more powerful engine is more efficient because it doesn’t need to work as hard.  Another problem is, the hot and cold days when you’ll need to have your air conditioner or heater on. A battery will not power the car and a heating or cooling system for very long; anyone that’s ever paid an electric bill can attest, air conditioners or electric heat can draw a lot of juice.

Here in NY, we can drive along with the windows open for a while in the fall and spring, but we have quite a lot of days with extreme temperatures in the winter and summer; we’ll need that air on or the heat. The gas engines on the hybrids will be on and working more than we might have been led to believe, unless we live in a very flat area with a perfect climate.  

Another problem is, batteries don’t last forever and lose efficiency with age. Hybrid Batteries do have six or eight year warranties, but as the battery gets older, the gasoline engine might be popping on more often to charge it. It also costs thousands of dollars to replace the batteries in hybrids. The price of these batteries rivals that of a transmission or even an entire engine on some cars.  Of course, hybrids have engines and transmissions that can also break down, so it’s more very expensive parts that will eventually need to be replaced. More stuff that can go wrong when the car gets a little older, two engines to maintain, a complicated electrical system, more complicated computer systems and an over-sized, expensive battery.

That’s another problem; the car’s complexity. If you have a favorite mechanic in town, chances are he’s not going to be able to fix your hybrid. There’s just too much going on in those cars for the average “wrench,” they need the diagnostic computerized service departments at a dealership, or an electrical engineer. You might as well ask your mechanic to bring his tools to repair the space shuttle when it goes on the Fritz. If you choose a hybrid, you will be married to the dealer’s service department for maintenance, and anyone that’s had their cars worked on at dealerships knows it can get pretty expensive.  

Hybrids might not be quite as green as people seem to think. Their mileage is exaggerated, but there is something called the “dust to dust factor”, which is how much energy the car will use from it’s “birth” on the assembly line to its “death” at the junk yard, including everything in between.  How much energy it takes to build the car, (with the extra motor, parts and and battery), how much to run it over its average lifespan and how much to finally dispose of it, (the last time I checked, huge plastic batteries lined with lead and filled with acid aren’t exactly biodegradable).  I never did trust studies much (most are agenda driven), but even if the “Dust to Dust Factor” is as exaggerated, it’s still a consideration.  

The electric plug in cars (no gas engine, you charge the car by plugging it in at home) aren’t as efficient as we might think either. Just because your car isn’t burning any dirty fuel as you’re driving along, power for the batteries still had to be generated somewhere. The carbon isn’t coming from your exhaust, it already came out at your powerhouse’s chimneys, when you plugged the car in to charge it at your house. Unless you have solar, wind or nuclear power, something dirty was being burned somewhere to produce the energy for your car’s battery to store.  It’s just the old bait and switch. The person feels great because nothing is coming from his exhaust, but it already burned fuel the night before, while it was plugged into the outlet in the garage (and the electric meter was spinning like a roulette wheel).  The electric plug in cars have the same problems with their heaters and air conditioners; they drain the battery quickly.  

I’m not saying that electric cars or hybrids aren’t good cars, or that if you already bought one you made a mistake; I’m just pointing out a few things people might not consider, and the salesman won’t mention.  If I was in the market for a car, I did a lot of driving and mileage was a big factor, I’d keep it simple and look at conventional cars that got good mileage.  My mechanic can service them; I can run the heater or the air conditioner full blast without keeping my eye on the battery power; and I’ll never need to replace a $3,000 battery.