Does it take more energy to create a hybred car than is saved

Question

Are hybreds really good for the environment. I am thinking of getting on but am wondering if it is wort it because of the batteries. the batteries have to be assembled and the materials must be gathered. Some one told me that the amount of energy used (after shipping materials around the world to be assembled and refined) is more than the energy save. Is this true?

Answer 1

According to the website treehugger.com No. The big arguement seems to be about the battery and the nickel it contains. I Think they are correct, parts for all cars come from all over the world, a good portion of American cars components are manufactured and assembled oveseas then shipped back to the US for final assembly. In the 80's there was a big story about how much of the car had to be assembled here to be considered American made.

The way I look at it is simple, I had a Buick LaSabre which got 19mpg, I traded it in for a Prius which gets 45mpg, that was 6 years ago. I think the 45,000 miles I drove using less than 1/2 the gas and dramatically reduced my emissions made up for any manufacturing miles. If not then the fact that this is the longest I've ever owned a car and had I followed old shopping patters I would be on my 3rd new car, so that definately makes up for any added milage for manufacturing.

Answer 2

Yes more energy is used in the hybred car, like batteries, Gases and pretrol.

Answer 3

If one were not otherwise buying a car, it would be hard to justify buying it, even for a person who uses it a lot.

But, if you were ready to buy a non-hybrid car and what we were discussing is the EXTRA energy needed to make your car a hybrid, then it would use less energy to make it hybrid than it would save if you plan to use it for instance as a taxi.

If you were a retired person using your car 10000 km/year, it would be best to leave that hybrid for someone who needs it for a lot more driving.

Answer 4

It really depends on how long / how much you use it. Yes there is some added energy & resources used to make the car, but these are all a one-time use, whereas the energy to run your car is perpetual.  If you only have a car for a year and then send it to a wrecking yard, no you probably didn't do any good. But if you keep it until it dies then of course there is some eco-savings.  Shipping the parts in the manufacturing process isn't even a comparable concern since that's true in all cars today.

Answer 5

Depending on how much you drive, it would be cheaper to make an electric car, and use even less energy.

Answer 6

Did you know that Hitler was an environmentalist??

He wanted engines to run on water. He put the earth and animals above human beings. Sound familiar to todays times.

Read a book written by the president of the Czech Republic Klause. We must not be silenced by the so called liberals.