What are the advantages and disadvantages of driving a Hybird car?

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of driving a Hybird car?

Answer 1

I drive my 2005 Prius more on the highway than in the city, and I get an average of 47.3 MPG.

Yes, it's true the cars are slightly more expensive than a full gasoline powered economy car, but I believe the reduction of emissions and reliance on fossil fuels is an absolute benefit to our environment.  

The model is comfortable to drive, and is a good choice for family transportation, as well as, having a large cargo capacity.

You couldn't go wrong with the Toyota, 2nd Generation hybrid engine.  (Fords, and Hondas are 1st Generation Toyota hybrid engines with less economy and get-up-and-go.)

Answer 2

The advantage is you save money in the long run.  The disadvantage is you are STILL burning foreign oil in the form of gasoline and contributing to global warming.  The focus should be on moving away from gasoline to cleaner burning fuels like ethanol which do not contribute to global warming and are made right here in America.

Cars running on ethanol, which is distilled from agricultural crops and biomass are governed by the same laws of physics as those using petrol in that both fuels emit CO2 as a consequence of combustion, however the crucial difference is that burning ethanol recycles CO2 because it has already been removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis during the natural growth of agricultural crops, such as corn plants. A corn plant removes CO2 from the atmosphere and uses it to grow and produce cornstarch. The plant is harvested and the cornstarch is fermented into ethanol. The ethanol is burned and the cycle repeats. NO NEW NET CARBON is added to the atmosphere when you use ethanol, unlike gasoline which spews tons of carbon into the atmosphere which has been trapped beneath the earth's surface for millions of years in the form of crude oil.  You can burn all the ethanol you want and you are not contributing one iota to global warming.  You are simply recycling carbon.  And creating demand for ethanol by using it in your car stimulates farmers to plant more corn to meet the demand.  More corn means more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere because corn, like all plants, takes in CO2 and gives off oxygen via photosynthesis.  So not only are you not adding any new carbon to the air when you use ethanol, you are stimulating the planting of more corn plants which naturally fight global warming via photosynthesis.



And its now even being made via green means!

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/12/...

Answer 3

advantages would be more miles to the gallon, disadvantages would be the price of the car, price of breakdowns.

Answer 4

You are helping the world but you might get laughed at.

Answer 5

A hybrid works only from 0-20 mph.  I don't drive that slow.  It cost $4,000.00 extra for the hybrid and according to consumer reports it takes 13 years to get your money back if you do not have to replace the batteries at a $3000.00 cost which thier expect to only last 3 to 4 years.

M S knows absolutly nothing about ethanol.  Ethanol takes 1.29 units of energy to make 1 unit of ethanol.  Ethanol takes 1,700 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of ethanol.  Ethanol is Subsides by the goernment by $1.38 a gallon.  Because ethanol evaporative pressure is higher, it is worse on the ozone.  Ethanol only has 70% of the BTU rating of gasoline makeing ethanol 24% to 35% less efficient than gasoline. Here are couple of links.  I could go on with facts for hours why ethanol is horrible.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article....

http://climate.weather.com/articles/nebr...

http://petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/pat...

www.cato.org

www.abc.com  on May 04, 2007 they desinated ethanol the #1 myth in america.

Here's what John McCain Said and this is a quote

"Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it," McCain said in November 2003. "Yet thanks to agricultural subsidies and ethanol producer subsidies, it is now a very big business - tens of billions of dollars that have enriched a handful of corporate interests - primarily one big corporation, ADM. Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality."

That pretty says it.  Check out the Patzek report, it is 105 pages long however a must read if you think ethanol is any good.

I am still waiting for a prius owner to say how deadly they are.  A prius contains 276 volts of electricity and 60 volts is enough to kill every human  being.  You get in a car wreck and you are done. period

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/aug2002/s...

Answer 6

The only thing close to a disadvantage is the higher initial price.  However, a hybrid will make up for the extra initial cost in fuel savings over about 5 years.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/08/22/bc.a...

So if you have a 5 year loan to pay off the car, your gas savings will make up for the higher monthly payments, and after ~5 years you're saving money.

The benefits are that you're saving money on gas, reducing fossil fuel dependency, and benefitting the environment:

http://www.reuters.com/article/environme...

There are many myths about hybrids, usually spread by people who don't own one.  For example that the batteries will only last a few years and cost tons of money to replace.  The reality is that hybrid batteries are under warranty for 8-10 years and are designed to last the lifetime of the car.  Priuses used as taxis have over 200,000 miles on the original battery.

Another myth we're seeing here is that hybrids are only good at low speeds.  In reality hybrids do well at highway speeds as well.  My Prius gets 50 mpg in both city and highway driving.  It also accelerates just as well as a regular sedan.

Really there's no good reason for most people not to buy a hybrid at this point.

Answer 7

When you are driving around town, you are not consuming any gas at all as the electric battery kicks in.  When you brake in traffic, your battery is being recharged. When you are out on the highway, you are consuming gas but a lot less than you normally would, i.e. 60 mpg versus 30-36 on most other newer vehicles.  Those are huge advantages. The downside is that they can be a little pricey still and the battery will need to be replaced  eventually and they are pricey too. But in time, it will all become a lot cheaper and more affordable for more people and the technology will even get better. The hybrids do not pollute the environment and they are very quiet and comfortable to drive.

Answer 8

Hybird is best for city driving where you have lots of stops. The other guy is right, its no good for faster speeds, so if you mainly do highway driving you're still using just as much gas. I know in my area there's a 6000$ rebate, so maybe start lobbyign your government

Answer 9

The disadvantage is that many companies claim that their cars are hybrids when they are actually flex-fueled. Also the hybrid car costs about twice as much more than regular fueled cars

Answer 10

If you mean a hybrid car - the advantages are lower fuel running costs, & less pollution of the environment. The disadvantages are the initial purchase price for a more technically complicated car -- which may also incur more costly servicing......

Answer 11

Less fuel used. Less vehicle emissions. Quiet.

Lowered performance. Expensive. Often ugly.

Answer 12

Advantages: Fuel cost being lower, being a more environment-friendly mode of travel

Disadvantages: The cars are very expensive, cannot be afforded by anyone with a normal job