Why the big deal about hybrids?

Question

The Honda gets like 45 miles a gallon doesn't it? Some Mazda3's are listed at 49 mpg and have no huge battery to dispose of eventually. Diesel vehicles get better mileage than hybrids also.

Answer 1

It's all a rip off.  I just heard on the news a few weeks ago that if we clear land to grow more corn to make fuel out of, we are gonna hurt the environment more than help it.

Answer 2

That's why I don't like them.

They look good, but their poor design, small  batteries, and obnoxious vestigial gas engine ultimately discredit electric cars.

Hydrogen is just a stall tactic... It's not going anywhere, even if it becomes cheap, we'll need expensive water crackers to do anything, and it's not nearly as efficient as straight electric anyway.

Answer 3

The Mazda3 gets an EPA estimated 28 mpg.  The Prius gets an EPA estimated 47 mpg.

http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/compariso...

Few diesels get better mileage than hybrids.  The ones that do are much smaller, so it's not a fair comparison.  If you made a hybrid the size of a VW Rabbit, it would get better mileage than the diesel version.

Plus you need to take into consideration the fact that diesels emit 15% more greenhouse gases per volume than gasoline, so a diesel that gets 46 mpg is emitting as much CO2 as a gas car or hybrid that gets 40 mpg.  Plus diesels also have much higher nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions (another greenhouse gas) as well as particulates which cause health problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel#Petr...

Hybrid batteries are also fully recyclable.

"Q: Are hybrid batteries recyclable?

GS: Absolutely. In fact, Toyota pays a bounty to dealers who recover them from damaged vehicles. Additionally, our engineers are studying the possibility of remanufacturing these batteries."

http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergy...