With gas costs rising, why do most Americans still say hybrid and electric cars are stupid?

Question

I guess they prefer the horse and carriage alternative?

Answer 1

Hybrid cars cost so much more than a comparable gas powered car that you would need to drive it 10+ years to even break even.  The problem is you will need to replace the batteries about that time at a cost of over $3k which puts you back in the hole or leaves you with a car that you cant drive or sell.

Find a legal electrical car.  That's right the $100k Tesla is it and you cant buy one cause its not out yet and production volumes will be so low that you wont be able to buy one anyways.

Hows that stupid again?

Answer 2

The percent is constantly changing.

The two systems are so different that you need a whole new range and some other work as well.

To install a gas range where an electric one used to be you need a professional to run a gas line from the main natural gas line in your house to the location for the stove.

You can do this yourself but to help resale value and for liability issues it is much better to have a seasoned hand do it. The professionals can provide documentation to the fact that the job was done correctly.

If a liter of gas costs 1.30 Euro how much a US gallon of gas costs? 1.3 Euros equal $2.00 as of only...

Answer 3

Well it took allot of years to build all the cars trucks everything we use that uses gas . Not only that you cant expect everyone to just run out and buy a new vehicle at one time we all just cant afford it . I'm sure the auto industry would be tickled pink but the economy stinks where is all that money to come from . Can you imagine the amount of energy it would take to replace all the vehicles on the road today melting down the old and reforming it ? That would be getting rid of one problem and creating more . Its not stupid to have a hybrid just stupid to think its that easy

Answer 4

With a hybrid it will take a very long time to break even on gas savings.  Longer than many people want to drive a car.  COncidering how much electricity costs and how bad the power grid is I can't see an electric car being a good alternative.

Answer 5

Hybrids are okay except that the ones on the market are ugly, overpriced and have poor performance.  They also cost more than comperable gasoline or diesel powered vehicles, and you will never recover the additional cost with the fuel savings.

Electric cars are just expensive toys, and will remain so until they can compete with conventional powered vehicles.

Answer 6

Hybrids are stupid because they allow people to keep driving the same old vehicles and think they are doing something good.   Most modern diesels with clean burning diesel are no wheres near as polluting as they used to be and get much better mileage.   Even a decently designed gasoline engine in a reasonably sized vehicle can get better mileage than hybrids.  

The problem with electric vehicles is we don't have the infrastructure necessary to charge many vehicles.   Go by a windfarm in most any part of the country and you will see about half of the turbines turning.   The other half have to be shut down because the electric grid cannot handle that much power.   It would cost hundreds of billions to upgrade the power gird if we want to run cars from it.   The government right now would rather spend trillions in the middle east securing a supply of oil for the next 20 years.

Answer 7

Some people dislike change. Since they've been driving a certain brand of car forever, why should they swich if they like it?

Also, rich people don't give a darn.

Answer 8

Actually it is the oil companies that are trying their best to discourage hybrid and or electric cars.  They don't want to see their billions and billions of profit go away if there is less oil consumption.

Answer 9

I think they are probably remembering the first time electric cars were introduced.  They had no power behind them, went through electricty very quickly so you had to stop to recharge all the time.  They were a real mess, and that is why they didn't catch on back then.

To my understanding, they are better in power and much longer lasting; but the image is still there.

Then there is the image of what kind of person would buy one of the electric cars.  While any kind of person could and probably would buy one if they were made with some power behind them; the image of the person who would buy one is the "stereotypical" tree-hugging hippie who smokes too much weed and takes way too few baths; or the "liberal elite."

More than anything I say the reason so many still don't like them is the image that is associated with them.

Answer 10

Hybrids are a stop-gap, and electrics STILL don't have a decent battery/price combo. Just because gas is expensive doesn't change those facts. Non-corn ethanol is still the most viable energy source on the horizon.