Is a Hybrid Car Really the Best Way to Go?

When talking with my friend the other day, the matter of hybrid cars came up. My friend is something of an environmentalist, and so naturally, when it became apparent that he needed a new car, he started thinking about hybrids. He was initially quite gung ho over the prospect of driving a Prius, one of those elegant tear-drop shaped cars that shouts to the world, "Hey! Look at me! I care about the environment!" But as he considered the matter, he decided that might not be the most environmentally friendly option.

A Prius, he reasoned, might save gas, but the process of manufacturing it might negate any gains in efficiency. Intrigued, I did some research on the matter. Logging onto hybridcars.com, I used their calculator to see how much gas a Prius would save me. Assuming that I was a reasonably careful driver, and drove in the ballpark of 13,000 miles per year, the website told me that a Prius would save me 260 gallons of gas over what my VW Passat would get. It would get about twice the mileage, 56 MPG rather than 26, saving me about six hundred bucks a year.

Is it worth it? Checking out greenercars.com, I found out that the environmental damage caused by manufacturing a new car was not as bad as I thought. It takes about 2,000 gallons of petroleum to build a car, about 10% of the oil used in the life of a car. Of course, it would also take close to a ton of steel, but today's cars are about 75% recyclable, the website told me. It certainly would make sense for my friend to drive his old car as long as possible, but when he has to get a new car, a hybrid might really make some difference.

The kicker is the question of price. According to Toyota's website, the Japanese automaker is stepping up production of the Prius from 300,000 to 1 million cars per year, making it a significantly cheaper than it used to be. Still, at $22,175, it is not cheap for a small sedan. When you compare it to the $13,000 Ford Focus, it is clearly not competitive. One would have to drive it for over twenty years to make up the difference.

The additional technology in Hybrid cars does not quite justify the price. Hybrid cars are designed with small engines that provide only as much power as the car uses most of the time. The extra power needed when, for example, merging onto the highway, is provided by electric motors powered by a battery that stores extra power from the engine. None of this technology is particularly expensive. Instead, it appears, the culprit is the fact that hybrid cars are being sold as a boutique item, in league with the iPod. It seems that car companies are marketing to environmentalists rather than joining their cause.

So, perhaps my friend would be well advised not to buy a Prius. It may be a good investment if it is intended as a fashion statement, but otherwise one would be well advised to buy a cheaper car. And honestly, the environmental impact of hybrid cars is minimal. For every one hybrid, there are still thousands of gas-guzzlers, and even if every car in the country were replaced by a hybrid, we'd only cut down our petroleum consumption by 25% at best. And given the price, that scenario clearly won't happen.