"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do the math, Bubbles. You'll never break even with that Prius over,
say, a
Corolla or especially a Yaris or the small Scion hatchback. There is
no
hybrid currently built that will save money overall in the long


Max....
1) What about emissions?

What about 'em? Like the percentage of hybrid cars is gonna make a
significant difference? Why not pure electric commuter cars, if you really
want to lower emissions? Toyota produced a RAV 4 pure electric car, but it
didn't sell, so they dropped it. Apparently no one is really THAT
interested in reducing auto-produced emissions.

2) What about investing in real world fuel saving technology for the
future?

Hybrids aren't the answer. Question: when all those monstrous hybrid
batteries are defunct, what do you propose to do with all the plastic shells
and the sulfated lead? Turbocharging small engines makes more sense in the
long run for fuel conservation--it's cheaper to produce, easily as
economical, and emission would be roughly the same. So does buring ethanol,
which produces water and carbon dioxide, as opposed to the complex
hydrocarbon emissions gasoline-burning autos produce.

3) What about the fact that the new Prius and Camry hybrids are also
far more comfortable cars than the typical econobox?

Do you really want to reduce emission and burn less fuel, or do you simply
want a comfortable car. Might I suggest a Lincoln Navigator for *real*
comfort. Incidentally, the Camry hybrid is not intended to help conserve
fuel--it's primary purpose is to provide *more power* for the same amount of
fuel burned by smaller, more anemic engines. Same with the Toyota
Highlander hybrid and others. Only the Honda Civic hybrid, the ugly Honda
2-place Insight, and the Prius are really meant as "green" cars.

4) What about NOT giving MORE money to big oil and the middle men?

Big Oil is gonna get your hard-earned cash one way or another, at least
until some real alternatives become reality. Of course as soon as one
mentions ethanol, JLRogers and Old Thom get their hackles up, contending
that only petroleum can power our vehicles. Well guess what--some day the
planet's petroleum will be in such short supply that people either won't
drive vehicles powered with the stuff, or only the extremely rich will be
able to drive cars. Hydrogen fuel cells are a viable alternative, but of
course the big oil mavens can give you dozens of "sound" reasons why that
will never happen, either.

There's plenty of crude in the Earth to power our vehicles for the rest of
our lives. However if you give a **** about your ancestors, you might
consider developing alternatives before they become absolute necessities.

Max