Archive for May 25th, 2007
By Alan Caruba
An article in the March 19 issue of Business Week magazine caught my eye. “Why Hybrids are Such a Hard Sell” was the topic and reporter David Welch began by writing, “Given all the buzz about hybrids, not to mention the greening of the citizenry, you’d think they would be easy to sell. They’re not.”
The sale of hybrid automobiles constitutes an anemic 1.8% of all vehicle sales, down from a peak of 2.1% in October 2006.
I would suggest that Americans aren’t all that “green” despite the endless print and broadcast media harangues that our wonderful lifestyles are to blame for everything from hurricanes to frizzy hair. Those who have tried to be green have found that there are considerable additional costs involved and this has proven particularly true of hybrid cars that include batteries to permit electricity to partially replace the use of gasoline.
“One major reason is that hybrids typically cost $3,000-plus more than conventional cars,” noted the reporter. “With gas at $2.50 a gallon, it would take ten years to recoup the extra $3,000 cost of the Accord hybrid.” The cost of the batteries account for about half the hybrid premium and “cheaper lithium ion cells won’t appear for several years.”