Wednesday, June 21, 2006

More About Hybrids

In today's New York Times, this article talks about how some tax credits for hybrids will be ending soon and how President Bush and some members of Congress would like to extend the credits. The article also mentions how the Big Three have sold fewer than 15,000 hybrids combined due to their focus on making hybrids out of more powerful, less efficient cars instead of concentrating on cars where hybrid technology will make a bigger difference. It's like this from autoblog.com, which says that Honda is considering cutting the production of the Accord Hybrid. It seems that since the Accord Hybrid is a six-cylinder car, it doesn't maximize fuel efficiency as much as a four-cylinder car does, like the Civic.

What I really wanted to note is something that bothers me somewhat about most of the articles about hybrids that I read. They all seem to focus on almost exclusively on their cost. In other words, they spend a lot of time quoting figures about how long it will take for hybrid owners to make up the extra money they put out to buy one instead of buying the 'regular' version of a car, such as the Civic. Of course, it is understandable why they talk about this. In fact, I think they should. What I don't like is that they never seem to acknowledge that some people do buy them because it is a more environmentally-friendly vehicle and would rather pay a premium for something that is more responsible. While that group may be much smaller, failing to mention this makes the environmental issue important only when gas prices are considered too high by consumers - which is very cyclical.

I bought my Honda Civic Hybrid almost exactly four years ago - at the end of June 2003. I do not recall what gas prices were back then, but that is not why I wanted to buy the car. I was living in the D.C. area where the traffic is, frankly, terrible. I had come from the NY City area and hadn't owned a car for a couple of years. My job in the D.C. area forced me to brave the Beltway in stop-and-go traffic for 12 miles each way everyday. I had liked life without a car and lamented the fact that my new job was not near a Metro stop or a convenient from a bus line.

So though there was a premium for my new car, knowing its environmental benefits made that extra cost worth it to me. At the time, I was lucky enough to be able to deal with the premium, but also lucky to get some amount of a tax credit. And I was also fortunate that Maryland is a progressive state and waived the sales tax on the car because it was a hybrid.

Again, though, I do understand that the premium has to be spoken about and is a concern for many. That is exactly why these credits need to be extended if not increased. While I do not think hybrids are the long-term answer - nothing using any amount of gasoline probably should be - the credits should help them reach a level of sales where the price premium is decreased considerably on their own or able to be eliminated altogether.

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