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General discussion

Poll: Would you consider buying a hybrid or alternative-fuel car?

May 2, 2007 6:46AM PDT

Would you consider buying a hybrid or alternative-fuel car?

-- Yes (Which one?)
-- No (Why not?)
-- Maybe someday (What's holding you back now?)
-- I already own a hybrid or alternative-fuel car (Which one, and what do you think of it?)

Discussion is locked

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Styling cues v efficiency
May 3, 2007 11:18AM PDT

The reason the Insight and Prius are so "ugly" has to do at least in part with aerodynamics. I'm pretty sure that, as fuel efficiency becomes more crucial to new car sales we'll be seeing a lot more aerodynamic, "ugly" cars, whatever the powerplant; I suspect that in a few years it won't be possible to detect the difference between hybrids and "conventional" vehicles.
My 1965 Citroen DS was "ugly" too, but gave astonishing fuel efficiency for its time (and if maintenence hadn't been so expensive, I'd still be driving it).
Since I tend to buy cars that are considered a bit past their prime, that is, over 10 years old, whether or not I buy a hybrid is probably going to depend on how quickly the cost of replacement battery packs will come down to by price range.
Presently driving a 1992 Buick Century with V6, 18mpg city/30mpg highway, not gonna replace it until I can't afford to keep it running, which may be another 100,000 miles. When the time comes, hybrids will be one thing I'll look at, diesels another.

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Hybrids no, Hydrogen yes.....
May 2, 2007 1:25PM PDT

Alternative fuels, such as Hydrogen are the way to go! The only reason they are not on the market all ready is that NO OIL is in the fuel equation....hybrids, which may reduce the big oil companies' profits, still need gasoline. In that case, they just increase the price per gallon. If it weren't for the oil companies' interference on many levels, we would already be using Hydrogen cars.

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H2 is a great idea, but not nearly ready for prime time
May 3, 2007 1:29AM PDT

"If it weren't for the oil companies' interference on many levels, we would already be using Hydrogen cars."

Probably not ... I am a huge fan of fuel cells (and most definitely NOT a big fan of the oil companies), but there are too many shortcomings to H2 right now, sorry to say ... most importantly is the lack of a readily available supply ... H2 unfortunately loves to stay hooked onto Carbon, Oxygen and other elements, so we end up spending a lot of energy to pull it free of those bonds ... but hopefully someday we'll figure it out how to generate it in bulk ... maybe an electrolysis process that uses solar or wind or wave action for its input power ... after all, if you believe Al Gore (and why wouldn't we, for without him we wouldn't be chatting in this forum), we're going to have an extra 20 feet of water over the entire planet in a few years, so we may as well make good use of it ...

Regards,
Greg

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Hydrogen no, Plug-Ins yes...
May 27, 2007 12:02PM PDT

The reason H2 cars are not on the market is that H2 is extremely bulky, H2 storage is expensive and bulky, and H2 fuel is more expensive than gasoline. H2 fuel cells are prohibitively expensive, and H2 ICE cars suffer from high fuel costs, low efficiency and limited range. On the other hand, some electric cars and plug-in hybrids are already on the market, with more arriving soon.

Oil companies are the main boosters of the "hydrogen hiway", as they are the ones who want to sell this expensive new fuel, and they have the cheapest source of H2 - reacting fossil fuels (natural gas, oil) with steam at high temperature to get CO2 and H2.

Electricity is far less expensive than H2 or petrol or diesel, and it always will be. Electric cars and plug-in hybrids, even with high performance Lithium batteries, are far less expensive than H2 FC cars. Electric cars are much more efficient and cost much less to run than H2 cars.

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Gas money isn't the only thing to factor into the equation
May 2, 2007 1:27PM PDT

Kudos to all those V-8 lovin' folks. They certainly love you in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and at ExxonMobil.

The decision to buy a hybrid car (or biodiesel or whatever) shouldn't be made on the price of gas alone. Unless you're incredibly selfish, you really need to take into account the enormous hidden costs to maintain the current market system, which you pay through your Federal income tax. We pay to maintain the world's largest military, and we paid an extra half a trillion dollars (and counting) to force regime change in Iraq, in part (in large part) to protect, control and maintain the continuous flow of oil.

And, oh yeah, we support the terrorists with every gallon of oil we buy at hyper-inflated prices.

Oil prices were about $25/bbl before 9/11, but they're over $60 today. Did you ever ask yourself why? Sure, there's OPEC. But more than half of our oil is produced here, in the good ol' USA (from Texas, Alaska and California mostly). Why is gas from Houston and Sacramento twice as expensive as it was five years ago? Greed, and a system that makes no sense for Americans, but great profits for American oil companies.

Every person driving a hybrid -- ideally a plug-in hybrid -- gives OPEC that much less control over us. And when gas hits $4 a gallon this summer (it's already $3.50 here in L.A.), the payback will come even faster. To save the most with a hybrid, make sure you get the RIGHT hybrid. Some hybrids are engineered to make the car more powerful, rather than to improve gas mileage.

Ideally, someone will combine a biodiesel and an electric motor, and we can say NO to OPEC once and for all...

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Ignorance is your friend.
May 5, 2007 7:35AM PDT

Why does no one understand "supply and demand"? Are public schools so bad you are not taught this?

The arrogance of people here is amazing. Look if you don't want to import oil, then stop preventing us from getting oil here in America. The largest untapped supply of oil is in our land. The people who whiny and cry about Exxonmobil, and prevent them from dilling, YOU are the ones supporting imported oil.

Further, this garbage about the cost of oil before and after 9/11 is a joke. It isn't greed, it's supply and demand. The supply has been disrupted by a number of factors, Iraq being one of them.

Worse the people are having their faith in us shaken because our elected idiots are voting to cut supplies to our troops. They fear we'll lose the war because of those fools. If Iraq falls unto a civil war, Iran or some other external force will move in, and that spells bad news for the entire middle east. So yeah they are scared. And prices go up with instability.

You know nothing KaplanMike. Even if we were to convert over to Biodiesel, oil make thousands of products. Plastic, electronics, and millions more. Do you have plastic in your home Mikey? Do you have a computer Mikey? Then I guess you support terrorist too. Maybe you better sit down before you hurt yourself. Ugh... arrogant people.

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OPEC and oil regs
May 9, 2007 3:28PM PDT

[quote]But more than half of our oil is produced here, in the good ol' USA (from Texas, Alaska and California mostly). Why is gas from Houston and Sacramento twice as expensive as it was five years ago? Greed, and a system that makes no sense for Americans, but great profits for American oil companies.
[/quote]

Thanks to an agreement made between OPEC and the US many years ago we have our hands tied to producing only a small percentage of oil per rig. I am a truck driver in Texas and I deliver drill pipe to the new oil rigs every day. There is a law on the books that says that each rig can only put out so many barrels of oil each month so rigs are put on timers and monitors to start and stop on regular intervals. Each oil company is drilling as many rigs as they can right now on a lease because the regulation applies per rig not per field. A new oil rig from setup to production is only 6 weeks. There are field leases with hundred of rigs to overcome the regulations.
One bright spot is that GE and many others are putting up wind mills here in Texas faster than oil rigs.

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I might buy a Hybrid some day in the Future.
May 2, 2007 1:27PM PDT

I only use about 35 to 40 gallons a month right now since I am retired, and my car is a 2003 with only 25,000 miles on it. Presently hybrid costs are too much to justify with the 600 to 800 miles a month that I drive. When I actually need to replace this car, will look at everything that is available and make my decision then.

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Hybred car
May 2, 2007 1:38PM PDT

I own one and have had great use out of it for about 6 years now.
It is a CLUB CAR GOLF CART.
It is great as long as you are in no hurry and have roads where the max speed is 35 MPH or less as it is not legal in AZ to drive on highways with higher speeds so I can not go to town in it as the only link from where I live to the Town of Holbrook Arizona is INTERSTATE 40, as the State of Arizona in its infinite wisdom removed almost all traces of ROUTE 66, so that the only way around rural AZ is by interstate.
I love it though for getting around my local community as it sure saves gas for those 1 - 5 mile trips.

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Glad I bought one
May 2, 2007 1:43PM PDT

I have a 2000 Honda Insight that I bought in 2002. At that time I would have loved to buy a civic hybrid but we simply couldn't afford it. I was determined to buy a hybrid so we got the used Insight.

I am proud of the emissions I have not put in the air in the time since. The reason I believe in buying hybrids is because they are better alternatives for carbon emission. Gas mileage is great (I get 50 mph)but hopefully soon people will buy hybrids for the good they do for ALL of us not just for the good they do for each of us.

--Rick

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Diesel-Electric
May 2, 2007 1:59PM PDT

I would buy a Diesel-Electric. Electric alone is distance limited and the only other way would be diesel-electric (or Bio-diesel-electric).

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Electric is the only way
May 2, 2007 2:00PM PDT

As I am a big guy I only feel well in a big car. Now I own a minivan and that is the ideal vehicle for us. So far there is no such vehicle available so my plans are on the back burner. I do not really like any fuel that has to be burned because it causes heat and pollution. With wind and water and sun we can produce enough electricity to run everything, provided the spineless politicians wake up one day and help defining higher standards for efficiency.

Surely a vehicle the size of a minivan needs a lot of power but right now the vehicle has to much of it. About two thirds would still do nicely. The roof could be for me in Florida like a tropical roof, i.e. a top one inch above the structurally needed main roof. That extra roof could host quite some amount of solar panels and even the hood and the windows could be used for the purpose. Extra power can come from the main power grid even though that seems to be in bad shape, too.

That would mean creativity but do you expect that from Ford or Chrysler or GM? No, but from Mercedes I expect that.

The other thing is that we do not have enough public transportation. It is an insult that costs us enormous amounts of roads with inept drivers and 40000 lives lost every year.

If no one thinks out of the box we are doomed to suffer in hell. Thanks to the oil and car industries! Help spread the word that the citizens want something great!

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Never-considering the enviromental impact.
May 2, 2007 2:02PM PDT

How much energy does it take to produce the average modern car? Although I haven't researched this aspect yet, I believe that it is much greater than 20 years ago. There is so much more in a car today. Electronic controls, computer modules, electronic gadgets, and other nifty devices in cars have to be produced somewhere. Most likely there are many more factories using up our natural resources to produce a car in this day and age than a couple of decades ago.

The typical hybrid car also has about 5 times the amount of batteries that a typical gasoling powered car. Most deep cycle batteries have a short life span compared to the expected life of a car. What happens to all the batteries after they will no longer hold a charge? They will all have to be rebuilt at a facilities that will use about 5 time the energy to rebuild 5 time the batteries from electric and hybrid cars. Almost all automotive batteries (including those in hybrids) are still lead acid batteries, i.e. hazardous waste!

So you just got that electric car and plugged it in to charge its batteries, where does the energy come from? In many areas of the US that energy will come from a coal fired plant. Is this not the type of energy source that we are trying to conserve? How about hydroelectric power? Did anyone consider the amount of diesel fuel that is burned up to create this type of energy source, or the negative environmental impact created by dams and reserviors? Although neuclear energy is cleaner, nobody wants that in their back yard!

Do you really want to make a positive impact on the environment? Don't buy that hybrid or electric car, walk or ride a bicycle!

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a lot of oil to make a car
May 2, 2007 2:12PM PDT

Good point, it probably takes 1000 gallons of oil to make a car. So it might be better for people to keep their cars for longer time periods.

I bought 2 hybrids to send the signal that we are fed up with Gas !! ... do anything, something about it.

They had a wonderful electric car in 1930, I should have never owned a gas car.

Watch ' who killed the electric car ' --- and focus on facts, and verify them for a unbiased view.

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Sorry to break this to you
May 4, 2007 1:23PM PDT

it takes a ton more oil to make a hybrid than a non-hybrid. So you didn't send any message. If you want to send a message, you better start riding a bike, and not using any product made with plastic, because oils used in all plastics. Also electronics use tons of oil, so sell your computer, your TV and alarm clock and everything else. Then maybe you'll send a message.

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so what do you think is better?
Nov 13, 2008 1:35PM PST

a quarrel between hybrid and hydro cars, great.. but you must all realize that both have same targets, to reduce oil consumption thats, so we must respect both areas for this inventions might lead to a better future.. thanks..

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lab rats needed
May 2, 2007 3:04PM PDT

While the alternative energy vehicles are imperfect someone has to try them for the effort to succeed. I can't afford to buy a new car. My '98 Durango gets only 14mpg average. But my long torso is a comfort and safety concern whenever I drive a little s**tbox. Living out in the boonies is going to get very expensive for folk like me. It is over 200 miles to the nearest Home Depot and I don't think the electric car will tow the trailer of lumber and bricks that I need to bring home every now and then. The self-righteous "greenies" will not understand and I don't expect them to. Perhaps, installing a few generating windmills will ease the guilt. But, then again, where does the money come from to build these generators.

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misinformation and FUD
May 19, 2007 10:18AM PDT

Hybrid cars DO NOT use lead acid batteries to power their electric motors. They use NiMH batteries.

The Prius does have a very small 12V lead-acid battery but much to what you'd find in a regular car and it doesn't even start the gas engine.

Where do you get your "5 time the energy to rebuild 5 time the batteries " from? Cite your sources.

Why do you bring up deep cycle batteries and their lifespan? The HV batteries are NiMH and are intentionally NOT deeply cycled. They're warranted in the Prius and Civic Hybrid for 10 years/150K miles in CA and a few other CARB states. They're managed by a computer to keep them between a certain SOC (http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/page/prius-battery-pack). http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse3.htm is at 285K miles on his previous gen Prius on his original battery.

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Considering the impact...
May 27, 2007 2:39PM PDT

I agree that walking and bike riding are A Good Thing, and when it is practical to do so, I will walk or ride my bike. I'd also agree that if you've got a good older car in good shape with reasonably good milage, it may be better to keep it than to buy new.

The rest of that fishy post, um, no.

Hybrid batteries are larger, but only because they need to store all the energy they save. Typical hybrid batteries weigh 85 to 110 lbs, not exactly a huge load! NiMH batteries can last far longer than older lead acid, especially with proper battery management to prevent overcharging and excessive discharge. NiMH batteries in some Prius have gone over 200,000 miles and lasted over 10 years. Some newer lithium batteries coming on the market are even better for energy storage, and may also have long lives.

Yes, a lot of electricity is produced from burning coal (in very efficient plants), but here in California, it is only 40% of the supply, and the percentage is dropping as increasing amounts of solar, wind, geothermal and hydro come on line. Except for some portable generators and a few emergency backups, electricity is not produced from oil products.

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On my 2nd on, Insight to Mercury Mariner Hybrid
May 2, 2007 2:08PM PDT

I love my Mercury Mariner Hybrid.... super fun.

I got the mileage gauge up to 33.8 MPG this weekend.


I traded my 01 Insight in and got 9k on the trade, it held good value.

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Here's something nobody's mentioned!
May 2, 2007 2:11PM PDT

What about a TAX on the miles you drive, instead of a tax per gallon of gas. I seem to remember about an article from CA. stating that they would consider imposing a Mileage Use Tax for owners of Hybrid or electric vehicles.
How many miles do you think you'll drive a week? How many miles a week do you think that the state will say that you drive? Will we be able to prove otherwise?
My 4ltr V6 Ranger gets about 20-21 mpg highway, and around 18 city. Figuring the roughly 40 cents per gallon in tax at the pump, that works out to 0.02 per mile. What will the state charge per mile? I'd be willing to bet that it's a lot more....
Don't forget, our roads are built and repaired with the income from the gas pump.

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Mileage Tax
May 2, 2007 2:32PM PDT

The first problem with a Mileage Tax is that it would be another tax which would never disappear. The second problem is that most of those who drive the guzzlers could afford to pay that tax and would not reduce mileage driven. So, where's the gas savings? Thirdly, the tax applied to the sale of gas at the pump would not be reduced. A Mileage Tax would be just another tax. I'm surprised that CA hasn't jumped on that one yet.

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alternative car
May 2, 2007 2:22PM PDT

Why USA and Australia did not agree with a Kyoto Pact??USA id the most production of polution the 66% of the entire world but Mr Bush did not agree with scientist in Kyoto and as a Donkey Australia Followed Him, Jsust question of Money nothing else.
Is my opinion if some one will produce the car propulsed by air they will find and way to let us pay AIR, when bush made the spech about the action will be take following the september 11 annunced to give 20 milliond dollars for the search of alternative fuel.but in same time he spend billion dollars for one war presenting prove to the world of chemical weapons owned by Iraq, prove that my son 11 years old coud drwa better was a ridicul presentation.
I mean spend this money for research for alternative fuel but serius research no fake as He presented .
I am in USA several month per year ,specially in KY and i feel Hurting when i see all.specially outside the Hilly BILLY homes,wrenched cars ,rusted appliances this dumping rubbish on the bushes ,where it is tree, also here in Australia homes are builded in wood ,forbidden and build in cement in brick saving trees, when some one is catch to blast a bust straight away send 30 years in jail ,mo as here in australia they give 1 year and let them free.
WHEN OUR PLANET WILL DIE NO MONEY COULD SAVE US.

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Because it was garbage.
May 4, 2007 1:28PM PDT

Because the Kyoto pact was full of garbage. Bush was right in not signing it. It would just harm job and do nothing really for the environment. Further, despite what some idiots would claim, we didn't need to prove Saddam had WMDs, we already know he had them. I used them during the Iran-Iraq war. There's no question he had them.

You believe we're going to destroy the planet, got it. I do not, so please scream "the sky is falling" elsewhere.

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Uh look again,
May 20, 2007 4:11AM PDT

China is putting a new power plant online at a rate of 100+ a year, and what are they powered with? COAL.

Yes the US is one of the largest producers of pollutants, and Greenhouse Gasses, we are also the largest consumers of products produced WORLD WIDE. You wanna talk about money? Money out of our pockets flows to your pockets so that you can have power, and homes and computers to ***** at us on the internet. Money to FEED the 11 year old sons of all of you out there. If the EVIL US did not consume products the billion plus people that our consumption supports would not have jobs, and not be able to even own a TV to see the BS that is spewed forth. Their kids would not have an education to DRAW the conclusion mario here illudes to, because their country would be so poor they could not afford to build the infrastructure necessary to bring about a better standard of living.

The world loves to blame the US for all we do wrong, and yet we are so bad that millions of people a year risk their lives to sneak into this evil place to make a better life than they have other places on the globe. The US PUBLIC had donated more money to poverty relief, Disaster Relief and a thousand other "reliefs" than any other country on the PLANET. We gave BILLIONS to relief efforts after the Sunammi of 05, and we continue to do so world wide and what do we get in return? How much money did Austrailia send when Huricane Katrina hit the gulf coast? Indonisia? How about India? Siria Lanka (sp?) I will wager you can add all the donations every country affected by the Sunammi of 05 gave to Katrina Victims, and it would not add up to 1/1000th the amount the american public gave to them. Not the government, not the Federal, State or Local counties, but the PEOPLE through individual donations to organizations that provided real relief to those in need.

I didn't see the Ausies over here rebuilding schools and hospitals within a week of Katrina, but you sure as hell saw the Evil US military lending a hand within hours of the Sunammi. Flying rescue helicopters and sifting thru the debris looking for surviors. The Navy's contruction batalions (Sea Bee's) were there within days, and the Army Corp of engineers were on the way within a week. Funny about all that, I bet we never sent anybody a frigging bill for all that!

We send boat loads of food to Africa, only to have it stolen by warlords and horded to gain power, and when we go there and try and give it to the people who need it, our solders are ambushed by people who use women and children as shields as they shoot at us. The drag the bodies of our fallen thru the streets and hang them from lamp posts! Oh yea, big bad imperialist america, opressing the poor warlords and trying to take the MILLIONS of pounds of food away from them and give it to the people, regardless of race, creed, religous belief or what color shirt you are wearing today. Yea big bad evil America! If it wasn't for America, you would be speaking Japaneese right now. Next time you think you want to rant about america and how much bad we do, go ask somebody who has food in their belly and a roof over thier head if they hate the person who put it there.


The Kyoto pact was as much a political tool as an actual envronmental document, crafted to garnish economic and polical gain. It is political Posturing at its best. Crafted to build stratigic advantages to countries who are in direct economic competition with the US and it's allies, and failing to address many of the most important issues of today's rapidly changing global economy, It was a dinosaur and served no purpose for America to sign. America already has some of the highest and most stringent envronmental regulations in the world. For instance California has some of the cleanest burning cars of anyplace on earth and has stronger regulations coming online! Hybrid vehicles meet or exceed even TOKYO's tough envronmental standards for emmisions are selling like never before because americans care about our envronment and the effect our cars have on the envronment. We have 4 passenger cars that put out less polution than a motor scooter in other countries, and more and more of them are being used every day.

General Electric, An AMERICAN company is producing the cleanest burning Jet engine the world has ever seen, meeting or exceeding all federal standards. They build desalinzation plants to provide clean water for people who live in areas hit by drought or other factors that reduce water quality. Producing water from seawater allows other water sources such as Ground Water to replenish.

Mario, you spend a couple months a year in Kentucky and you feel you have any clue whatsoever what the USA is all about? That would be like spending time with a tribe of Hill people in the outback and judging you country on that experince alone. Are you insulting all those proud people that live in Kentucky by saying that they should be given money from the same government that you rail against so vigerously?

They can apply for assistance if they want to, and yet most don't because they are either too proud, or they actually like living in a place where they don't have the government telling them they have to have a car that emits only this amount of smog, or that their houses have to look like this or have to be painted only these colors.

These are Hill Folk, they are proud of what they are and the fact they get along just fine without the government sticking its nose in thier business. With your statement what you really are saying is these people can't take care of themselves so the government should? Sounds kinda Marxist to me there pal. These are proud people and I bet if you told them that to their face, they would probably be so pissed they would rearange yours. (look up the hatfields and McCoy's if you dont believe me) You have no clue about Southern Culture, let alone America as a whole. Redneck Pride is just that PRIDE. They don't care if they got rusty appliances on thier porch, or when they mow thier lawn they find a tractor they thought was stolen. It is their way of life. Stop trying to use them as your pawn for pushing forward your anti U.S. sentiments. Tell ya what, you go back to Kentucky and tell them you feel sorry for them, and spout some of your ANTI American BS, if they don't kick your butt they did not understand you. They are the home of American Pride.

America does spend money on alternitive fuels, and we are making progress, probably more than any other nation, because we do see the forest for the trees. Just because Bush mentioned 20 million bucks you think that is all we spend on alternitive fuels? California alont spent FAR more in one year in a partnership with a worldwide consortium of automakers developing a FUEL CEL vehicle that is a reality now. Once again, you have fallen prey to the anti U.S. Hatemongers that skew the little info you hear in a way that helps their cause. America as a whole, is spending more per year than your national budget on energy exploration and alternative fuels. So get off your high horse and look again.

And to tell you something you probably dont understand, AMERICA actually produces trees in the areas you visit so we don't deforest other areas of the world. Americans donate more money per year to save rain forest than any 5 other countries combined. You want to talk about deforestation, sorry, we are actually planting trees forests than we had 20 years ago, not LESS. We are utilizing renewable resources such as wood because it is cheep, renewable and when it does wear out it crumbles to the ground and becomes food for bugs that make fertilizer and grows more wood. Try that with a cinderblock. Cinderblocks crumble in an earthquake but a properly engineered wood building just sways and then stays up.

And you last line about your own governments ability to prosicute your own criminals? How the heck is that America's fault? Their your judges and politicians! If you dont like what they do VOTE EM OUT! You should have a pretty good idea how to deal with criminals, Your country started out as a Prison for British Criminals too dangerous to leave in EUROPE! Stop blaming the US for everything, if we stopped buying all your crap your economy would collapse within a year. And to tell you the truth, our garages and homes are getting pretty full, so maybe you better start looking at a new line of work, cause manufacturing is not gonna cut it in the long run.

BTW if you have a popluation the size of China, and everybody stops riding bycicles ( citing a 10% YEARLY increase in drivers licenses quoted in the movie "crude awakening") who do you think is gonna be the big polluter on the block in short order? Better look North my friend cause that many people all driving to work is gonna be your worst nightmare and ours.

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Why I'm holding back
May 2, 2007 2:26PM PDT

As I understand it, the hybrid cars of today require a great deal more energy and material to build than the standard 4 cycle-only-powered vehicles. The batteries themselves cost a fortune to replace and the year of the car and mileage will effect your selling or trade-in value. I get 26 MPG in the city and 38 MPG on the highway with my 2004 Honda Accord with a 5 speed. That's pretty darned good mileage without the batteries and the extra gear. Nope, not for awhile. And let's not even talk about ethanol. Check the physics and economies of burning ethanol, even 85%, in your car and you won't want it either.

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Can you say Hemi?
May 2, 2007 2:35PM PDT

My truck may burn gas, but it burns rubber too! Thank you Dodge.

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(NT) amen
May 4, 2007 12:06AM PDT
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bring the roadsters
May 2, 2007 2:43PM PDT

For some of us who love the environment but who also love to drive, the big performance question re hybrid powertrains has been answered already; not only no loss, but in some cases substantial gains in torque and responsiveness. Looks like the Lexus flagship will be the LS460 Hybrid, which is a fair indication that the Hybrid can, and will, transcend car classes (and perceptions); they're not just 'green' anymore, thanks to the first wave of brave and future-minded folks who have already signed on and made 'environmentally responsible' viable and even desirable to automobile manufacturers. It's presumably only a matter of time before the Hybrid powertrain finds what should be its natural application in a roadster or two. So, I'm a sports car guy; given the choice, and presented with the best of both worlds? Wouldn't waste a minute deliberating....yes, absolutely. (and obviously there are few better ways to enjoy the environment than in a top-down car)

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What's to consider?
May 2, 2007 2:55PM PDT

Hybrids are to the car world what beta was to the DVD world.
In a short while, as humans panic about the planet heating up, there will be a solution on the horizon that will be like the invention of the gasoline engine was to the 20th century.

If the earth is heating up, first of all, it has built in governors, caused by physics in nature, that try to return the planet to stability. The Earth is an inherently stable platform and has been for thousands of years.

What has been unstable of recent, is the Sun. It has been firing out dangerous plasma ejecta for less than 10 years, plasma that could wipe out all life on this or any other planet for that matter, in our solar system. Now we have received only glancing blows and near misses so far. But the planet has wandered into the path of solar ejectas a few times. We experienced mass communication interuptions, but nothing major as of yet.

This is what is causing the Global Warming phenomenon that we are witness to today.

These so called fixes we are attempting to make to curb global warming, are but a drop of water in a sea of ocean. The effects would not even be noticeable, but it makes us panic less, so we find it comforting. But this is bound to become a very neurotic "dog chasing tail" that has a lot of "blame game" to go with it.

We need to calm down and look at this dilemma a little more closely.
Tesla had many inventions that were confiscated by the government, that were never impemented. Many other minds are at work on ideas as well, eventually we will have a light come on upstairs and realize what we could have done all along. (That's when the engine was invented.)

Until then we are destined to grope around in the dark and come up with vain analogies about what is happening and what we can do about it.

The Hybrid is a waste of time, money and powerful inventiveness.

I guess I'll just ride a Chinese bicycle until then. Good day all.

BKD