Hybrids, Contrarily Not The Best Of Both Worlds

Almost every major car manufacturers these days are pursuing green alternatives. They have tried everything from electric cars to clean diesel engines, but one of them seems to be the most popular these days - the hybrids.

As many car companies have pitched so far, hybrids consume less fuel per KM and as a result not only do you save money, but there's a self-actualizing aspect to it of being "green". Side note: For the few special individuals out there, if you really want to be environmentally friendly then let's stop accelerating from behind only to cut me off in front of a red light, thank you! 

Contrary to popular beliefs, I don't think hybrids really save you much money. There are two major problems, one of them you can actually do something about, and the other one you cannot mitigate.

The first problem is the lack of power. Have you observed the exhaust pipes of these hybrid vehicles while walking around in the city? It is usually more apparent during the winter but in most cases you will notice that it emits a consistent trail of fumes. If the engine is working that hard under acceleration, you are not really realizing the full benefits of driving a hybrid, neither will you be achieving those advertised fuel consumption ratings. At best it can be considered fuel saving, but not near those jaw-dropping advertised fuel consumption numbers. In essence you are not saving that much more money due to this compensation for lack of power through harder accelerations. For a small group of you out there though, who do try to limit your acceleration to take advantage of the hybrid system, this point wouldn't apply to you.

The second problem is cost of ownership, will you be able to save enough fuel to cover the battery replacement cost? Don't forget as well, any maintenance work on the drive train will be more expensive since it's a more complex system. As it stands right now, both Honda and Toyota applies a 3-year warranty for their hybrid Civic's batteries. Depending on how much you drive and how you drive, you can expect to replace it around 6 to 8 years if you do a lot of low speed city driving. The deeper you drain the battery simultaneously while it's trying to charge, the faster it degrades so it is really dependent on your driving. Based on online research, a new Honda Civic Hybrid battery pack can range between $2,000 to $4,000, while a new Toyota Prius battery pack will cost closer to $4,000. Let's look at some numbers, keep in mind these figures are assuming you drive 100 percent green which most of you won't be. (So expect the actual fuel cost to be higher)

As you can see above, it is unlikely you will save in fuel cost as much as you will pay for a new battery pack after six years on a Honda Civic Hybrid. Assuming you do drive as green as you can and you manage to attain the most efficient consumption figures humanly possible, you are still faced with a hybrid car's premium price tag. Such a premium in price is typically around $3,000 to $5,000 over the regular compressed dinosaur powered version, this means you have to save an additional $3,000 minimum to make up for the extra vehicle price and making it even harder to attain breakeven! 

EDIT: Please note that the previous version of this article is slightly incorrect, I mistakenly thought that Prius had a 3-year warranty when it's actually 8 years. The total savings in fuel over 8 years for a Prius is $4,177.92, just over the cost of replacing its battery assuming you drive 12,000 km (7,456 miles) per year. But in the end you are still faced with the premium price tag, something the fuel savings won't be enough to cover.

EDIT2: Let's say by some miracle your Prius' battery happens to breakdown just before the 8-year warranty ends and they replace it for free, you get another 6 to 8 years of usage. Your total fuel savings will now be approximately $8,355 over 16 years. It's still not worth it because the price tag for a Prius is $26,100, a better performing pure gasoline version Honda Civic cost $16,000 MSRP. The regular version of the Civic, being it's a more simplified power train will cost less to maintain, and it would handle better without the excess battery weight. Most importantly, a Prius would cost $10,000 more when you would only save $8,355! Of course, you're free to substitute the Honda Civic with another car in its class but unfortunately the end result will be the same.

It seems a hybrid car is worth it only if you drive in upwards of 20,000 km (12,427 miles) per year, while doing a healthy mixture of both highway and city driving to prolong the battery life. So if you are looking to buy a new vehicle, better whip out that calculator and do some number crunching! In the next article, we will investigate the fuel savings of a hybrid SUV because we can't use an analysis of hybrid cars since fuel consumption of the two are different.

-TT