How Eco Friendly is it to Buy a new Hybrid?

What do you guys think about Hybrid cars? Is it really that eco friendly to go out and buy a new hybrid to make up for the facts that no one has any damn idea of what to do with the batteries in these cars after they take a crap? Is it really that eco friendly to buy a new car that's made up of thousands of pounds of metal and plastic that uses thousands of gallons of gas and oil along with other harmful chemicals, liquids and gases over it's life span and needs new tires just like any other car. Sure you get better gas mileage then the typical car, but I've read over studies showing that alot of the hybrids that are pumping around 56 to 65 per cent more carbon dioxide than the manufacturers claim. Couldn't I just get a diesel that does as well as some of these hybrids for cheaper and would probably last longer then the hybrids battery life.
I drive a 04' Taurus that I bought used that get's 28-30mpg on the highway while cruising around 70-75mph, obviously if i cruise around 55-60mph it boosts my mpg to around 35mpg, i even accomplished 38-40mpg (consistantly) while driving between 50-55mph for over an hour or more down state roads with hardly any stopping. My girlfriends 99' contour gets 35Mpg easily on the highway, while cruising around 75 to 80mph, I've driven it enough to know, even through to Niagra Falls, so I am pretty sure it can and does better. The reason I bring this up is that alot of the hybrids accomplish around the same Mpg for example the Toyota Camry Hybrid is rated 22 city and 33/34 mpg hwy, and the Ford Fusion gets around 41 mpg. Couldn't I buy a VW diesel or something that mimics the same MPG? I'm just saying.
check out this site about the carbon emissions of hybrids:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3958376.ece

Tags: camry, civic, diesel, ford, fusion, honda, hybrid, toyota

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Permalink Reply by Ben Page on July 9, 2009 at 4:51am: Term "Hybrid Car" has been invented by Industrialists and Capitalists to sell us even more cars, even if we don't really need them. "Buy this one, it's BETTER than the one you have!" - "How is it better?" - "Well, it's green! And you are a douchbag and a selfish bastard if you don't buy one!"
So, people will buy them, for various reasons. I currently have Suzuki Splash, 1200ccm and 90HP, it's carbon emission is 126mg/km, and it's fully petrol engine powered. This little samurai can do 100 kilometers on 4,5 liters of fuel, while so called "green" hybrids have 120mg/km carbon emission and can do 100 kilometers on 6,5 liters of fuel, that's not green, hybrid is spending more fuel than my gas guzzling car and is equally polluting the environment, not to mention the high toxicity of batteries it has and that they last only for 2 years, so you have to throw them away and buy a new set every two years.
Hybrid cars and green cars are just another marketing trick, like mega pixels, gigabytes, and Macs.

P.S. Not starting a war, but macs are in fact Hybrid cars in this equation.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Matt DeFazio on July 9, 2009 at 1:24pm: If assuming you think you're being subtle when comparing hybrid cars to Macs...

Well, you're not.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sean Moriarity on July 9, 2009 at 5:10am: Here are my thoughts on it.

Hybrid is a good car if you are commuting in bumper to bumper traffic enabling the electricity to instead of using the gas definitely green thumbs up. The point you make is solid about the batteries, but as we have seen in the past someone will find a way to re-use those batteries and sell them at a discount as the market gets saturated with more Hybrids.

I own a Smart Car and I get over 40 miles in the City and 50 on the Hwy which really cuts down on my expense and conserves the amount of gas I use over a period of time. If I have to drive to get to work I would think getting the value from the car is a must.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ben Page on July 9, 2009 at 5:26am: It also depends what hybrid car we are talking about, there are prototypes of hybrid cars that are in fact green, but the types of hybrid cars that are commercialy produced and sold to the end user are not those cars.
But there is another issue, electric cars don't spend fuel, but they do spend electricity, and electricity is also fuel witch needs to be produced, and producing the electricity also emits great pollution, it is only emitted by electro industry and not the driver - car directly.
Every newer car today is in fact green comparing it to older cars (whether it is a Hybrid, electric or a classic fuel car), the problem is that people still like large horsepower and sized cars - trucks, especially in 'merica. Why would you need a 2 ton truck with 200HP for commuting, or a ride to pick nick?! Leave trucks to truckers, if everybody would just buy a 80HP car with 1000ccm engine earth would be greener than ever, this is the issue, not cars themselves. And for commuting to work, in the city, the public transportation is much better option than going by car, if we really want to be green, then just be green, it's not hard, bicycles are also a great option.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sean Moriarity on July 9, 2009 at 5:40am: The fact that people need oversize vehicles to get around makes me question just how greedy can we get. You are single person no kids driving a Ford 350 to get to work which is just a desk job and only two miles away from your house just kills me. Pick up a bike, put on your running shoes, or just take the bus.
I have a truck for hauling stuff from a hardware store that I use for projects or for when I vacation, but otherwise it sits. One day it will catch up with them I just hope I am still around to see it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brandon Barth on July 11, 2009 at 10:47am: There's a guy at my work who is in his 20's and drives his F-150 to work everyday and complains about the gas mileage and everything. He has a Yamaha R6 and never rides it to work, because he said he doesn't like to commute through Metro-Detroit on his bike. He doesn't need the truck, he just leased it because he liked having 4X4 which he never uses either. Jut figured I'd bring this up as an example.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by EEngineer on July 9, 2009 at 5:30am: It saves a lot of gas but when your done with it, you've got a huge battery to throw away. Nothing's ever perfect.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by michael on July 9, 2009 at 11:12am: hybrids are not eco friendly. they only get on average 2-3 more miles per gallon than a non hybrid version, but they cost thousands of dollars more, and they have many batteries so when the car is no longer good you have to dispose of the batteries in a safe way. the amount of emisions that come out of a hybrid are not much less then a non hybrid versions. manual transmission cars on the other hand get much better mileage than a hybrid and non hybrid version of a car, and i believe they are cheaper. So if you realy want to eco-friendly get a stick shift.
there are even some hybrid versions of cars that get the same millage as the non hybrid version.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Johannes S. on July 9, 2009 at 11:22am: Ever seen "Top Gear"?

They proved that around the same track(the Top Gear test track), at equal (fast) speeds, a Toyota Prius does 17 MPG and a BMW M3 19MPG. (In this case, bigger number = better (for those who are used to L/100km)); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jamesjimmy23 on July 9, 2009 at 12:43pm: I saw that episode, I thought it was interesting how they did that. I don't think the BMW M3 would be as good though for your every day driving though compared to a Prius or another vehicle that gets good gas mileage.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Johannes S. on July 9, 2009 at 12:51pm: It's not WHAT you drive. It's HOW you drive it.

But if it's driven the same, it will show the difference. On the road, driven the same, an M3 still gives you better MPG. And it will not poison baby seals once the batteries are dead.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brandon Barth on July 11, 2009 at 10:52am: interesting! I've heard that before. I am tired of people touting how well their Pirus does and even over exaggerating it. Like it get's 60 mpg.; ▶ Reply to This