Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The Marriage of Electricity and Gas

Buying a car is the worst investment you can ever make. A car depreciates in value by about 15 to 20 percent each year. So the answer? Don’t buy a car. But if you must…

TO Think About This Week

Buy a hybrid! A hybrid marries the internal combustion engine with electric motor powered by batteries. This means that the combustion engine shuts down when the car stops, for a light or traffic jam, although it is possible for conventional motors to do this as well. This of course cuts down on fuel and greenhouse gas emissions. It also means that the kinetic energy used when braking is used by the electronic motor, and that the car can at times be motored solely through electricity.

For more information on hybrid technology, check out hybridcentre.org and hybridcars.com.

Gasoline alternatives are deemed as new technology. Uh uh. They actually date back to the 17th century. Check it out.

What’s the Big Deal?
There are seven Hybrid vehicles on the market right now, brought to you by Toyota, Honda, Lexus and Ford. For a cost and value comparison, visit Vincentric’s Hybrid page. There are impressive advantages to a hybrid car:

- On average hybrid cars offset greenhouse gases and pollution by half compared to gas-only vehicles. For a comparison on how Hybrid’s rate on greenhouse gases, click here.
- Over a five year period, they depreciate in value on average 4.15 percent below their gas-loving counterparts.
- Increased fuel economy. For a 2006 Toyota Prius, it costs $1.08(US) to drive 25 miles. $25.49 (US) will get you 589 miles. Click here to learn more.

For souped up hybrids check out CalCars.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I rode in a hybrid bus today and i hope they improve passenger comfort before they add any more to the ttc fleet.we were packed like sardines and it looks like the extra space that is in other older buses was used inside the bus for storage of additional hybrid type equipment making for very inefficient use.also a raised seating platform with steps present a saftey issue especially as the bus made sudden stops which occured often

The Anonymous Green said...

Funny you should be talking about cars.

Can’t quite figure out how to get on the green blogger’s list, so pardon this…but please post.

I’m trying to generate some policy debate on my new blog, but in the interim, here’s a suggestion on how to deal with car companies that don’t want to produce fuel efficient cars (PeeWee Herman fans welcome).

The latest blog is entitled: “The only difference between a man and a boy is the size of their toys”, but after dancing along with PeeWee, please come back to read the more serious posts, and add to the debate.

http://theanonymousgreen.blogspot.com/

Cheers

Calvin Jones said...

Dear Fellow Blogger,

It would be great if you could post a short piece on the info bellow, so that your uk readers can attend and your international readers know about the global day of action.

http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org

On Nov 4th

10.00am Cycle protest assembles at Lincoln's Inn Fields, South side (Holborn/Temple tube). Goes via ExxonMobil offices, Australian Embassy and Downing Street to arrive at US embassy at 11.30 am.

11.00am Rally opens : Messages from around the world, performance poetry & musical protest with "Seize the Day" and others.

12 noon Main Rally at US Embassy, Grosvenor Square. Speakers include George Monbiot, Colin Challen MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Norman Baker MP, Zac Goldsmith.

1.00 pm March for Global Climate Justice from US embassy to Trafalgar Square

1.45 - 2.00 pm March joins i-Count's.. Mass Gathering in Trafalgar Square

1.00 - 3.00pm i-Count Mass Gathering in Trafalgar Square

http://www.campaigncc.org

Best wishes,
Calvin