YAY

I mention this only because I’m seeing a trend in green technology. It’s not just about finding new power sources, but also about utilizing the energy already produced.

The trick of course comes with using less energy to harness this byproduct than it required to create it (installing a windmill on the front of your car would produce wind-resistance. The increased drag and strain on the energy would negate any positive charge created by the windmill).

You are totally right about the fuel efficiency with hybrids vs. diesel, hybrids are only actually good in city-driving anyway, and to get a new battery every 5 years or whatnot costs thousands of dollars as I’m sure you know. We considered getting a hybrid when we bought our VW, but the cost in the end didn’t make sense, especially because the only hybrid that appealed to us at the time was a Lexus SUV. If we had had 60 grand to blow, we would have loved to buy the VW Touareg V10 diesel, but a) who has 60 G’s’ and b) America is not as diesel-friendly as it should be.

Still, I feel that such a “green-concious” country like Germany would have pushed their car companies to produce hybrids for the American market; instead, they all decided to come out with huge gas-guzzling SUV’s during the interim. Its great financially for the companies but at what cost to the environment? They should be setting an example, not just counting their euros.

Anyways, I still think all the hybrids out on the market right now are ugly. My hybrid doesn’t HAVE to be German, but it should be sexy, dammit.

To tell you the truth I’m not too surprised that they haven’t made one yet. In terms of actual efficiency you get a much more cost effective vehicle with diesel, even with all this crazy technology. It’s going to take a bit of convincing to get them to go gung ho on the idea.

As I’ve said to you before, the idea of hybrid appeals most to my budget rather than my sense of community and environmental conservation.

The biggest problem I’ve found is when you do the math to see if, for instance, a Honda Hybrid is for you – you find out that it’s much more expensive than you originally anticipated.

If we are talking about nothing more than cost you can easily purchase a Honda FiT at a much lower initial price-tag and still sell it in midstream at a decent profit. When you compare the hybrid models you’ll find that the initial price only matches the gas you save over a very long period (usually 4 years or more).

So if you are planning on selling your car early you should just got for a ultra economy fuel vehicle (such as a Nissan Versa).

Personally, I’m just waiting for the top German automakers to finally release hybrids (Of course I will admit I’m totally biased on this point in regards to car design and quality. ). In fact, its a disgrace that companies like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW and Porsche are all doing it so late. I mean, jeez, think of how much the car pollution in SoCal alone would decrease if the above-mentioned car companies would all produce more environmentally-friendly cars!

But of course, if buying an unattractive hybrid car means that I can contribute less to global warming whilst saving a few dollars, then I might just do it.

I love the idea of electric cars. I just wonder how much electricity prices will go up when we all switch over. It seems that no matter what someone always has a hand in your pocket.

Anyway, in terms of hybrid cars, they are obviously the future and perhaps ultimately fully electric cars, they need developing now and bring those manufacturing costs down for when the oil becomes even more scarce – who knows it could prevent the need for a future war? Or am I being too optimistic there?

No kidding aside – yeah – I got to lose some weight.