 Hybrids: Tips To Consider When Buying Hybrid Vehicles
Posted by carsandtrucks on Saturday, November 03 @ 14:38:53 PDT
Does a Hybrid vehicle make sense for you? There is a lot of hype today about buying a
Hybrid vehicle due to the never ending increases in fuel prices. As I write this article
gasoline has topped $3.00 per gallon. That coupled with the fact that Hybrid vehicles are
less damaging to the air quality makes me think I should be driving one. Before I run out
and pay the price for a Hybrid just to save money I need to be sure the savings offsets
the purchase. A Hybrid vehicle uses two types of energy to propel it down the road. There
is the traditional internal combustion engine (gasoline) and a electric motor. The
electric motor is powered by a battery that is recharged whenever the brakes are applied.
The electric motor is powering the vehicle at start up, idle, and at
low speeds. After
speeds of about 30 mph the gasoline engine takes over. Now in my case, living in a rural
community I seldom drive below 35mph. Therfore, I would not be saving much on fuel
expense. On the other hand if you live in a metro area spendING most of your driving
time in bumper to bumper traffic, and waiting at traffic lights a hybrid may be just what
you are looking for. You can expect to pay up to $4000.00 more for a hybrid vehicle over
its non hybrid counterpart. That means you really have to do the math on what the gas
savings will do for your pocketbook. Don't expect dealers to move much off of sticker
price on these vehicles either. There is a demand for hybrids and price negotiations are
not likely. If your motive for driving a hybrid vehicle is to be kinder to mother earth
then price is less of an issue. But again, unless you are driving under the conditions
that take advantage of the hybrid technology you may not be as green as you hoped.
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