Apparently we all secretly want to drive these all day
SALES SLOW FOR HYBRIDS / Gas prices fall, so does federal tax credit and hybrid sales — I don’t think anyone should be surprised that once you are in to a full tilt capitalistic system that “it’s all about the money.” If gas prices were down to a dollar a gallon the streets would be clogged with huge tank-like cars. The 1958 Cadillacs come to mind. 8-9 mpg in the city, gasoline around 27-cents a gallon for gas. It’s a sad indictment.
Carmakers sold 26,249 hybrids in August, the same month the average price of gasoline nationwide hit $3 per gallon.
Since then, gasoline prices have fallen 24 percent, to $2.28 per gallon, and hybrids sales have dropped 31 percent to 18,117 in November, according to Edmunds.com.
#28 – That’s fine, but my opinion is the one that’s right. 😉
The hybrids are way out of the price range for most people. They are terribly wasteful in production and not all they are cracked up to be in the fuel savings department. In fact Honda and Toyota make regular gas buring engine models that are lighter on the enviroment production wise and get better gas milage than the hybrids, as well as are comfortable to drive long distance.
In 5 years or so, I think the hybrids might become what they claim to be now.
Most auto pollution in this country is from older cars that states are afraid to force off the road because they are the mainstay of the lower middle class and the working poor for transportation. When you earn 10.00 an hour and have a wife and 1 child, buying a newer model car is just not in the equation.
Public transportation is a joke in most cites. In the bay area, you can’t get mainline busses after 10 p.m. in most cities and the commutor trains don’t run after 9 pm. Or, you have a situation like Phoenix, that is spending 40 BILLION dollars on a light rail system that is a toy for the upper classes. It runs 6 miles from 1 large mall, through downtown and past the baseball stadium, then over to the ASU area. It completely avoids the areas that could actually benifit from public transportation and goes no where near where most people work.
If our local and federal goverments really wanted people to use public transportation they would build high speed bullet trains like Europe has. Lines running along the east coast to most major cities and then west through all the major mid-west population centers to the Pacific coast populations centers would be a dream. When I’m in Europe I rarely have to fly or drive anywhere. I can board a train in London and be in Paris in 3 hours, or go on to Milan or Barcalona and be there the next morning, rested and happy. Then if I’m heading to Grand Canaria or Rabat or Cairo, it’s just a short flight from Rome or Madrid. Try that here.
So apparently you guys would like the oil companies to raise prices and make more profits.
#31 – #28 – That’s fine, but my opinion is the one that’s right. 😉
Comment by Mucous — 12/5/2006 @ 1:54 pm
Are you my evil twin? 🙂
I think any company that makes a car that only gets 12 miles to the gallon and is unable to park in a normal sized parking space without sideswiping other cars should get out of the business.
Secondly, I think people who buy these types of gas guzzling, oversized vehicles should go find a nice wide parking spot at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. What a waste of money, gas, and intelligence.
#35….Reality….Money, gas or intelligence usually have very little to do with the decision to buy cars like the Hummer. We are a celebrity driven society, and when Arrrrrrrrnold bought one,(and of course, the first gulf war) that was all she wrote. The company should have given him one in every colour for what he did for sales.
Women sparked the SUV craze, they were made to feel unsafe in smaller, more economical cars, and were told they and their kids would be safe in a Ford Explorer or a Navigator.
People really ARE sheep….for proof, just look around you at any given time of the day on a public street and see all of those little pieces of plastic slapped up against people’s ears.
It shows how economics affect peoples decision. It shouldn’t be any surprise. Americans are actually some what rational.
What is surprising, our government would rather invest in efforts to secure more sources of oil (war in IRAQ, our foreign policy in the mid east, …) then increase the gas tax to reduce our dependence and smog.
The public should be getting wise by now; pay more in taxes or possibly pay with your life in IRAQ. Which is cheaper America?
But of course America doesn’t get it, because there is no draft and it the other guy who is dying for our right to consume. Gotta love this system we’ve got.
#29, judging from the evidence you presented, you did not do any sort of homework besides read the Prius brochure and then drink the Kool-Aid.
My point was — and is — that many diesels get far better gas mileage (and therefore throw less emissions, CO2, et-bloody-cetera into the precious atmosphere) than a Prius, and without the ‘eco-load’, fuss, mess and danger of the Prius batteries.
If you want to feel like you’re doing something, by all means drive a Prius. If you’d like to _actually_ do something, drive a car with real fuel economy and not an advertiser’s promise.
Or better still, ride a bicycle.
#28 – It’s Moose Jaw SK (Saskatchewan), not Minnesota, BTW. I didn’t think it would be possible to have *two* communities with the same odd name on each side of the border.
>our government would rather invest in efforts to secure more sources of oil (war in IRAQ, our foreign policy in the mid east, …) then increase the gas tax to reduce our dependence and smog.
The Iraq war has caused the increase in prices you want and reduced oil use and emissions. How can you say the Iraq war is to secure oil? The best way to get those prices lower would be to cut deals with all these countries, and let oil-less Israel get destroyed.
#34 – I’m the one with the beard…. 🙂
#38, in response to #29, the talk against diesels is the NO2 and soot emissions.
Yes, I grant the fact that under identical driving, like highway, the VW Diesiels have more mileage, but they don’t pollute less. However, it’s a close call.
When in non-highway, that’s where the BIG difference between VW’s best car and a Prius. My highway driving is less than 5%, for people that are 50-50 between stop & go and highway, then diesel is better.
Now, when I say highway, I mean doing at least 55 MPH, not driving from rush hour stop & go traffic.
In rush hour, highway traffic, the Prius pollutes 10x less than your best diesel and will get better mileage.
Honda’s new Clean Diesels that are coming out soon, now that’s a different story altogether. Current VW cars are —not— clean.
The gas tax argument finally came up proving once again that the liberals are truly the ones destroying freedom in this country. What gives you the right to “discourage” me from driving a real vehicle worthy of an American? I don’t tell you you can’t drive your little toys. You’re certainly willing to tell me what I can drive though.
Gas guzzling SUVs are a waste of money and natural resources. Go buy a Saturn VUE and like it. They get 27-32 MPG.