Infinite MonkeysI said to my wife the other day, after another agonizing trip to the gas pump, that maybe our next car should be one of those new-fangled hybrids we keep hearing so much about. "Those things get, I dunno, 70 miles to the gallon or some such!" I proclaimed, having heard that figure bandied about here and there.
"Of course," my wife replied, "they cost an arm and a leg, don't they?"
"Maybe. But it would sure beat selling the boy into slavery," said I, only half in jest. At $2.30 a gallon and climbing, sacrifices may have to be made.
My wife nodded. "Don't make me have to kill you," she said affectionately.
I let the subject drop. But I kept thinking about those hybrid cars. Turns out—and I should have seen this coming—they aren't all they're cracked up to be:
Buyers star-struck by the stated fuel-efficiency ratings don't realize that, even at $2-a-gallon gas, it would take 12 years to recoup the cost of a hybrid Civic versus a similarly equipped gas-engine model.... Based on Consumer Reports results, the annual savings on a Civic hybrid versus a top-of-the-line Civic EX driven 15,000 miles a year is $200 at that pump price. But the hybrid costs about $2,400 more.
There's more, so read the whole thing, by all means. Bottom line: Even if you get 40-to-50-miles to the gallon, you still may end up having to sell your blood to make the car payment. Isn't that always the way? Then again, perhaps I shouldn't count out American ingenuity just yet.
Posted by Ben at May 27, 2004 10:40 AM | TrackBack