Car Gazing
Hybrid thoughts on a hybrid vehicle
By Derek Price
A few years ago when I first drove a hybrid vehicle – one that runs on a combination of gas and electric power – I thought I was driving the car of the future.
It was a car that got much better gas mileage than a conventional vehicle, or so I thought, because that's what the EPA said. And who was I to question the EPA?
The environmental oracles in Washington claimed something crazy, like this hybrid could drive from Earth to Jupiter on two drops of unleaded, but the real-world mileage I got was about the same as in my 1990 Miata – efficient, but hardly anything revolutionary.
I figured the surprising fuel usage was simply because I frequently accelerate like I'm being chased by demons and that everyone else who drove the hybrid would get a billion miles to the gallon, just like the EPA said.
Well, it turns out I wasn't the only person being duped by the EPA. The way their tests were set up greatly exaggerated the actual gas mileage drivers could expect in the real world. It was like Jayson Blair was put in charge of the cars' window stickers, scribbling ridiculously high numbers just to see how long it would take before he got caught.
While hybrid technology is getting better all the time at improving cars' efficiency and performance, I'm finding myself more disappointed with each new hybrid I drive, including the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid I tested last week.
It's an amazing car by all objective standards, with excellent drivability, good performance, a quiet and comfortable ride, and impressive hybrid technology that will make your friends think you care more about Mother Earth than they do.
Yet I'm still disappointed that it can't whisk me across America powered by a single hydrocarbon molecule, as you'd expect based on the reputation hybrids have among Hollywood environmentalists.
There are two reasons for my letdown, both of which have to do with money.
The first is that hybrids are significantly more expensive than their non-hybrid counterparts – usually by at least $2,000 – but they don't get good enough real-world mileage to justify the added cost.
Instead of paying that $2,000 premium, you could buy 800 gallons of gas at $2.50 per gallon, enough to take you 28,000 miles in the conventional car. The hybrid would have to drive far longer than that before it saved you $2,000 worth of gasoline, making it unlikely that your fuel savings would ever justify the extra money you paid up front.
The second reason I'm leery of hybrids is that they're only sold with mid- to high-end trim packages. The base 2007 Camry, for example, costs just $18,270, but you have to pay at least $25,900 to get in a Camry Hybrid. That really stinks for people who have the most intense need to save money on gas – those who can only afford the base Camry – because the hybrid is only sold in a package with lots of luxuries. That's annoying.
Of course, if you want to buy a hybrid to make an environmental statement or because it produces fewer nasty emissions than a conventional car, go right ahead. You can't go wrong with a Camry Hybrid, as it's got all the sophistication and polish of the all-new Camry but with the added cool technology under the hood. It's a great car.
Just don't expect it to drive from Johannesburg to Cairo on a thimble full of gas.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.
Contact him at dprice@cargazingonline.com)
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