Environmental Economics For Dumb People

Environmental Economics For Dumb People Edmunds.com estimates that the price of gasoline would have to cost at least $5.60 a gallon for hybrid drivers to break even if they drove 15,000 miles a year over five years. How in the world does anyone think that makes more sense? Folks, this hybrid technology has been around for 70 years and there's a reason it never took off. Because batteries are expensive and they need to be replaced. A lot. So unless you want to pay Europe-like taxes on gasoline and pump the price up to that magical $6 a gallon range, I don't understand the fuss. Environment? Not so much, since those batteries are going into a landfill. And ignoring the impact on the environment and limiting it to raw economics, hybrids don't make a lot of sense. A case in point is the Honda Civic Hybrid. While the Civic Hybrid managed a long-term vehicle average of 38.3 miles per gallon in Consumer Guide tests, a regular Honda Civic EX model with manual transmission, which is cheaper than the hybrid version, clocked up 32.5 miles per gallon. With a nearly $2,500 price difference between the two models, this shows you’re not better off with a hybrid. Even over a period of years it takes a long time to make that up-front money back. And that's without factoring in the added cost of insurance on a hybrid or, if you are like most people, the finance charges on that extra $2500.