Consumers wary of paying more for Hybrids
March 11, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Yet another survey, this time from J.D. Powers and Associates, has revealed that although new car buyers might consider themselves environmentally friendly, they are still not keen on paying the extra cash for green vehicles.
The study found that only 11 percent of new-car buyers are “very willing” to pay a larger sum of money to “save the planet”. Those expressing “a strong willingness” to pay extra to “save the planet” were likely to be educated women.
“Despite heavy media attention on hybrid vehicles and the emergence of a greener auto industry, the hybrid market is still in its infancy,” said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power, in a release.
Those who do end up buying hybrid vehicles tend to be about 54, four years older than the average 50-year-old new-car-buyer. They also have higher levels of education as well as higher incomes.
Hybrid owners are also more likely to speak positively of their cars, praising and recommending them to their friends.
“…this segment will continue to grow as more hybrid models are offered in the marketplace, particularly since gasoline prices are likely to increase and more stringent gas mileage standards are expected to be imposed on automakers.” Osborn said.
Those of us who don’t want to pay the extra to go green (but still have a soft-spot for fluffy penguins in the north pole) are more likely to purchase smaller vehicles than the average new-vehicle buyer.
Unfortunately the marketing campaign for hybrid cars has done such a great job of convincing the world that hybrid cars are actively saving the planet that we’ve all forgotten a few things.
First there is the environmental impact caused by the process of building and disposing of hybrid vehicles (who wants all the batteries?), but we’ve also overlooked the simple fact that a small diesel vehicle can match (or in some cases even beat) the CO2 emissions of these cars.
However with more and more hybrid vehicles on the way and with the Big T planning to have a hybrid variant in every model in the near future, the process of mass producing these cars will become much cheaper, making them a viable choice for the masses – and the planet.
Would you pay the extra cash if hybrid cars became a real and viable choice for fighting global warming?
(The research data was based on responses from 44,931 principal drivers of new cars and trucks in the United States)
Tags: hybrids
You tell me with petrol tipped to go up to $3 a litre has been mooted….would you drive a huge gas guzzler V36 – V6 – V8 fellow hoonheads???????????????????????????
Hybrids will be a stepping stone to outright electric cars and at least Toyota are doing the hard yards and massive research towards that end! It has got to be better longer term then non-hybrid vehicles.
Diesel…..that will be on the rise $ per litre. Keep living in the diesel trend as short term at best!!!!!!!
Make me laugh when all on here fairly much with testosterone puming flex there my motor or this car has more power then another one….get ripped off and lose money when this commodity is getting much dearer real quick…….I nod my head at most of you on that!
Now…..where is the hybrid with bulletproof car performance with 0-100 in less then 4 seconds with great fuel economy one would assume. TOYOTA is on road for it!
…typo. SHAKE MY HEAD!
Hybrids and common rail diesels are way to go today…with oil hitting 1.07$ per barrel today I’m sure who will have last laugh…and it won’t be GM
“we’ve also overlooked the simple fact that a small diesel vehicle can match (or in some cases even beat) the CO2 emissions of these cars.”
Yep, thats why I just bought an I30 diesel… :)
Yes those I30 are quite economical
Lets not forget something here … BMW, Mercedez Benz, Nissan, Ford and GM while Honda already playing the game are all pushing hybrid technology themselves not just Toyota and that needs to be made clear.
Infact, correct me if i am wrong but hasn’t it been GM making loud noises in recent months about thier advancments with hybrid technology and plug-ins … yeap i believe i am correct !!
And another – there must be very compelling reasons why diesel guru’s such as BMW and Benz decide to jump on the hybrid wagon aswell because companies like them invest into such programes otherwise.
And as the article stated, the more common they become the cheaper it will be just like mobile phones and computers are today. And … how are we suppose to ‘GO GREENER’ if we don’t starting going down that track in the first place.
Oh yeah – what this article has failed to highlight is the remarkable reliability that Toyota has been able to achieve with Prius’s renouned for travelling inexcess of 300 000km without a single recordable fault associated with thier hybrid system or the fact that Toyota offers it’s own recycling regime not to mention that it just happens to be the United States that is infact the greatest purchasers of hybrids and increasing year on year.
And while i am at it, talk continues in relavance to diesels with out acknowledging the fact that the new generation of diesels todays are complex and expensive machines especially to repair. Considering that Diesels are now DI hence huge pressures associated with it not to mention other complexities such vapour recycling etc when they break down … THEY ‘ARE EXPENSIVE’ TO REPAIR.
And that’s not forgetting the purchase cost of then either
eg : a diesel optioned Mondeo costs $8 000 more to purchase then a regular petrol Mondeo and considering the expense of diesel in todays market, that’s alot of Kilometers that need to be traveled (just like hybrids) to recoup the additional costs.
Basically – it is easy to make ‘good’ or ‘bad’ of any specific drivetrain depending on how an individual wishes to view yet the facts remain … fuel efficent and Euro4 compliant Petrol and Diesel engines as with hyrid technology remain as todays only current viable solution until otherwise.
bio diesel anyone??? that will make the diesels a lot more efficent “environmentally” wise!
My opinion is every manufacturer is jumping on the hybrid bandwagon because the public has been brainwashed into thinking thats the way to go when there is better soloutions out there!
and guess who you bring up the price difference for the mondeo diesel to mondeo petrol….. why dont you bring up the prie difference between corolla ascent and prius? similar size similar power???or has that comparo been forgotten
Would you pay the extra cash if hybrid cars became a real and viable choice for fighting global warming?
Global Warming does not exist. It’s a massive scam.
Will oil prices continue to rise? – Yes.
Will India and China embrace hybrids for extra cost – only in your dreams, they will make any effort by Aussies to emit less pollution totally futile.
So we might as well go on enjoying our V8s without a care about emissions, as the sales figures show we are doing.
I’m inclined to agree with Guess Who on the hybrid bit. But type “GM Hybrid” into google. GM already have a hybrid car (looks like the Vectra) for sale in the states from what I could see. They are being backward in going forward with hybrid in keeping it in the States only. Thats probably due to Californian air regs being so tight.
Sales of the Prius for use in the City of London are way above expectations. I for one am amased that other (Honda excepted) have not made much of an attempt at jumping on the market.
There yah go guess who (come on change the name to something easier) I agree with you mate.
“Would you pay the extra cash if hybrid cars became a real and viable choice for fighting global warming?”
Now theres a question, judging by recent by recent comments 50% plus don’t even want to recognise global warming. Thats disapointing. Those that do recognise global warming would still say ‘No’ to the above unless it saved them money. Therefore the price of fuel needs to rise quite dramatically.
A Diesel Mondeo only costs $3,000 more than the equivalent petrol model. The $8,000 comparison is comparing to a base model petrol, which is not how the models are positioned so we’re not talking apples for apples. Maybe some less biased reporting please?!!
I thought BMW, Mazda, Ford, GM and the others were supporting Hydrogen as the long term solution, with hybrids simply filling the gaps. After all, hybrids still use fossil fuels, reardless of whether it’s diesel, petrol or tyrannosaurus urine. They might be a step in the right direction now but have never been touted as a long term answer.
Tonyn … if think you have the answer then share with us a solution that is ‘currently’ viable.
Let me help you a bit … there isn’t – not today or tomorrow either.
FACT !!
Bob – the equipment levels of a base model Mondeo and a Diesel version are equivalent yet the price differnce between the LX and TDCi is $8000.
Also, most manufactuers are supporting alternative measures with many of them proving much more complex and expensive then originally anticipated.
No one has ever stated that hybrids are the extended term solution, however – with efficent and Euro4 compliant petrol and Diesel engines, hybrids are currently the most viable gap filling solution … AN I WRONG – NO !! which explains why an increasing amount of manufactuers are jumping on the wagon for the interim and it is today that we need to put a greener foot forward not tomorrow.
the diesel is a current soloution, it produces less emmissions and is as if not more efficent than prius, isnt that a soloution?????
Guess who can be anyone – you’ll find a TDCi Mondeo is generously specced well above an LX. The correct model comparison is a Mondeo Zetec, which is IDENTICAL to a TDCi save for the engine.
The Zetec is $34,990, with front and rear parking sensors, auto wipers, auto headlights, 17″ alloys and a host of other features standard over the LX model.
Anyone seen the film “Who killed the electric car”?
Where are the Hydrogen cars? It is too expensive and there is no infrastructure.
A full electric car is inevitable, we should have had it a decade ago but it was literally squashed by big industry.
no in the case of the GM electric car, wasnt ther shock problems too?? im speaking out of my zone here but wasnt there a problem with the GM electric car?
Bluey, what have you been smoking? That film was a PR stunt. Electric cars have been around as long as petrol cars, it’s just that there’s no market for them because they’re too expensive and nobody’s yet worked out how to make a battery charge last more than about 160 kilometres. One day, maybe new generation batteries will solve the problem but the cost estimates don’t look pretty. Series hybrids, with a small petrol or diesel engine acting as a generator for a large and powerful electric motor make much more sense, but the cost problem is formidable because once again battery packs full of exotic materials are required.
Don’t park up your petrol car yet, or at any time in the next quarter century.
Correct Bob, the gap is only about 3 gran and the diesel will always have a higher resale price so the gap is very small indeed…… having said that we are being ripped off in Australia with the price of diesel!!! the price should be the same or cheaper than petrol…ALWAYS!!!
If we all agree that petrol hybrids have good fuel economy in the city and diesels have good fuel economy on the highway then DIESEL HYBRID makes more sense because it’s the best of both worlds…and i don’t care WHO builds it as long as it’s good i’ll buy it!!!!
And at the very least all new cars should have start/stop technology so that when people are stopped at traffic lights or stuck in heavy traffic for more than a couple of seconds the engine shuts down automatically regardless of wheather they are a hybrid or not!!!!
^^^typo meant whether^^^^
The problem is that fuel consumption and C02 emissions are not the only impact that cars have on the environment. Unfortunately the total impact (from manufacture to disposal) of a particular model isn’t found on the windscreen sticker at the dealer. How many hybrids would be sold if it was known that *hypothetically* it was twice the environment impact to manufacture and dispose of a hybrid over a conventional vehicle?
Oh and penguins don’t live at the North Pole. :-)
Sorry Cap, don’t smoke, but I think you’re sniffing to much petrol fumes at the pump.
You justify my argument in your comment “Electric cars have been around as long as petrol cars”.
Now imagine if government and industry pump as much investment into them as the antiquated combustion engine instead of holding it back. (that’s right they don’t need oil do they?)
And with all the talk about batteries and the environmental impact these cars would have, the simple fact is they produce zero carbon emissions at the tail pipe.
Most people only travel 50 to 90 kms a day and the range of these batteries are always improving (300 km has been suggested) plus there is no need to DRIVE to a service station as they can charge at home or work.
I’m not saying they’re perfect, my point is where are the alternatives that are being promised. Hydrogen is on a road to nowhere.
PS my car runs on LPG.
^^^^
That is the simple fact. Zero carbon emissions at the tail pipe, because all the emissions are at the power station being fueled by wonderfully clean burning brown coal. ;-)
doesnt BMW have a hydrogen car on sale in europe??
What should be said more accurately is that Electric cars were around a lot longer before petrol cars. Then petrol took over and electric cars disappeared.
What is stopping manufacturers creating a hydrogen car is that there is no infrastructure for it. But because there’s no cars to create the demand, infrastructure will never come about. The same mentality over at Nissan about a diesel X-Trail, “Our competitors haven’t released a diesel Soft Roader, there is no need to either.”
A full electric car sounds great. Until you have to plug it in to recharge. What is everyone going to do, run an extension cord out to the car when they get home from work? What about all those commuters that go to work which happens to be over 100kms away…. Remember, Australia is a big country with not much between towns. People regularly travel 100Km+ to work every day.
And then there are the batteries themselves. Never mind that charging them uses our fantastic electricity which is so cheap…. now…. will not only go up in price, it will also put a strain on the grid come 6pm when dady gets home for dinner and plugs the car in for the night. Then you have to replace those batteries every 4-5 years. Which in the Prius’ case is something like $2K last I heard. Don’t quote me on the price. But I’d rather spend that on something else, knowing that I’m not indirectly destroying the environment, because that’s what this is really about… right? riiight? The Environment? It’s not about making money. Is it?
Steve C
Steve its about oil, not just the environment, if I was to hypothetically buy a hybrid it would primarily be due to oil prices… and the secondary benefit of environment. Unless your a tree hugger, most people think the same. In light of this, Id rather be able to drive SOMETHING then NOTHING… because oil is only declining, if we were phased onto electrics the infrastrucutre could also be developed to handle it, in part from renewable sources. Its quite ignorant to write off electrics, I think hydrogen cell currently has the greatest potential, but electrics or for now hybrids offer more potential then DIesels which consume MORE oil not less (going backwards from where we need to be) and still emmit shyte into the air (yes less CO2, but thats only one biproduct of many from an engine!)
Fair comments. But oil consumption is so much more than just the petrol in your car and the oil in your gearbox and engine. Bumper bars are made of plastic, which comes from oil. Dashboards, steering wheels, etc.
The thing is, in my opinion; hybrid isn’t a solution at all. It’s just shifting the pollution further up the production line.
But then I start to think about hybrids and how they work. Let me explain…. An engine is least fuel efficient at its coldest. Fuel injected cars are good at running at all sorts of operating temperatures, unlike old carbi cars. This is a good thing, but a cold engine runs richer. A cold engine won’t get up to operating temp as often or as quick as one running on petrol full time. A hybrid engine, although gets used more often than not, does it actually reach full operating temperature?
I guess this question is more specific to how the Prius and Honda’s fugly thing works. Do they use different oils? Are the engines designed to run from dead cold to full potential instantly without compromise? What are the service intervals for these hybrids?
I’ve heard people say that they fill up their Prius every 1000kms or something. I do the same in my Fiat. From my understanding petrol destroys the environment we live in. In effect, this is destroying ourselves, indirectly. Diesel apparently only affects living creatures but is safer (not precisely safe) on the environment. If this is true, then Diesel is better, using the same amount of fuel to travel the same distance but the difference being that a modern turbo diesel has some performance, where as with a general hybrid vehicle this is often the most complained about issue.
But then, with diesel we have other issues. It still uses oil. Sure there’s bio-diesel. But what then, create crops for fuel? Everyone knows that cultivation is actually bad for the land. Which is why farmers don’t use the same piece of land in two consecutive seasons. And this country is having enough of an issue farming anything anyway, with the drought and all.
So that leaves us with what?
I wrote an article about this many years ago in a mag about environmental issues. The conclusion was just as vague as it was before we started. But I did have one direction we could all head into. The answer is, we all need to change out lifestyles. Work close to home. Rely less on transport in general.
The truth is, this is crazy talk. This is the world we live in. We can’t just head back into the stone ages and consult with the Amish to see how we can live better without all these pollution causing, land stipping, resource sucking progress we have put ourselves into.
Saying all that, it would be nice. But I can’t live without my fast cars, internet connection and mobile phones. These all use oil to create and use. Everything these days does. And that is the sad part. The fact that we really really (yes, two really’s) rely on oil so much. But they banned asbestos and companies made alternatives with brake pads and clutch plates. What if oil was shut down production? What would happen if it was just stopped one day? Everyone would have an expensive water pump sitting in their driveway, that’s for sure. :)
Cheers
SteveC
TP – “Diesels which consume MORE oil not less” Hoe come when you can generally drive 20-30% further on a litre od diesel.
Remember Petrol and diesel come from CRUDE OIL. Form the UKPIa website “Typically, a barrel of North Sea crude oil will yield 3% LPG, 37% petrol, 25% diesel, 20% kerosene (jet fuel/heating oil) and 12% fuel oil”
So despite what others have said diesel is not a waste product from petrol refining. And by the way your statement “it take 25% more energy to make diesel” is WRONG.
Do you know how fuels are made, probably not! Well its like this you basically heat up crude to 800-900degC, the various products are drawn off, the first the heavier fuels like DIESEL and Heating Oil, then at higher temperatures the kerosene and naptha, the building block for petrol, and finally gases propane and butane.
Therefore it actually takes less energy to make diesel as it is drawn off in a raw state, your petrol takes higher temperatures and then need further processing to make it into petrol, more energy required. So you wrong wrong wrong wrong and a bit more wrong,
All this info is available at the UKPIA website. There I’ve provided the evidence to back up my claim something you have NEVER done. Answer a question.. go on do it ANSWER A QUESTION.
Oh by the way I work in the petroleum industry my company build petrol stations and have to registered with UKPIA in order to carry out their work.
And on that, the reason diesel is more expensive than petrol, even though it is less refined (less work involved to produce it) is because of the standards that are put in place require diesel to be further refined (or possibly require additives), which jacks up the price. This is my understanding. I could be wrong.
If I am, then why is diesel more expensive?
Steve C, i dont have an answer for you but another question instead. Can any one tell me why the price of petrol can change so much (usually upwards on pay day or on long weekends) yet deisel seems to change more or less the same.There seems to be very little price competition on deisel.
No Name I know very well how petrol, diesel and all the other bi-products are made… I dont recall saying 25% mroe energy, if I did, I meant Diesel requires 25% more oil to produce, which is a FACT
Quote your source then, cos according to my source the products from a volume of Crude are as above but that depends on the type and quality of crude. You’re wrong Wrong wrong.
Where you source of info. lets see it
hi, im doing a school project on hybrid cars comparing petrol electic cars with diesel electric cars. i have found a few diesel electric hybrids and it just seems ovious that thats the way to go. DOES ANYONE NO ANY DIESEL ELECTRIC CARS THAT ARE ON SAIL NOW?. i cant find any because i need prices to be alb eto do my project.
AND STEVEC IS UR LAST NAME CUMMING? I THINK I KNOW U ROFL