Why Hybrid Cars Aren’t Selling Well

The sale of hybrid automobiles constitutes an anemic 1.8% of all vehicle sales, down from a peak of 2.1% in October 2006.

I would suggest that Americans aren’t all that “green” despite the endless print and broadcast media harangues that our wonderful lifestyles are to blame for everything from hurricanes to frizzy hair. Those who have tried to be green have found that there are considerable additional costs involved and this has proven particularly true of hybrid cars that include batteries to permit electricity to partially replace the use of gasoline.
“One major reason is that hybrids typically cost $3,000-plus more than conventional cars,” noted the reporter. “With gas at $2.50 a gallon, it would take ten years to recoup the extra $3,000 cost of the Accord hybrid.” The cost of the batteries account for about half the hybrid premium and “cheaper lithium ion cells won’t appear for several years.”

My guess is that auto manufacturers are producing hybrid cars as a way to take some of the heat away from the endless claims that cars and trucks are to “blame” for a global warming, but that fewer and fewer people think it’s occurring or will occur. Even without a lick of knowledge about the science involved-and there is precious little to support the global warming theory-the average consumer has concluded that (a) it’s not happening and (b) the cost of a gallon of gasoline is not likely to rise dramatically barring some very bad news out of the Middle East or elsewhere.

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Is the real world growing smaller and more closely integrated? Yes! That’s the real power of Big Oil. It is also part of the reason people contemplating their purchases are not likely to embrace hybrid cars no matter how loudly Greens shout that fossil fuels will destroy the Earth. The truth is just the opposite. They underwrite the enrichment of life everywhere for millions more people.

Fossil fuels are a part of the Earth’s ecology, not some bogus threat to it, nor is there much evidence that the Earth is running out of oil.

CNSNews