Hybrids burn up more energy in the making

You want to get more miles per gallon?

It’s a no-brainer.

Check out the Honda Accord or Civic or Toyota Prius hybrids and forget those big sport-utility vehicles, the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Hummer H2, Ford Expedition, Cadillac Escalade or Lincoln Navigator.

But while hybrids consume less fuel than SUVs, it takes more energy to produce the parts and components that go into making one, especially the electrical system, than it does to produce the typical full-size sport-utility vehicle.

That’s the finding of a new analysis by CNW Marketing Research Inc., which calculated the cost of energy–natural gas and coal, but primarily electricity–that it takes to produce each part and component of a vehicle as well as the energy it takes to assemble the pieces into the final vehicle.

Chicago Tribune