Why the big deal about hybrids? The Honda gets like 45 miles a gallon doesn%26#039;t it? Some Mazda3%26#039;s are listed at 49 mpg and have no huge battery to dispose of eventually. Diesel vehicles get better mileage than hybrids also.

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6 months ago

Thats interesting Dana. I just got off a ship carrying 4550 mazdas to Canada and US from Japan. The ones going to Canada had their MILES per gallon listed on the windscreen, the ones to the US did not. They ranged from 41-49 mpg on different styles of mazda3. Maybe they were imperial gallons?

Few diesels get better mileage than hybrids. The ones that do are much smaller, so it%26#039;s not a fair comparison. If you made a hybrid the size of a VW Rabbit, it would get better mileage than the diesel version.

Plus you need to take into consideration the fact that diesels emit 15% more greenhouse gases per volume than gasoline, so a diesel that gets 46 mpg is emitting as much CO2 as a gas car or hybrid that gets 40 mpg. Plus diesels also have much higher nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions (another greenhouse gas) as well as particulates which cause health problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel#Petr...

Hybrid batteries are also fully recyclable.

%26quot;Q: Are hybrid batteries recyclable?

GS: Absolutely. In fact, Toyota pays a bounty to dealers who recover them from damaged vehicles. Additionally, our engineers are studying the possibility of remanufacturing these batteries.%26quot;

http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergy... 33% 1 Vote

That%26#039;s why I don%26#039;t like them.

They look good, but their poor design, small batteries, and obnoxious vestigial gas engine ultimately discredit electric cars.

Hydrogen is just a stall tactic... It%26#039;s not going anywhere, even if it becomes cheap, we%26#039;ll need expensive water crackers to do anything, and it%26#039;s not nearly as efficient as straight electric anyway. 0% 0 Votes