Everyone's always talking about hybrids being the technology of now and the future. Toyota and Honda's hybrids, Saturn's GreenLines, and Ford's hybrids are all used by the general public. To tell you the truth, most of the hybrids purchased are all to make people feel like they're saving the world. It takes 5 years or more to repay the premium that you pay for most of them.
Because hybrids are relatively expensive, it will be a long time before everyone begins to convert to a hybrid automobile. Instead of pressing the American public to embrace hybrid technology, why doesn't the American public press the government to embrace the technology. Postal service trucks do nothing but stop and go driving (except that short period when they haphazardly take off through traffic). The electric motor with regenerative braking would save a lot of fuel.
Expensive as it may be, if everyone is so obsessed with hybrids and demands that we cut back dependence on foreign oil, why not apply hybrid technology to the most obvious market: The Postal Service. Instead of complaining about misspent tax dollars, tell the government to put their money where their mouth is and save gas in their own right. It seems like mail trucks would use a lot of fuel on their daily runs...
I agree with you that we should push the government to do more about making hybrid (and electric) cars more available to the public. I would buy one in a heartbeat if I were not a student already struggling to make ends meet. The government should set an example for the American people.
Agree. . .I believe that hypbrids are so much more environmentally freindly and our government has so much power that they can put this technology in government vehicles and research better ways to lower the prices. . .Thats if Global Warming is really real (which I believe 120%)
I agree with the reduction of cost (It's like WalMart's putting planning to put solar panels on their stores. With the number of panels they would need, prices would drop dramatically).
However, Georgia has tested the 2004 Prius and it didn't pass the emissions test. Owners have to pay for an "aborted test" anyway, and then go through loops to get a waiver in order to get their new tags. Priuses work well in the city (not in the country), and they may seem like they're helping the environment by laying off on the gas engine, but it's apparently as bad as other cars. It's not conclusive, but for now it seems like they are.