The alternative fuel myth
By gewcew23
@gewcew23 (8007)
United States
May 22, 2007 5:35pm CST
My discussion is going to be dispelling the myth about hybrid cars, and automobiles running on ethanol, and bio-diesel.
Hybrid engines. I am sure the whole world has heard how great the hybrid is. Wow you can get 50 something miles per gallon! The truth is you are not saving any money. Depending on what you get, the price compared to a normal gasoline engine is going to be anywhere from $3000 to $7000 extra. These hybrids only get 6 miles per gallon on average better than their straight gasoline counterparts. At the price of gas today, it would take you 75,000 to 100,000 miles before you could break even. Next problem with the hybrid by the time you break even the hybrid converter switch needs to be replaced. This is the switch that switches your engine from gas to electric. Also if all you are driving is on the interstate, you are not really saving any money, because the electric motor only kicks on when you are idling. Save your money buy a traditional gasoline engine. You will thank me later:)
Ethanol. Everyone is on this band wagon. I hear it now it a renewable resource, environmentally friendly, but I have news for you, you are being sold a load of horse manure. First of all, fuel economy is 27% less than straight gasoline. So to equate that if you bought a gallon of ethanol for $4.00 it would have actually cost you more like $5.00; due to the lower returns per gallon. Just to prove my point, take a chevy tahoe for instance, on a tank full of gasoline it gets 440 miles, on ethanol it gets 300 miles per tank full. Also this thing about that it is more environmentally friendly it still puts out the same amount of hydrocarbons as gasoline. And a bigger picture is we are messing with our food. The biggest form of ethanol comes from corn. If we start making fuel out of corn the price of not just corn goes up but every animal that is feed corn will also go up. That means meat will go up, eggs will go up, and milk will go up.
Bio-diesel is just like ethanol. It converts mainly corn but also soybeans into a fuel. Just like ethanol, it gets less fuel milage. If you have a diesel engine that gets you 30 miles per gallon on straight diesel, with bio-diesel you are only going to get 26 miles to the gallon. So think about this, everything you buy in a store is shipped by an 18-wheeler, every 18 wheeler runs on diesel. If the truck industry, has to start buying more fuel due to bio-diesel; don't you think that they are going to start passing the buck down to the consumer?
In conclusion, with the hybrid, the only people who are going to win is the auto industry, and people that are going to drive this car until the wheels fall off. With ethanol and bio-diesel, the only people that win are farmers. And before you start feeling sorry for farmers, remember this they are a business too. A powerful business. They have lobbying firms just like other big businesses. I hope everyone reading this will have an open mind and not believe all the hype that they are being told.
2 people like this
4 responses
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
23 May 07
Well I have heard that hybrids do get a bit better on the gas mileage ...but you are right..the higher cost does not justify the increased gas mileage..until they are the same price they are not feasible.
The hydrogen cells seem interesting but I guess there are many problems with these, for starters we have no fuel infrastructure..so unless you stay within a 100 miles of your fuel point ...you might be stuck and yes...the range on them is only about 200 miles. So again they are limited.
At this point, we really don't have a viable alternative to gas.
The schwann's truck run on propane..but if everyone started doing that..the price of propane would go even higher.
1 person likes this
@sigma77 (5383)
• United States
23 May 07
These are good points. I went through the hybrid analogy last year and couldn't justify the additional cost of the vehicle being worth it. It might be economical if gas hits $5 or $6 a gallon. But there is the question of this technology long term. How long will parts last before they need replacing. I think that enthanol is a short term stop gap that will not solve the problem. The way to make a dent in the cost of energy is to cut back on usage. Otherwise, it is going to take a long time to get off the oil habit.
1 person likes this
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
22 May 07
I am not crazy about the hybrids so much, however the hydrogen fuel cell does look very promising.
The best thing of all is that it eliminates the dependence on oil, and the by-product is heat and water, which would eliminate environmental issues.
I think this will be the fuel of the future, and the oil companies are going to have to either invest in this technology or get left out.
The oil nations are going to have a problem as well as soon as these vehicles gain wider acceptance.
Although it is still in the developmental stages fuel cells have been in use for a while in several applications.
The use of fuel cells will also eliminate the problems that you have described or at least most of them.
Since electricity is the power being used, this is pretty straightforward and familiar, as locomotives have been using electric motors for many years.
Depending on the use, the heavy duty motors will simply require a heavier build, just as always.
This is applicable to everything that currently uses petroleum based fuel, including big trucks, buses and cars.
1 person likes this
@VotreAmie (3028)
• United States
29 May 07
Thank yo for this discussion gewcew. My husband is considering to buy a Toyota pickup truck that is hybrid. He is waiting to the year 2008 because he thinks they will come up with something that's better.
Thank yo so much, I am going to send this discussion to my husband and my mother in-law. They have been talking a lot about how great hybrid cars are.
