Hybrids have been around for almost a decade now… yet somehow they haven’t taken over the market like predicted by celebrities and hybrid enthusiasts. There is a simple reason for this not happening too: Money. Hybrid cars simply cost too much and consumers, with hybrid vehicles only representing less than 3 percent of the market, completely ignored them. All of this might me a moot point now because the Obama administration is seeking legislation which will all but push U.S. drivers into fuel-efficient cars.
Regulators, in the near future, are set to consider numerous proposals regarding fuel efficiency, with one proposal that would lift, by law, the minimum average fuel economy to as much as 62 mpg by 2025. The debate gets really hot when the price of cars are brought in to play. Automakers are saying that these new mandates could pass as much as $10,000 to the price of a new car, plummeting sales almost by 25 percent. On the other side, environmentalists argue that the costs of these fuel-efficient laws are tiny when compared to the large effects of global warming and our dependence on foreign oil. They also believe that technology has come such a long way since the primary round of hybrids that the added cost of purchasing a hybrid can be cut by as much as a third.
I personally am on the fence with this issue. The reason being is because they are making cars with such great fuel efficiency now that the added cost of purchasing a hybrid is just way too much. With that said, if the “P2” system, which is the newest hybrid technology that supposedly will cut down the price of hybrids, can be installed and used effectively in the future, I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be purchasing hybrid cars. The main sticking point now I believe is just the additional price tag. Would you be opposed to purchasing a hybrid car if the price between its counterpart wasn’t nearly as steep?
--Jeremy Desmond
