August 4th 2006

The bullshit that media operations manage to come up with, without understanding that of which they speak, is really
quite phenomenal:

Vancouver Sun July 13th 2006:

It's cheaper to purchase and operate a new hybrid-electric vehicle than a comparable gas-powered model when you look at
all the costs incurred over a five-year period.

A study - which considered purchase price, financing costs, fuel costs and a provincial tax credit - said that in six out of
seven vehicles examined, it was cheaper over the long term to buy a hybrid. The only exception was the Ford Escape hybrid,
which worked out to be $1,957 more expensive to buy and operate for five years than its gas-fed equivalent.

Skyrocketing fuel costs have created greater savings for hybrid buyers, noting an association study last year, assuming
fuel costs of 95 cents a litre, found hybrid vehicles were slightly more expensive to buy and operate over five years than
conventional vehicles. But with the latest study assuming fuel costs of $1.15 a litre, it becomes cheaper to operate a hybrid.

The study found the total cost of buying a new Toyota Highlander hybrid is about C$50,000, compared with C$44,800 for a
conventional model. But when you consider an estimated C$3,565 in fuel savings over five years and a lower financing rate of
5.75 per cent available at some financial institutions for hybrids (compared with 8.75 per cent for other vehicles), the total cost
of buying and operating the hybrid for five years is C$844 less than its gasoline-engine counterpart
- C$63,426 compared with C$64,270.

Hait said car manufacturers have lowered the price differential between hybrid and conventional vehicles in the past year
and noted B.C. buyers get a $2,000 provincial tax break when they buy a new hybrid.

Canadian auto industry analyst Richard Cooper agrees hybrid vehicles can save buyers money by lowering their fuel bills,
but noted maintenance costs are a great unknown.

The study assumes maintenance costs for hybrid and conventional vehicles will be the same.

"I don't think there's enough of a track record yet to really see what the maintenance costs are going to be like
on some of  these vehicles," he said. "At this stage, it doesn't look like there's a significant difference, but we
just don't have enough information yet."

Cooper, Canadian executive director for J.D. Power & Associates, said hybrid vehicle sales represent about one per cent
of the 1.6 million vehicles sold in Canada every year, but predicts that figure will rise to four per cent by 2010 as hybrids
become more of a mainstream alternative.

"Not everybody is going to be driving these things, but I sense there has been a bit of a tipping point recently with consumers
being more accepting of them," he said. "Hybrids are no longer seen as strange vehicles driven only by weird and wacky
environmentalists."

The association study found the Lexus Hybrid SUV offered the greatest saving over five years, at $4,463, followed by the
Honda Civic ($3,241), Honda Accord ($2,456), Toyota Camry ($2,084), Toyota Prius ($1,071) and Toyota Highlander ($844).

An association survey found 78 per cent of its members would likely buy hybrid vehicles if their sticker price was the same as
conventional vehicles.

No significant difference in maintenance costs?

Are you kidding, Mr Cooper?

Batteries, electric motors, video displays.

The cost of these components is going to be extra to the cost of maintaining a regular car. Never mind the self-immolation
and dropping dead on the highway, which is already a common problem.

In addition, this article completely ignores the fact that once these machines are out of warranty, usually about seven years,
their market value will be zero.

On the left coast, LA-LA Land of the North, cars last a lot longer than in the East. Fifteen years is not unusual.
So you might expect that the life and therefore the value, of a hybrid is going to be halved in comparison to an ordinary car.

Someone suggested in another article that since the cost of replacement batteries "might not be much more than that of
a transmission", the consequences are about equal, financially speaking.

Talk about the ostrich syndrome.

Battery costs, would, of-course, be an EXTRA cost of ownership, not an alternative.

The European diesels, achieving as much as 75 mpg are on their way.

 If you want a high mileage, low maintenance, uncomplicated car, be patient and wait for them to arrive.