Well they aren’t hotcakes, for starters!

In short, hybrids make sense in many ways but their ROI is weak. It takes around 3-4 years to recover the higher cost via the small ongoing fuel saving, depending upon how much driving you do. They are also a ‘safe’ buy in that they still use the fuel you buy at gas stations (as against some alternative home brew, cold fusion or risky hydrogen). They aren’t such a leap of faith for consumers. They are also ‘feel-good’ purchases, which is great. On the other hand car makers are at a loss to know how to market ‘em because they are premium products offering savings at the low-end. This is an inversion of the case for most cars. Usually good fuel economy is aligned with the ‘cheap’ end of the market. Premium cars are at the high end of fuel economy – in the ‘who cares about the petrol’ category. The result? All up, sales are growing but from a very low base.

My take? They offer little advantage at the low end. I’d take a smaller car with the same or even better fuel economy anytime. Why would I want a Prius when I can have a Getz? I guess if I thought I needed something exactly that size maybe I’d consider it, but it’s a market segment that’s price driven, so you have to really want a car that size and really believe you are making a difference on climate change. Which of course is a delusion.

I’ve said it before, but here goes. You buy a car and it’s already consumed somewhere between 40 and 60% of it’s ‘carbon quota’. The numbers vary with size and complexity, number of miles driven, total life-span of the car but the point is that fuel use is only one factor. Unless your new car’s steel and aluminium was smelted with hydro or nuclear power it’s likely as not come out of a coal-fired oven. Then there’s all the petro-chemical plastics that go into a car…plus the shipping of parts and the finished good to you by ship and truck. The math is not as simple as ‘oh, hybrids are better because they save fuel relative to a petrol car the same size’.

Anyway, read the Forbes article here.