Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime

[thegriffon]

Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime Than Chevrolet's Tahoe SUV

BANDON, Ore., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- As Americans become increasingly interested in fuel economy and global warming, they are beginning to make choices about the vehicles they drive based on fuel economy and to a lesser degree emissions.

But many of those choices aren't actually the best in terms of vehicle lifetime energy usage and the cost to society over the full lifetime of a car or truck.

CNW Marketing Research Inc. spent two years collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a vehicle from initial concept to scrappage. This includes such minutia as plant to dealer fuel costs, employee driving distances, electricity usage per pound of material used in each vehicle and literally hundreds of other variables.

To put the data into understandable terms for consumers, it was translated into a "dollars per lifetime mile" figure. That is, the Energy Cost per mile driven.

The most Energy Expensive vehicle sold in the U.S. in calendar year 2005: Maybach at $11.58 per mile. The least expensive: Scion xB at $0.48 cents.

While neither of those figures is surprising, it is interesting that driving a hybrid vehicle costs more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid vehicles.

For example, the Honda Accord Hybrid has an Energy Cost per Mile of $3.29 while the conventional Honda Accord is $2.18. Put simply, over the "Dust to Dust" lifetime of the Accord Hybrid, it will require about 50 percent more energy than the non-hybrid version.

One of the reasons hybrids cost more than non-hybrids is the manufacture, replacement and disposal of such items as batteries, electric motors (in addition to the conventional engine), lighter weight materials and complexity of the power package.

And while many consumers and environmentalists have targeted sport utility vehicles because of their lower fuel economy and/or perceived inefficiency as a means of transportation, the energy cost per mile shows at least some of that disdain is misplaced.

For example, while the industry average of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2005 was $2.28 cents per mile, the Hummer H3 (among most SUVs) was only $1.949 cents per mile. That figure is also lower than all currently offered hybrids and Honda Civic at $2.42 per mile.

"If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy vehicles," says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. "But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime.

"We believe this kind of data is important in a consumer's selection of transportation," says Spinella. "Basing purchase decisions solely on fuel economy or vehicle size does not get to the heart of the energy usage issue."

The goal of overall worldwide energy conservation and the cost to society in general -- not just the auto buyer -- can often be better addressed by being aware of a car or truck's "dust to dust" energy requirements, he said.

This study is not the end of the energy-usage discussion. "We hope to see a dialog begin that puts educated and aware consumers into energy policy decisions," Spinella said. "We undertook this research to see if perceptions (about energy efficiency) were true in the real world."

Source: CNW Marketing Research, Inc.

[balthazar]

Well, this is certainly going to f**k up some people's hardline opinions....

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

What a surprise!!!! NO MEDIA COVERAGE WHAT-SO-EVER!!!!

This just illustrates 3 points. (Well, actually MANY, but we'll keep it short and sweet)

1) People are DUMB

2) People will BELIEVE anything they are TOLD to believe

3) The media has it in for DETROIT and only used the "hybrid myth" to further it's deterioration.

And guess what folks, you'll NEVER see this in the headlines because the same, self-righteous yuppies that drive these things are the same YUPPIES that control public opinion.

Oh, and it's FUNNY that now Detroit is getting in the game, the HYBRID HYPE has worn off and ALL SORTS of negatives are dripping out of the wood work.

This is a BIG FAT 'Itoldyaso' on the part of GM and Ford, because they SAID publically that hybrids weren't the answer time and again. YET, the media kept on, destroying their image and proping Toyota up on that pedastool that they've so successfully built for them. EVERY major media outlet should apologize, or AT LEAST run this story.... Too bad that would take INTEGRITY, something our 'media' has been lacking for YEARS.

[91z4me]

Oh, and it's FUNNY that now Detroit is getting in the game, the HYBRID HYPE has worn off and ALL SORTS of negatives are dripping out of the wood work.

This is a BIG FAT 'Itoldyaso' on the part of GM and Ford, because they SAID publically that hybrids weren't the answer time and again. YET, the media kept on, destroying their image and proping Toyota up on that pedastool that they've so successfully built for them. EVERY major media outlet should apologize, or AT LEAST run this story.... Too bad that would take INTEGRITY, something our 'media' has been lacking for YEARS.

Oh, FOG you know that the BAS hybrids are much more cost effective than the Ford or Japanese systems. Partly because of the small size. Even if it is just stop, start usage for the BAS it will be cost effective, and energy effective, much quicker than the Synergy system of the Prius.

[zbad1]

Do you have a link for this article? I'd like to share it with some friends. Thanks!

[pow]

Found this on another forum:

If you google CNW Marketing Research, you'll see they are involved in SUV research and PR. 

This link is a report by them pertaining to SUV owners.

http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~WS30/CNWReport.html

In this one they tell you that you save money by not using a internet source to buy your car, that you will save money by going to straight to the dealership, lol.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2001/02/22/015258.html

Here's another report by CNW that encourages buying a "certified" used car.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/shopping/cpo...Is&aff=national

Here's a link that identifies CNW as being an automaker research firm, or in other words a PR tool.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/18/pf/autos/f...onomy/index.htm

I have a formal education in PR and unfortunately this type of company is why we get cenacle about PR.  The google search goes on and on to show this company as being nothing more than a mouth piece for the Automakers.

[LTB51]

From the "About Us" on the CNW Webpage:

Founded in 1984, CNW Marketing/Research began as Coastal NW Publishing Company. Through the years, clients and subscribers have spread from the Great Northwest to include every state of the union (except Alabama), Australia, Europe, Asia and Canada. Clients include major automobile manufacturers, banks and lending institutions, Wall Street brokerage firms and consultants. Besides publishing LTR/8+ (America's most quoted source of leasing information), CNW publishes new and used vehicle industry reference guides and study summaries, a monthly Retail Automotive Summary of sales and trends, as well as our online research distribution center, CNW by WEB.  CNW holds an annual conference in Los Angeles in connection with Time Inc. Mr. Spinella is available for Executive Sessions for a limited number of clients.

http://www.cnwmr.com/sv001data/

I'd really like to see a breakdown of how a Hummer @ 1.949 costs less than a conventional Accord @ 2.18.

[LTB51]

Do you have a link for this article? I'd like to share it with some friends. Thanks!

Please don't until you have some actual information. There is already too much bull being sold as fact in regards to hybrids as it is.

[LTB51]

This just illustrates 3 points. (Well, actually MANY, but we'll keep it short and sweet)

1) People are DUMB

2) People will BELIEVE anything they are TOLD to believe

You forgot "People will BELIEVE what they WANT to believe."

[frogger]

So the Hummer H3 is for great for tree huggers? riiiiiight. It must be true.

Edited April 2, 2006 by frogger

[thegriffon]

Found this on another forum:

If he has a formal education he should know how to spell "cynical".

[toyoguy]

Scientific publications are published in you know journals.

I don't even wanna know who was behind this "study."

It's one thing to say hybrids don't offset additional costs w/fuel economy, weigh a lot, take up space, and aren't as refined as typical vehicles, but this is worthless.