quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

Originally posted by Gunner:
[b"Oil companies also buy out their competition (smaller companies that develop hybrid technologies) so they don't get put out of business"

This is a myth/falsehood. Repeating this lie will not make it a true statement.

It is indeed.

To each his own (opinion). Maybe the oil company you worked for was the only honest one. If they can rip off the general public as much as they do on a daily basis, then it seems silly (from a business standpoint) that they wouldn't spend money to eliminate any threat to their soaring profit margins.

As for lack of demand, I see hundreds of small pickups every day being used for pool service, bug killin', parts delivery, and a bunch of other high milage uses that don't demand a gas guzzlin V8, but would save a fleet owner a bunch if it got 50 or better. How many Prius owners are driving 30 g or better per year to justify the initial outlay?

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Zeeff:
How many Prius owners are driving 30 g or better per year to justify the initial outlay?

You're right, a brand new hybrid (purchase price + fuel) would still cost more over a 5-year period then a good, used "gas guzzler". Hybrid cars at the current time are being sold pretty much as a novelty, but I think the benefits of buying one will increase as more models are introduced and the first ones start to hit the used car market.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Zeeff:
As for lack of demand, I see hundreds of small pickups every day being used for pool service, bug killin', parts delivery, and a bunch of other high milage uses that don't demand a gas guzzlin V8, but would save a fleet owner a bunch if it got 50 or better. How many Prius owners are driving 30 g or better per year to justify the initial outlay?

Another option for local service is propane.
At my former employer, many of our vehicles that never left the airport were propane or electric. That included mini pickups, which are the most useful vehicles out there. The company got some sort of pollution credits for those, which seems rather silly at an airport where tons of pollution from jet engines burning kerosene emitted every day.

Even the Army is getting on the Hybrid bandwagon.

Shadow RST-V