Passing on hybrid? Campbell sticks with his Buick

‘ ‘ ‘ Over the summer, I had two simple truths in my life. ‘ ‘ ‘ The first was that I had a… ‘ ‘ ‘ Over the summer, I had two simple truths in my life. ‘ ‘ ‘ The first was that I had a full-time job, and the second was that I drove a large car. Unfortunately, the two truths were linked in the most expensive way possible. I had to drive my large, albeit extraordinarily comfortable, car ‘mdash; complete with a six-cylinder engine rated at 29 miles per gallon highway ‘mdash; to my job. My job happened to be out in Canonsburg. ‘ ‘ ‘ For those unfamiliar with the drive, it is very pleasant. Rush hour, however, involves a multitude of people with the united goal of getting back into Pittsburgh, as well as a distinct lack of space. Route 376 gets backed up. Sitting in traffic and looking down at my gas gauge constantly dismayed me, as it slowly fell towards ‘E.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ How efficient it would be, I thought, if I drove an electric car. Standing still, the motors would be consuming negligible power, if any at all. ‘ ‘ ‘ Unfortunately, the electric cars currently out on the market have neither the comfort nor the power of my mid-sized Buick. If one does, I would venture to say it would cost significantly more than my Buick ‘mdash;a used 2001 cost about $5500, and the original owner paid about $19,000 for a new one. ‘ ‘ ‘ Electric cars definitely do not have the range. For many electric cars, my 20-mile each-way drive over the summer would have pushed boundaries, and that’s considering a trip without any creature comforts. ‘ ‘ ‘ So what was I to do? Obviously, I bought the gasoline. If I had a significantly larger sum of money, I could have considered a hybrid. Hybrids run off of a rather ingenious principle. The Toyota Prius, for example, has ‘parallel drive,’ meaning that it runs at low speeds off of its electric motors, and it only kicks in its gasoline engine when its batteries require charging or when extra power to the wheels is required. ‘ ‘ ‘ This is all well and good, but gasoline is still involved in a significant way. The Prius gets much better gas mileage than my Buick Century, to be sure, but only about 16 miles per gallon more. The Prius is rated at 45 miles per gallon highway. As with all cars, this rating is dependent upon driving habits, driving conditions and the load of peripherals ‘mdash; such as air conditioning and headlights ‘mdash; that you’re attempting to run off of the system. American hybrid designs, including the Ford Escape, are similar. ‘ ‘ ‘ The major problem many people see with’ hybrids is the fact that if a hybrid owner ends his trip with the batteries at 50 percent, his car will engage its gasoline engine sooner on the next trip to recharge. Why can’t you just charge the batteries at home off of the cheaper, and arguably greener, house electricity? ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Theoretically, if this could be done, short trips requiring modest acceleration and relatively low speeds would never engage the gasoline engine until the batteries were dead. With a sufficiently large battery bank, the electric motors could propel the car 50 or 60 miles without the input of gasoline.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Great idea, right? ‘ ‘ ‘ This is what both General Motors and Toyota are currently thinking. Toyota is developing a new generation Prius, and General Motors is developing the Chevrolet Volt. Unfortunately, they are not set to come out for quite some time. People want this new ‘plug-in hybrid’ technology now, and they are willing to pay a good amount of money to get it ‘mdash; all in the name of staying green, of course. ‘ ‘ ‘ It is for this reason that WIRED recently published an article about plug-in hybrid conversions. Although people have been attempting the conversions themselves for a rather significant amount of time, business has, until recently, turned a somewhat blind eye. Now, however, entrepreneurs and specialized shops are beginning to realize that people are willing to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to convert their existing hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrid status. ‘ ‘ ‘ A full conversion could cost, as WIRED reports, $30,000. A kit that can be installed at home or by an authorized mechanic could cost $5,000 ‘mdash; and that’s for the cheap, low performance batteries. ‘ ‘ ‘ All of this is well and good, but there is a problem. Fundamentally, everyone considering such a conversion needs to weigh his reasons for doing so. Saving on gas seems to be an invalid justification for shelling out the money to buy a hybrid and then convert it. A Toyota Prius stock costs $22,000 minimum. A conversion of $30,000 would push its cost to $52,000. Even with 100 miles per gallon, it would seem impressively difficult to ever recoup the price premium in the lifetime of the vehicle. ‘ ‘ ‘ If you want a cheap alternative to save on gas, buy a little econobox. ‘ ‘ ‘ If you wish to be green and nothing more, then maybe plug-in hybrid conversion is a route to consider.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ A gasoline engine can’t, after all, be any less damaging to the environment when it’s turned off.