[DeTomaso] NPC - Something to chew on

[Will Kooiman]

I read the article along with the companion article:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050509/9hybrid.htm

GM took apart 1 hybrid (the Prius), counted the parts, and came up with 42%
more parts than the powertrain of a similiarly sized Chevy Malibu
(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050509/9hybrid_4.htm)

The conclusion was that the Prius costs 42% more to build.  I suspect that's
why CNW Marketing Research decided that hybrids weren't so green after all.
More parts means more energy is consumed to make the car, right?  Probably
so, but it wouldn't be 42% more.  The extra parts are a battery, wires, an
electric motor, and on some models a generator.  The Prius uses the
generator as the starter, so it doesn't have a flywheel, clutch, torque
converter, transmission fluid, etc.

On page 5, they compared the mileage of a Honda Accord hybrid (32mpg) with a
regular Accord (24mpg), and concluded that at 8mpg more for the hybrid it
would take more than a decade to recoup the extra invesment for the hybrid.
(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050509/9hybrid_5.htm)  Duh!
If the engineers only gained 8mpg, they should have dropped the idea.

What about the other hybrids?  I just (2 days ago) bought a Honda Insight.
I'm not sure what mileage I'm getting.  I haven't bought gas.  I have about
300 miles on it.  The fuel gauge is at 1/2 tank.  It's rated at 60/66mpg.

We bought the Insight because we needed a 3rd car.  I drive my Pantera to
work.  It was getting old working on it until 3am so that I could drive it
to work the next day.

We make a lot of road trips.  We used to rent a compact.  This way we don't
have to rent a car, plus we'll get around 60mpg along the way.  The extra
money for the hybrid makes sense to us.

Obligatory Pantera forum math:

At 12,000 miles per year, and with gas at $2.50/gal...

A typical compact at 35mpg burns $857.12 per year.

The Insight at 60mpg burns $500 per year.

I'm driving closer to 32,500 miles per year for work.  That's 50 miles a day
M-Th plus 450 on Fridays.

If I drive my Pantera, I'm spending $4,387.50 on gas (20mpg, premium at
$2.70/gal).  With the Insight, I'll be spending $1,354.17 (regular at
$2.50/gal).

At a savings of over $3,000 per year, I'll recoup my investment pretty fast.

That's not the reason we bought the Insight, though.  We bought it because
it gives us more mobility.  We felt guilty burning 22gal of premium (almost
$60) driving to Dallas.  The Insight can do it with 7gal of regular (about
$17).

The Insight drives just like any other compact 2-seater.  It even has a
manual transmission.  Some people claim 70+ mpg, but I doubt we'll see that.
Typical mileage for the Prius is 45mpg even though they're rated at 60/50.
We test drove a Prius in Colorado.  It accelerated about the same as our
rental car (Dodge Neon).

Will.

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
[mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of Kirby Schrader
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 5:51 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] NPC - Something to chew on


NPC

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060331/31hybrids.htm

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