Re:
Buy a Hybrid, and Save a Guzzler
Thursday, February
09,
2006
Dear Mr. Leonhardt,
Regarding your article "Buy
a hybrid, and save a guzzler".
Wow, I didn't realize that because of CAFE buying a
hybrid gives auto manufacturers the right to sell more
gas guzzlers. Thus, "The hybrid, then, is just
about the perfect example of what's wrong with our
energy policy."
Why didn't I realize that?
Oh, is it because hybrids aren't really enabling that
many more gas-guzzlers, at least not Toyota hybrids -
but they could? Is that your point?
Boy, I love talking about hypothetical situations, but
let's talk about facts for a second.
Toyota is by far the hybrid sales leader. Honda
doesn't really sell gas-guzzlers, and GM doesn't even
have any hybrids. Thus, I guess you're talking about
Ford's 20,000 hybrid sales?
But wait a minute, aren't Escape
hybrid buyers buying a hybrid SUV instead of a
gas-guzzling SUV? So, where is this extra gas-guzzler
demand coming from?
Just out of curiosity, how many gas-guzzlers have
passed CAFE because of flex-fuel in the last decade,
Mr. Leonard? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Yet,
you're focused on 20,000 hybrids?
How many SUVs actually achieve CAFE's 21.6 miles per
gallon in real world driving? According to Consumer
Reports, not too many.
So, how many millions of gas-guzzlers have benefited
from inaccurate EPA numbers? Yet, the problem with the
EPA is inaccurate hybrid fuel economy?
Is that why the new EPA fuel efficiency estimates are
not going to be used to update CAFE?
But, let's get back to the problem, 20,000 hybrid SUVs.
So your answer is, "A substantial gas tax would
be the simplest, with other taxes being cut to keep
down the overall burden. Car buyers could drive
whatever they wanted, as long as they were paying the
full cost of their gas, and automakers would respond
with creative products. If we're not capable of having
a serious discussion about new taxes, the second-best
option would be lavish incentives for companies to
sell a fuel-efficient fleet."
Hybrids aren't fuel efficient?
Regarding your tax plan, which other taxes are going
to be cut? Are we just going to leave that to the
bureaucrats? I'm sure there won't be any loopholes
created in that overhaul, and reducing enough taxes to
offset the real cost of gasoline will be a very easy
task.
Consequently, you are basically suggesting that until
we can significantly change the American tax code,
doing nothing is better than buying hybrid
cars?
Better yet, you don't blame the EPA, automakers or the
government for decades of inaction, you ridicule and
belittle the buyers of hybrid cars instead?
Very few hybrid buyers think they are saving the
world, Mr. Leonhardt, how dare you generalize their
motives with your biased statements. Most hybrid
buyers think they are sending a message that foreign
oil dependency and/or pollution are important
concerns, that's it.
That message isn't worth sending Mr. Leonhardt? Oh
forgive us.
Anyway, hybrid car batteries could easily achieve the
same kind of growth in performance and cost as what my
laptop battery has achieved in the last decade. A
hybrid battery that achieves twice the fuel efficiency
at the same cost as today's hybrid batteries is
definitely a stupid investment, huh?
Yeah, gas-guzzling until we overhaul America's tax
code, that's the ticket.
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