Where can I find good information on the environmental impact of hybrid cars?
By Cars & Motorcycles on Mar 14, 2009 with Comments 3
To settle an argument with a friend, I’m trying to find some valid sources for showing the positive (and negative, I suppose) effects on the environment of hybrid cars. Most of the info I find is from hybrid car or manufacturing websites – which my friend will take as biased – or from websites that blast into hybrid cars as my friend is doing. I’m looking for something unbiased and researched (and preferably online because that’s the only way I’ll get my friend to read it). Thanks if you can point me to any good sources!
Filed Under: Hybrid Cars
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You should go old school, and look up Hybrid Cars in an encyclopedia (forget the internet, it’s much more believable when it’s in a written book), and it’s possible that they’ve won a Guiness World Record (no, I do not have any proof of that you’ll have to look it up yourself lol) and in there it will explain some things about the car.
Also, there’s always the South Park episode, “Smug Alert!” to see some unnecessary, but true, information about the effect of Hybrid Cars on the actions of humans.
fueleconomy.gov gives some pretty useful information on all available and EPA tested vehicles.
You should look at a life cycle analysis of hybrid vehicles. If you type it in on Google (or better, Google Scholar) you’ll find a bunch of info.
This would take into consideration everything that went into building the car, the lifetime of the car, and the disposal.
Typically when hybrids are promoted to consumers, only the fuel efficiency while the car is actually in use is considered, but there are other things involved in the car’s life cycle.
There is a lot of complexity involved in such an analysis, but I think the general consensus among the scientific community is that Hybrid is better than New, but a used car is better than a hybrid.
It’s still better to get a fuel efficient old car, (such as an old Saturn), rather than a new hybrid.