Posted on 05/06/2005 12:53:30 PM PDT by A. Linsley
Cadet Ben Smith, age 15 Millersburg Military Institute
The United States of America is facing an energy crisis of potentially huge proportions. Gasoline prices are rising steadily and it will not be long before the prices will reach $3.00 a gallon! I'm old enough to start driving but I can't afford to buy gas at these prices. In looking for a solution, I've been exploring hybrid cars.
Hybrid cars run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline, rather than just gasoline. Hybrid batteries reduce fuel emissions because the hybrid engine draws on the battery and not gasoline when accelerating. Hybrid gasoline motors can shut off when the car is stopped and run off electricity. Hybrid technology is better than all-electric cars because hybrid car batteries recharge as you drive so there is no need to plug in every 40 to 100 miles. Also, most electric cars cannot exceed 50-60 mph. Hybrids can.
Hybrid cars are also good for the environment. They can reduce smog by 90 percent and they use far less gasoline than conventional cars. Hybrid cars can get up to 55 to 60 mpg in city driving, while a typical SUV travels only 15-20 mpg, consuming three times as much gas for the same distance. America’s energy crisis could be addressed quickly were Congress to require multiple car families to own at least one hybrid by the year 2010.
The prices of Hybrid cars range from $13,000 to $48,000. In California, Florida, and Georgia, hybrid car owners are allowed to use the carpool lane regardless of the number of passengers. In Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, the owners of hybrid cars receive tax credits or rebates. In Connecticut and New Mexico, buyers of hybrid cars receive a tax sales exemption.
As a young American looking to the future, I worry about the world running out of gasoline and I'm concerned about the environmental effects of emissions. Hybrid cars are a good step for America.
We need hydrogen fuel-cell cars. Then we won't have to worry about gasoline at all.
Nice thoughts, but wrong on many points.
Well good for you..go buy one..except for the fact you will overpay for said hybrid..and will not recoup that overpayment in gas savings, they're great.
Reduce smog and replace it with ozone emissions - may not be a good tradeoff.
Dear Sergeant:
Please permit Cadet Smith to stand at parade rest for longer periods. I fear he is locking his knees at attention and it is impairing the blood flow to his brain.
That's a terrific idea! Get the government even more involved in our lives.
We've been "running out of oil" since 1972.
This is a boarding school for boys grades 7-12. I prefer to read opinion pieces by a person who has graduated from high school. Besides, he left out that hybrid cars can be used to make artificial reefs.
I heard on the radio yesterday (WJR Detroit - Auto Report) that GM currently has about 250 deisel-electric hybrid buses on the road. They say that these 250 buses save as much fuel as 8,000 hybrid cars. For most people, the cost-benefit ratio of buying a hybrid car vs. the fuel savings does not justify the added cost. Seems like the hybrid technology might be better put to use in large vehicles like buses, RVs and 18 wheelers rather than small cars.
Just curious.
Do the cadets write turn page papers in that class?
This car sounds wonderful, I'm thinking of buying one.
By 2010 you should be able to buy a used hybrid whose batteries have gone past their useful life pretty cheaply. Have it towed to your house and you meet Cadet Smith's authoritarian requirements.
I think I'll use mine as a large planter.
Where do the hydrogen fuel cells come from?
It would take more fossil fuels to create the electricity required to extract the hydrogen than we use consuming oil refined into gasoline.
Gasoline is just one product from oil. It's the overall usage of oil and it's demand worldwide causing the increase in price.
Now, if we had more nuclear power plants to generate electricity it would be cheaper and cleaner to extract the hydrogen.
Or if the government would buy my "Pipeline to the Sun" project! ;-)
Intereting post. Welcome to Free Republic.
I didn't think they required gasoline.
Yeah, my neighbor just got one. He said you can't even test drive one because they sell so fast they don't have any of them on the lot.
He seems to think he'll get 60 mpg with it. I'm skeptical.
Problem with hybrid-electrics is what do you do with the batteries at the end of vehicle life?
Pb-Acid, Li-Ion, NiCad all are considered hazardous. Moreover, while hybrids have great urban short trip performance, their long haul and unimproved surface performance is substandard.
Wait ten years for some gen IV nuke plants to come online, hydrogen infrastructure to build, and civil fuel cells to mature. Then go out and buy an H2 fueled Wankel - SOFC hybrid.
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