Hybrid vs. Gasoline Vehicles, Essay Example

Recently, the price of gasoline has become unaffordable for many Americans, who are put in the put in the position of having to make choices between using their cars and paying for other essential items such as food or medications. The situation does not appear to be improving anytime soon, since the price of gas is predicted to go as high as five dollars per gallon and the tremendous amount of driving that people do during the summer tends to raise the cost even higher. This paper will discuss the many advantages of hybrid vehicles as compared with gasoline-fueled as well as electric cars, and why they should be a viable option because of the environmental, financial, and other benefits they offer.

Hybrid cars are thought to contain the best features of traditional cars with those connected with electric cars: they contain the cleaner energy that characterizes electric cars, along with the long-range capability of conventional vehicles. In addition, they offer excellent fuel economy, potentially providing 30 miles more per gallon than traditional automobiles (Frequently Asked Questions about Hybrid Cars.) The fuel saving costs can range from $100 to $250 per year, depending on how much the car is driven, the price of gas, and the length of time the car is owned.

Initially, hybrid cars brought significant tax credits to their owners, but the credits passed by President George W. Bush expired in December, 2010. In lieu of that benefit, however, legislators have enacted tax credits for plug-in hybrids, a combination of local and federal credits, that total as much as $7500 at the federal level, in addition to state-based credits that can add up to as much as $5000, depending upon the state in which the owner lives (Hybrid Car Tax Credits: Incentives Fade into Memory.) A further financial benefit for the owners of hybrid vehicles involves insurance costs; many insurance companies offer discounts for drivers of both purchased and leased hybrid cars. The reason for this discount is the belief that drivers who own hybrid cars are more likely to be older, more responsible drivers who are less likely to file insurance claims.

A further benefit to driving hybrid vehicles is their environmentally-friendly status; for people who are interested in doing whatever they can to support green technology, hybrids offer a tremendous appeal. Compared to traditional gasoline vehicles, hybrids burn much less fuel per mile and as a result, produce less pollution released into the environment. As a result, they have the potential to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, while simultaneously reducing the rate of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused directly by humans.

Finally, another advantage of driving a hybrid is a decrease in the frequency of changing its brake pads. Due to its regenerative braking technology, these vehicles’ brake pads last significantly longer; for example, Prius customers have reported driving as far as 85,000 miles without needing to replace the brake pads, as compared to the brake pads of conventional cars , which typically last only about 15,000 miles.

References

“Frequently Asked Questions about Hybrid Cars.” 2012. All about Hybrid Cars. 11 March 2012 <http://www.allabouthybridcars.com/suv-hybrid-autos.htm#advantagesofelectriccars>.

“Hybrid Car Tax Credits: Incentives Fade into Memory.” 7 February 2011. Hybrid Cars. 11 March 2012 <http://www.hybridcars.com/federal-incentives.html>.