If Price Wasn't an Issue, Would You Get an Electric or Hybrid Over a Gas-Powered Car?

We have a Toyota Prius and we love getting 50 to 60 miles per gallon. I get around 55 to 60 mpg, and my wife gets 51 to 55 mpg.

Vehicles need maintenance and repairs from time to time. Best to work on a car yourself, unless you opt to pay an arm and a leg to a mechanic every time.

Hybrids sound too complicated for me. And electric cars like the Chevy Volt can explode with you in them.

Will hybrid and electric cars last atleast 23 1/2 years? That's how long I've been driving my '89 Mustang.

and explosions won't happen with gas.

Yes, you should definitely stay with your Ford cause it definitely sounds like a true rarity. And by the way, Chevy Volts don't explode with you in them, two weeks after they've been in a 'total loss' collision, they may catch fire after the battery shorts when an ill informed technician doesn't properly discharge/disconnect the battery following the collision. Now I could maybe envision you sitting in your Mustang two weeks after you wrecked it and of course you being the great 'shadtree mechanic' you are, probably should stay away from these new fangled automobiles anyway........

It costs less to operate a hybrid vehicle is the main reason I would buy one.

I should be able to buy what the hell I want to buy. Electric - I can not even get to work and back on the electric ones without an 8-12hr charge cycle. Hybrid might be OK but keep the Feds out of the designs as they will screw it up big time.

I carry Bricks, Lumber, Wood flooring, tools. GAS IS BETTER right now.

I've been trying harder to be more earth-friendly, but it's hard at times. I like snacks but fast food (though I don't\didn't eat it everyday) but want to reduce packaging! It's also hard to get around these days without a car, though I can bike to the grocery or library if I need to. If the planet graded me on eco-friendlness I'd probably get a C right now.

People think hybrids and electrics are less polluting but forget the main ingredient of these vehicles - batteries. They forget that the battery industry is one of the dirties therere is, they seem to forget that these batteries contain also rare metals, so rare that Honda is putting up a factory to reclaim those. They also seem to forget that, besides these metails, there are many harsh and very nasty things in these batteries which will have to be disposed of in the near future. No, hybrids and electrics are worse for the environment, not immediately but in the long term.

there was no i-don't-know option. i don't know which is better.

Electric would be fine too if they had the infrastructure in place to recharge the cars.

I want to be able to take my family of 4 farther than 30 miles at a time.
I will NEVER buy an electric car.

The price will ALWAYS be an issue, so the question is moot.
By the way, just how do you think that electric cars are charged? By electricity made form coal. And just what is Obama doing to coal plants. He is SHUTTING THEM DOWN!

Just were do you think those toxic batteries will end up? In the DUMPS of the world.
And just where do you think that toxic residue will end up? In the ground water that we must drink. Has any Liberal really thought of what their actions mean in the long run????

All good points: How can we realistically take price out of the equation?

Gas prices are only going to go up from here. Besides, the drive is quieter and smoother, and I almost never drive longer than 20 minutes at a time. People who often take longer trips might have issues though, at least with the current electric models.

IF PRICE WASN'T AN ISSUE.
If you mean Monetary price.
You can always use solar energy to charge things.
In fact I purchased some clearance priced solar lawn lights with rechargeable batteries in them.
I keep some in my windows with the bulbs and stands removed. To fully charge for my shaver (mostly) and remotes and other items around the house.
If the power goes out again for some natural issue, I will replace the bulbs and have lights to use.

Try charging that electric car with solar lawn lights.

lol.
uh
no.

If price wasn't an issue, I'd load up on solar panels.

Mother Earth has plans to make your own solar panels.
otherwise it is not a viable option.

Nothing is a viable option.

Today's Americans don't konw what recycling is. When I was a kid, we had a garden next to the kitchen. When any food leftovers were to be discarded, we threw them in the garden, where they rotted and built up the soil. Certain types of leftovers were fed to the chickens. It would have been better to compost some of this, but, unfortunately, we didn't know how. Zoning laws would probably prohibit this efficient practice today.
No food leftovers should ever be buried in a land fill.
But today we are increasingly being herded together in large building complexes in compliance with UN Agenda 21. Look it up. The purpose is not to tend the environment. The purpose of the elitist scheme is to reduce population. (The world isn't for the little guy any more. It's for rich octogenarians like George Soros and the Bilderbergers, who tell us how to live.)
Reducing population distorts demographics, reduces the work force and obliges nations to import labor from other cultures that often are incompatible with ours. The result is costly because it leads to enclaves, no-go zones, higher crime and increased public expenditures for social services. Europe and the US are prime examples. Going under the euphemism of "sustainability," it actually is the least sustainable system for human life.

Costly monetarily, but in the long run it is somewhat insightful; by the end of this century we will not have enough copper, steel, gas, water, food, phosphorous, even space in some countries, to sustain ourselves, anywhere. If global warming is true (I believe it is) then that will only compound that issue by making certain areas less capable of sustaining humans. That said, I'd rather bear part of the cost now to help out my children as much as I can, and myself if I'm still alive by then.

I think we do have to be aware of how many humans are populating the planet and planning (and this doesn't mean neccesarily via birth control if one is against it) families carefully. I'm from a solidly Catholic family on my dad's side and the tendency is to have big families, though we don' take it as far as some sects such as the Quiverfull movement. I'm not sure how population decrease will increase expenditures for social services and increase crime? Less people=less money to be distributed via social services. And there will still be crime no matter what the population.

Portland Oregon now recycles all food waste in special complexes and I just can't wait until this summer.
As Jackie Gleason said: How sweet it is. NOT............

Electric/hybrid cars are still in their infancy and too expensive. Gasoline powered cars are still the best option to this date. They have also reduced the emissions, improved the mileage and increased the efficiency/power.

Maybe in another decade we will have better electric or hydrogen powered vehicles that can be produced at the current gas powered prices. I'd gladly make the switch then.

Gas cars or better yet diesel is every bit as efficient some getting 50 MPG. Its ridiculous to think Electrics is better because you have to consider the source of the energy, and the impact of the batteries. I drive an old truck with 200k miles I've done more to help the environment by not buying an new car by that fact alone. In many cases you will spend 40k on a new electric car with nasty batteries that have to be charged with electricity from some other facility be it nuke, coal, or other. Wind and solar simply can't keep up with the demand from houses let alone cars. I'm not going to pay more than I can afford just to be self rigbtous.

We hear more about the debt we are leaving for our grandkids but we don't seem to care that we are leaving an unlivable planet for our grandkjids. I guess money is more important than clean air and water.

If price wasn't an issue, I would get a supercar that would get the attention of hot chicks.

gas has the best looking cars and sadly thats a real big thing for me because id probably like driving a lot more in a classic ferrari california than a prius

LOL im glad there are people on this site that know a beautiful car wen they see one these things go for around 10 million and i must say that its probably my dream car its crazy beautiful......but i guess i could settle for a prius lol

I'd stick to gas. I never even saw a charge station around my city.

Right now, there is no real difference ecologically between gas and electric cars.

Once we get hydrogen powered cars, though, that's something worth buying.

But we don't have the infrastructure to support it yet.

Or hybrid.

Yes, I would go electric. I already have a hybrid.

Assuming, of course, that there would be enough charge stations around so that I could get as much use out of it... or barring that, if there were stations where I could swap out the depleted batteries for charged ones for a reasonable fee.

I might get a hybrid for long distance traveling, but the day I hear that Electric cars can go long distance, I'd make the switch.