CNN: Plug-in Hybrid Hype Gets Zapped
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SEE ALSO: Electric Vehicles - Solution or Diversion?
by Peter Valdes-DapenaCNNMoney.com
NEW YORK December 15, 2009; (CNNMoney.com) -- If you want to save big money on fuel and create a cleaner environment by buying a new, hot off the production line plug-in hybrid, you'd better hold your horses.
For at least a couple of decades, plug-in hybrid vehicles are likely to cost too much for drivers to earn any financial benefit, according to a government advisory group.
Despite travelling miles without gasoline, cars like the Chevy Volt are unlikely to have a big impact on the nation's fuel consumption.
High battery costs are the main culprit, according to a National Research Council report.
Also, Americans shouldn't expect a big environmental impact from these vehicles even if they're very successful with consumers, the report said.
Among plug-in hybrids, those that rely more on gasoline and less on electric power, like Toyota's planned Prius plug-in, are expected to become cost-effective sooner for consumers. That's because of the high cost of the lithium-ion batteries required for these cars. The farther a car is expected to drive on electricity alone, the larger, and more expensive, its battery pack will have to be.
Fuel savings won't cover the extra battery cost unless gas prices rise sharply, the report said. That extra cost will have to be offset somehow, either by passing it on to consumers or by providing higher government incentives to car buyers, or both.
