Hybrids Bigger Energy Waster Than SUVs?

Next time a hybrid owner gets smug with you, tell them this:

From Newsmax:Is it an indictment against hybrid vehicles or a press release from General Motors?

You be the judge after checking out a new study by Oregon-Based CNW Marketing Research that claims hybrid autos consume more energy over the lifetime of the car than a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV.

"As Americans become increasingly interested in fuel economy and global warming, they are beginning to make choices about the vehicles they drive based on fuel economy and to a lesser degree emissions," says the study. "But many of those choices aren't actually the best in terms of vehicle lifetime energy usage and the cost to society over the full lifetime of a car or truck."

CNW claims it has spent that past two years digging up data on automobile energy usage from "concept to scrappage." In other words, they're referring to energy used on things like plant to dealer fuel costs, employee driving distances, electricity usage per pound of material used in each vehicle and literally hundreds of other variables.

The study labels such criteria as "dollars per lifetime mile," or the energy cost per mile driven.

What will surely rankle hybrid drivers is CNW's findings that the much-heralded "fuel efficient" vehicles cost more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid vehicles.

"For example, the Honda Accord Hybrid has an energy cost per mile of $3.29 while the conventional Honda Accord is $2.18," says the study. "Put simply, over the "Dust to Dust" lifetime of the Accord Hybrid, it will require about 50% more energy than the non-hybrid version."

And while the industry average of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2005 was $2.28 per mile, the Hummer H3 (an SUV) was only $1.949 per mile. That figure is also lower than all currently offered hybrids and Honda Civic at $2.42 per mile.

CNW says that among reasons hybrids cost more than non-hybrids are the manufacture, replacement and disposal of such items as batteries and electric motors (in addition to the conventional engine), lighter-weight materials and complexity of the power package.

"If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high-fuel-economy vehicles," says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. "But if the concern is the broader issues, such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime."

"We believe this kind of data is important in a consumer's selection of transportation," says Spinella. "Basing purchase decisions solely on fuel economy or vehicle size does not get to the heart of the energy usage issue."

Hybrid cars have seen a rise in popularity for the past few years because of environmental concerns and lower gas mileage.

U.S. car sales figures appear to back up the anecdotal evidence. Sales of GM's Envoy and Chevrolet Tahoe fell more than 50% in September 2005 compared to September 2004, while Toyota's Prius sales increased by 90% from the same period.