Dave Null Sr. said:
in news:(e-mail address removed): [snip]
Of course all my numbers were local, including Canadian $ and ¢.
So our gas is approximately 66¢US/litre. Our taxes are higher
here.
I don't see what your point is here. My point was that you can't say that
the previous poster was incorrect because of the circumstances where you
live or how much you or some mythical "average person" drives. Your prices,
higher taxes included, may make what you say true for you, but please don't
claim that someone else is wrong because of that. BTW I noticed you
deleted, without comment, my text about fuel in my area that costs about
US$0.21/litre. No matter. Just as a basis of comparison, the last time I
fueled up (aside from the US$0.21/liter) I paid about US$0.41/liter.
I also question your price adjustment from CAN$ to US$ for the cost of gas.
Are your wages increased by 20% or so compared to someone working in the US
to make up for the lower value of the CAN$? Unlikely. Please correct me if
I am wrong, but I expect that a CAN$ being spent by you has the same impact
on the family finances as a US$ spent by me. As an example of how prices
are adjusted down to correspond to the lower value of the CAN$, I know that
many cars (Chrysler minivans come to mind) that are identicaly equipped to
the US conterparts and are sold for substantially less in Canada because of
this differential - so much so that US residents buy their cars in Canada
and import them themselves to save thousands of dollars. The problem has
gotten so bad that US dealers have been given approval to deny warranty
service for vehicles bought in Canada. Exceptions are made for Canadians
experiencing warranty issues while traveling in the US.
Given the same size of vehicle, and that the Prius is actually
a chunk larger than the one gas-only Civic, the ~C$700 per year
will pay for batteries long after the warranty has expired.
Actually I dispute this number also, primarily because I only drive 12,000km
per year. Again, averages don't apply to everyone, so you can't shoot down
someone else's claim because of circumstances applicable to you but not to
them. Even if the number is accurate and the savings will pay for the $2000
batteries, it wouldn't have also fully paid for the extra $5,000 to $10,000
initial purchase price (compared to a similarly sized conventional car, plus
the markup above list price that many dealers are charging for these limited
supply hybrids) and the extra insurance costs for a car more expensive to
buy and repair.
It is also assumed that the Prius (or Civic) will have the same
bulletproof type reputation (or even better). Toyota or Honda
know that people are going to jump on the reliability statistics
and have probably spent more than 'normal' on quality control
and design.
Probably not a good thing to assume with new technology like this. I expect
that the extra quality control and testing will make the quality ratings
break even with the normal vehicles at best, particluarly with the low
volume hybrid cars. Do you realize that Toyota only sold about 4,000 Prius'
last year?
Gas will only be going up in price.
People have been saying this for the past 30 years, and I don't believe this
any more now than I did last year, or the year before, or the year before
that, etc. Adjusted for inflation, gas in the US is still less expensive
than it was 20 years ago. Sure, we will run out eventually, but by that
time I expect to be dead, my Subaru will be an antique, and technological
advancements will have a replacement solution fully implemented. Crude oil
prices are dropping already from $42/barrel to 40.50/barrel, but that is
only a small part of why prices are high. The cost of gasoline is high in
the US because of a drop in the number of refineries over the past 30
years - not a single new refinery has been built in the US since the early
1970's, but many refineries have been closed since then because of age, lack
of profitability, or inability or lack of cost effectiveness to make
improvements required by regulations (environmental, safety, etc). That,
combined with with governmental requirements for different blends of fuel in
various regions which change twice a year is causing a supply shortage in
gasoline that causes a temporary shortage during the transition from winter
to summer fuels that happens each Spring, and to lesser extent each Autumn.
When supply finally catches up with demand, I fully expect prices to drop by
20% from their current levels. I have been doing my part - I haven't bought
gasoline since the end of April.
Maybe not as dramatically
as in the last couple of months, but given the world oil situation
and China's increasing rate of consumption, up is a given.
That means the C$700 number is likely very conservative in
the longer term.
According to my figures, I didn't even buy $700 worth of gas for all of my
driving last year -- or any other year. My credit card company reports that
I have bought $252 of gasoline so far this year (that doesn't include the
$20 in fuel rebates I received from BP/Amoco recently). Even adjusting that
amount to make it comparable with the CAN$, it would be impossible for me to
save $700 unless I didn't drive at all. No hybrid needed for that.