"Greener" driving choices may include more options than a hybrid. Making a good decision about the value of an environmentally friendly car is more complicated than just buying a hybrid. Many regular gasoline engines in mid size and luxury cars have become very fuel efficient and environmentally friendly in lower emissions. Therefore, you may want to create a comparison of all cars grouped within a particular class of vehicle ( small, mid size, luxury, etc.). There are a number of ways to make comparisons.
One helpful approach to making a good buying decision is to create a spread sheet showing first year cost of ownership for all the cars you might enjoy owning. The formula is pretty straight forward. Set up a spread sheet with columns marked make, purchase cost, MPG, annual miles, # gallons gas used, depreciation at 20%, total cost of ownership, and monthly cost of ownership as the last column. Now, you are in a position to look at many cars in a class, with head to head comparisons, to calculate the first year cost of ownership. You may want to leave room to consider cars from other classes as well. This analysis will get you to a "working estimate" as to a dollar amount for the first year cost of ownership. It is not perfect, as we have not calculated the down payment in this analysis, and we straight lined depreciation at 20%. Depreciation can vary greatly from one vehicle to the next. One way of estimating depreciation is to look at the used car estimates in Edmund's or Kelly Blue Book to see what the model you are considering is selling for as a one year old used car. Remember, this is just one tool to help you make a well reasoned buying decision based on what you expect the vehicle to do for you in both performance and environmental concerns.
Let's start by considering the #1 Hybrid. The Toyota Prius, which about costs $23,000, gets 50 miles per gallon, and we estimate driving it 15,000 miles annually. Given these considerations, the first year cost of ownership calculates at $5350 ( $446 ) month. This assumes gas at $2.50 gallon for the 300 gallons ($750) the Prius uses, and adds 20% for depreciation ($4600). Remember, there is no down payment added into any of these comparisons. Many sources rate the Prius as the best hybrid available today. Sales results would tend to confirm this. The new Honda Insight hybrid will cost about $21,300 and gets 41 mpg. Using the same formula, your first year cost of ownership is $5175 or $431 monthly. The least cost of ownership in this class of smaller cars resides in the Yaris at $370 monthly, or the Hyundai Accent at $340. However, there may be real differences in performance, comfort and handling you should consider. If fuel savings are your highest priority, the Prius uses the least amount of fossil fuel, and thereby is one the most environmentally friendly vehicles on the market.
Let's move further along with your decision on how to make "greener" driving choices. The purpose here is to give you a way to reduce your thinking from emotions to concrete numbers using a logical approach. If you are currently driving a car that gets 20 mpg, which puts out higher emissions, and you trade for a car getting 25 - 30 mpg with ultra low emissions, your gas consumption is cut by 25-50%. Also, you are emitting much cleaner exhaust. Therefore, you need not feel guilty (eco-guilt) about hurting the environment just because you are not driving a hybrid. You can drive a "greener" car, in any color, under any name plate, and still make a positive contribution to cleaning up the environment. The improved performance of the new car versus the car you traded makes a difference in air quality and non-renewable resource depletion.
If you prefer a larger passenger car with greater ease of entry, more solid feel, better handling, larger footprint in traffic, and more power, you will be surprised at how many alternatives are out there. You can drive in this larger class and still be helping the environment. Many mid size cars claim 30 MPG or better on highways. The leading consumer reporting agency lists Honda Accord sedan as the best family vehicle. Did you know that a 4 cylinder (177 hp), automatic transmission Honda Accord, gets 29 MPG overall? Nicely equipped at $22,705, it's cost of ownership is $5836 ( $486 monthly). This is just $40 a month more than a Prius for those preferring a larger family vehicle. The Honda Accord will consume 518 gallons of gas vs. the Prius Hybrid at 300 gallons for 15,000 miles of use. However, if the car you traded was getting 20 mpg...it was using 750 gallons of fuel. You lower your gasoline usage by 31% in the Honda and by 60% in the Prius. Both decisions are environmentally responsible! A Hyundai Sonata will actually cost less than a Prius at $441 vs. $446 monthly in the first year of ownership. The Sonata gets 29 mpg and serves well as a family sedan. The Camry Hybrid, with a cost of ownership of $531, is the highest. However, people who own and review Camry's, love the vehicle. It is the higher sticker price that raises Camry's first year values. Don't look past a non-hybrid Camry as a consideration. The Altima also performs well. The Ford Fusion and Focus are other wise choices. The Chevy Malibu has made great progress in the past few years. Volkswagen, KIA, Saturn,Subaru, and Suzuki are other quality vehicles to consider. It really comes down to your individual driving and styling preferences.
In researching this article, there were many reports of people changing their driving habits ( coasting more, accelerating more slowly, reducing speed, softer braking, less idling, etc.) which had a dramatic impact on fuel economy. Some drivers claimed to get more than a 30% improvement over the EPA estimates by changing their driving habits. If you are contemplating a larger luxury car, you may find better gas mileage through these driving habit changes and using this analysis to validate your thinking. It works for luxury cars, SUV's, trucks and other forms of vehicles. Our goal is to get each vehicle on a level playing field for easier comparison. You can then add the "emotional" value based on personal preference.
The time it takes for you to make purchasing decisions within all the claims and hype can be lengthy. Using a method like this may increase the likelihood you will enjoy your "greener" car's performance more, accounting for your due diligence prior to the purchase. If you have gotten in on the "cash for clunkers" program, your are light years ahead in this analysis. Nothing any one person does will change, or correct, generations of environmental damage over night. However, if each one of us make a well reasoned decision, that moves us to a car getting higher mileage, with less emissions, the combined and cumulative impact will start reversing environmental damage. Next year new car sales will exceed 9 million units. There is a reasonable expectation we could gain about 3- 5 MPG in these new cars. This translates to gas savings in billions of gallons, less green house gases, and a healthier environment being created. The process of environmental recovery comes with one good decision after another, made millions of times over, accumulating over time into huge results. We did not get here overnight, and we won't fix it overnight.
If you want to know more, visit
www.edmunds.com
and open their forum on fuel efficiency. There is a wealth of information there to help you
make a well informed decision on driving a "greener" car.. of your choice!
Comments
this is a great article about what cars to buy when it comes to fuel saving it puts it in prospective. great job sir.
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