Earthworm Jim Posted December 6, 2007 #26 Share Posted December 6, 2007 A hybrid would have cost me $10,000 more and about the only time I would be running on the electric motor would be coming out of my drive way. Huh? A Prius is $22K-$23K. There is no Civic that sells for $13K. And the Prius still gets better mileage on the highway than the Civic does. I think hydrogen will be the ultimate answer, but there are problems to work out. Hydrogen is not an energy source, it's just an energy carrier. Think of it like a battery is for electricity. Hydrogen and batteries aren't the source of the energy, they just store the energy created in other ways. Some source of energy is needed to create the pure hydrogen so that you can use it in a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylock Posted December 6, 2007 #27 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Huh? A Prius is $22K-$23K. There is no Civic that sells for $13K. And the Prius still gets better mileage on the highway than the Civic does. Hydrogen is not an energy source, it's just an energy carrier. Think of it like a battery is for electricity. Hydrogen and batteries aren't the source of the energy, they just store the energy created in other ways. Some source of energy is needed to create the pure hydrogen so that you can use it in a car. I paid $12,400 for my Civic 4 years ago. So yes, a Prius was $10,000 more. Plus the taxes on the $10,000 more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip2cruise Posted December 6, 2007 #28 Share Posted December 6, 2007 When oil drops below 80 bucks are they going to take it off? I dont think so. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/11/TR35SHIVC.DTL Gallagher said it's unknown if the surcharge eventually will be incorporated into the ticket price for 2009 or 2010 voyages, but said that it could be discontinued if oil prices drop back to $70 per barrel for 30 days or longer. "A lot of things can happen with the price of fuel between now and then." Carnival makes fuel surcharge retroactive If you've already paid for a cruise on any ship owned by Carnival Corp., start looking for a bill in the mail, because you probably owe them $70 more. Following the lead of several airlines and smaller cruise lines, Carnival is tacking on a fuel surcharge (oddly called a "fuel supplement" in a company statement) of $5 per person per day for all trips that depart on or after Feb. 1. The charge - $35 per person on a weeklong cruise - will apply to all ships in the fleets of Carnival, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America, Princess Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn. The surcharge, a response to the recent dramatic rise in oil costs, the company said, is retroactive and applies to cruises already booked, even if already paid for in full. "They will be getting another bill," said Tim Gallagher, spokesman for Carnival Corp. "Either a call from their travel agent or they will be contacted by us." Gallagher said it's unknown if the surcharge eventually will be incorporated into the ticket price for 2009 or 2010 voyages, but said that it could be discontinued if oil prices drop back to $70 per barrel for 30 days or longer. "A lot of things can happen with the price of fuel between now and then." Carnival instituted the surcharge earlier this year in the company's European brands.Including the European lines, Carnival Corp. operates 84 ships with a total of 156,000 berths - which means the company would collect $5.46 million per week from the surcharge alone. The price Carnival pays for fuel, the company said in a statement, has increased 140 percent during the past three years, including a 50 percent increase in the last seven months. The charge does not include third and fourth passengers in a room, and there is a cap of $70 per person for cruises longer than 14 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_duck Posted December 6, 2007 #29 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thanks LC, I was looking for that quote the other day and couldn't find it. Of course, my Fuel supplement charges have disappeared anyway. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefly333 Posted December 6, 2007 #30 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thanks, well we know that if oil drops below $70 a barrel for more than 30 days they will consider removing the surcharge. Iv got my fingers crossed but it doesnt look like it any time soon. Gas inventories, (natural gas) were down today more than expected, so no one is cutting back on usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthworm Jim Posted December 6, 2007 #31 Share Posted December 6, 2007 I paid $12,400 for my Civic 4 years ago. So yes, a Prius was $10,000 more. Plus the taxes on the $10,000 more. Oh, well 4 years ago a Prius was hard to come by anyway, so you probably would have had to pay over sticker price if you could even find one. I thought you meant recently. On the other hand, 4 years ago the Prius still had the big tax rebate before they got phased down to nothing on Toyotas. That still would have only made up a a couple of thousand out of the 10 grand difference though. But hey, you'd make up that different in gas after only 430,000 highway miles!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacruizer Posted December 6, 2007 #32 Share Posted December 6, 2007 You have to evaluate your driving to say if a hybrid is better. For me, living in a rural area, my Honda Civic at 41mpg is the better choice. A hybrid would have cost me $10,000 more and about the only time I would be running on the electric motor would be coming out of my drive way. If I lived in a city, I would have probably gone with the hybrid, but I think my civic works better for me now. I think hydrogen will be the ultimate answer, but there are problems to work out. One of the co-presenters on my favorite tv show (Top Gear) says that whoever figures out how to store hydrogen will be the richest person in the world. I think about it everyday. Yes - they are not for everyone but I have to disagree with the the battery only being on in coming out of your driveway.:) My car routinely shuts the engine off at highway speeds and also when I a up to speed and can take my foot off the gas and coast. The car automatically cycles between battery and gas as needed and just because you are driving higher speeds does not always equate with the engine running. I actually find that really short trips are the worst for gas mileage for me - anything less than 2 miles the engine will actually run at first to get it warm. It is after that warm up it becomes really efficient at switching off the gas. Overall I am actually averaging better mpg than the federal estimates and have taken a couple of road trip now where I gotten around 50mpg - astounding for a full size sedan (we have the Camry Hybrid.) The cost is a bit higher - I was lucky that my employer offers a nice hybrid incentive so the price was about the same as a non-hybrid Camry for me. Go the Prius route and the mpg is even better but was looking for a slightly larger vehicle and didn't like the interior layout. If I did a long commute each day, I would have opted for the Prius, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wennfred Posted December 6, 2007 #33 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hydrogen is not an energy source, it's just an energy carrier. Think of it like a battery is for electricity. Hydrogen and batteries aren't the source of the energy, they just store the energy created in other ways. Some source of energy is needed to create the pure hydrogen so that you can use it in a car. On top of that, it cost way more to produce it. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wennfred Posted December 7, 2007 #34 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I paid $12,400 for my Civic 4 years ago. So yes, a Prius was $10,000 more. Plus the taxes on the $10,000 more. You got a killer deal as the lowest price is usually 16,900. Was it used? Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Funtime Posted December 7, 2007 #35 Share Posted December 7, 2007 The one factor not mentioned re: ethanol is the pressure on prices of corn and related products caused by the consumption of corn to produce ethanol. I agree with a previous post..... spend the Iraq $$$ on OUR country and its needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakapfet Posted December 7, 2007 #36 Share Posted December 7, 2007 We cant get out of Iraq now, Haliburton profits are down so we need to stay there a little longer ... We should all get Smart cars next year: Imagine being pursued on the highway by one of those: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtalum Posted December 7, 2007 #37 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Its time to start building the Flex Fuel cars. This will help big time as you can switch fuels when ever one price of fuel is higher then the other. A flex-fuel vehicle, or FFV, is a vehicle that is capable of running on either gasoline or E85, which is a blend of 85-percent ethanol. Flex-Fuel and E85 are useless pipe-dreams in the US. Here in the US it takes more energy to create a gallon of ethanol than you can get out of it. It also drives up the price of food, which further defeats the purpose of alternative fuels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wennfred Posted December 7, 2007 #38 Share Posted December 7, 2007 It also drives up the price of food, which further defeats the purpose of alternative fuels. You got a good point there, but did you know that farmers get paid Not to grow corn? Kinda crazy. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip2cruise Posted December 7, 2007 #39 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Thanks LC, I was looking for that quote the other day and couldn't find it. Of course, my Fuel supplement charges have disappeared anyway. ;) YW...Lucky Duck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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