I can't find the link right now, but recently there was a comparison done of the *total* environmental cost of cars, from construction to destruction. It was very interesting. As my memory serves me, hybreds were not well represented in the top ten.
I thought a good deal about this problem when I bought my Hundai last year. Most of my driving is on the freeway, not in town, so the benefit of a hybred is not as great as a city driver would have. Next I looked at milage and overall cost of vehicles. I chose a Hundai, cost new about 12k, with milage in the 35 range. That is almost as good as some hybreds. Turns out that the car I chose was in the top ten *overall* green vehicles listed in the article. I think that a Honda Civic, or whatever their lower end high milage vehicle currently is, would be a good choice too, though they seem to have abandoned the old Honda Civic hatchback, which to my mind was one of the best cars ever built (40 + mpg freeway @ 70 mph age 12 yrs...) The hatchback or "Coupe" versions of cars have quite a lot of cargo toting ability, I've hauled all kinds of stuff in a series of hatchbacks, starting with the Datsun B-210, continuing with two Honda Civic's and now the Hundai. Lumber up to 10' will fit inside, though only a couple of sticks, 8' fits well, and roof racks will haul up to, um, about 6 sheets of 3/4 plywood. Unfortunately the inside cargo space on a Coupe or Hatchback is either not quite 4' wide or is barely 4' wide. Not sure what the cargo dimensions of a Hybred would be.
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I thought a good deal about this problem when I bought my Hundai last year. Most of my driving is on the freeway, not in town, so the benefit of a hybred is not as great as a city driver would have. Next I looked at milage and overall cost of vehicles. I chose a Hundai, cost new about 12k, with milage in the 35 range. That is almost as good as some hybreds. Turns out that the car I chose was in the top ten *overall* green vehicles listed in the article. I think that a Honda Civic, or whatever their lower end high milage vehicle currently is, would be a good choice too, though they seem to have abandoned the old Honda Civic hatchback, which to my mind was one of the best cars ever built (40 + mpg freeway @ 70 mph age 12 yrs...) The hatchback or "Coupe" versions of cars have quite a lot of cargo toting ability, I've hauled all kinds of stuff in a series of hatchbacks, starting with the Datsun B-210, continuing with two Honda Civic's and now the Hundai. Lumber up to 10' will fit inside, though only a couple of sticks, 8' fits well, and roof racks will haul up to, um, about 6 sheets of 3/4 plywood. Unfortunately the inside cargo space on a Coupe or Hatchback is either not quite 4' wide or is barely 4' wide. Not sure what the cargo dimensions of a Hybred would be.