NJ's new brilliant spending - Prius State Autos

I recently was driving out of my neighborhood when I passed the house of a New Jersey state employee. In the driveway was a brand new Toyota Prius with state decals on it. My immediate question was aside from the normal hype about hydrids, the environment and the desire of many in the state for meaningless symbols at taxpayer expense, was this a good financial and environmental move?

While researching the question, I ran across an article comparing the Prius to a Hummer H2.

When you factor in all the energy it takes to drive and build a Prius it takes almost 50% more energy than a Hummer. In a study by CNW Marketing called "Dust to Dust", researchers discovered that the Prius costs and average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles (the expected lifespan of a hybrid). On the other hand the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile over an expected 300,000 miles. Which means that the Hummer will last three times as long and use less energy than the Prius.

You then ask the question, how about the environment?

This also doesn't take into account the problem with disposing of the used batteries. Most of the hybrids have not been on the market long enough to be disposed of yet, but when it does happen there are going to be more environmental implications.

And the cost implications? The traditional state non-public safety auto is typically a car in the class of a Ford Probe or Chevy Lumina which is half the price of a hybrid.

Hybrids for the most part do not have huge gains in gas mileage over their gas powered counterparts. There is also a premium to buy a hybrid and there is a large chance that the premium will not be offset by the time you get rid of the car. According to Demorro, "It takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses."

So, once again, some bright bulb in the state chose to purchase a car that costs more to buy, costs more to run and has real long term potential for harm to the environment. Sounds like typical public policy in the state. Hey, but it least it made someone feel good.

Read the article here.

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