As much as I love my business and the pride I take in it, there is always another way to earn an income, and with all of these new hybrid cars coming out, it seemed as though I needed to start thinking of a new career.
Then to my surprise, I was reading Wired Magazine and found some pretty interesting information today on the subject of “Go Green” and the automotive industry. Obviously the automotive industry is near and dear to my heart…it’s my life.
The article actually stated that buying used cars are a better option then buying hybrids. This news blew my mind. I would’ve never guessed that a used car would actually be “greener” then a hybrid and produce less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Matt Power mentioned in the article that a Toyota Prius takes 113 million BTU’s of energy to make the vehicle. Since there are only 113,000 BTU’s of energy in a gallon of fuel, technically the Toyota Prius has already used 1,000 gallons of fuel before it even arrives at the dealership. You would have to drive over 45,000 miles with your new Prius just to make up for the energy it took to make the vehicle.
Matt was very informative and it’s definitely an interesting article to read. I’d rather you just let you read the article he wrote then chopping it up. But to make a long story short, the big wave right now is buying used cars that get great M.P.G. In fact, the biggest interest seems to be in the early 1990 vehicles.
You can find Matt’s article at http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr.html.
Needless to say, this makes me very happy. I can continue helping people cut costs and keep more fuel efficient vehicles running for years to come. I hope someday they will bring back the electric car and we’ll solve this emissions problem for good. In fact, you should check out the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car?†You’d be surprised to know we’ve had a solution to this pollution problem for years.
If you’re looking to “Go Greenâ€, save yourself $20,000 and stick a new engine or transmission into a Metro, Tercel or something you can pick up and get fixed for around $2,000.
Very interesting and intriguing approach to “going green.” Thanks for the reference to the Wired article.
Also, nice call on “Who Killed the Electric Car?” While I think the writers/producers clearly had an agenda (and not an unbiased one), the film raises a lot of valid questions. I’m still scratching my head about why we won’t see a new electric car in the U.S. for at least another year. And even then, the Chevy Volt’s competition may come from China