In Calculus today (this isn't a Calculus problem, it was just a trailoff), we were talking about gas prices.
Americans have been getting massive discounts on gas due to government reductions. The government pays oil companies so much per galon of gas (or barrel of oil, I suppose), which causes dramatic reductions in prices of gas in the US. The actual price of gas right now is about $4.00/gallon, so we're still seeing a somewhat significant discount compared to the rest of the world.
Buying a Hybrid right now will pay for itself in about 10.5 years, which is still somewhat of a letdown. However, that's assuming you drive 15,000 miles a year. If you drive more, the time will decrease.
A new hybrid (on average):
$45,000A new small truck (Ford Ranger, Tyota Tacoma -- the most common cars on the road):
$25,000Difference: $15,000Average price of gas in the US:
$3.25/gallonAverage miles drove:
15,000 MilesAverage gas mileage of a hybrid:
62 Miles/GallonAverage gas mileage of a small truck:
22 Miles/Gallon15 000 / (((15 000 / 22) * 3.25) - ((15 000 / 62) * 3.25)) = 10.4923077 YearsSo yeah. Hybrids are nice, but until they come down in price, they're still not too much worth it. This is (obviously) an very averaged figure, so they could pay for themselves much sooner if the figures were different. These are fairly accurate average numbers, though.
I think it's atually a good thing that the gas prices are going up like this. It's the really the only logical thing that is going to give us a kick in the ass to develop a reasonable alternative fuel source.
