11 Exclusive Disadvantages Of Hybrid Cars!

by FRED CLAY

A recent study by NADAguides revealed that only a handful of Hybrid Cars at present make sound financial sense, and only for some of those considering to buy the automobiles due to rising gas prices.

The advantages and disadvantages of hybrids have been debated for long. The following are 11 opinions against the hybrids, which have been echoed from time to time. While some might be genuine, others could be dated and some just bad publicity. Once, you've skimmed through them, you might want express yourself by writing comments.

1. Price: Hybrid cars are known to cost higher, about $2,000 to $5,000 more than autos running on petrol or diesel automobile engines. Large battery packs and technology used is usually blamed for higher cost for these vehicles.

* Costly Registration: Some states in the US charge more as fees towards registration, adding on to the initial high charges.

* Costly Insurance: Since insuring costlier autos is expensive, the same applies to insuring a hybrid that's costlier than its gas operated counterpart. Apparently, you don't get any special offers on insurance if you buy a hybrid, if at all you get the insurance.

2. New Technology: While the manufacturers rigorously test the autos before they are brought out in the market, the relatively new invention of a hybrid might come up with a type of problem that's not been conceived or discovered yet. Further, in such an event it could take some time before a solution is formulated.

3. Safety: Here's another concern that's high on potential users' minds and this is something that most humans that inhabit the planet wouldn't want to compromise upon. The following are the key points of "terror!"

* High Electric Charge: Most of these cars make use of huge packs of automobile batteries and there's an enormous amount of charge within them. In case of an accident, all that potential electrical energy can cause further injuries to the occupants, if not electrocute them. Further, cutting out electricity connections is one of the foremost priorities of the emergency rescue workers during vehicular extrication, with more electric batteries than ever to deal with, the danger looms large and rescue efforts could be stymied. Finally, the charge reaching any leaking fuel or an automatic deployment of airbags unnecessarily poses an additional threat.

* A Bit Too Light: Since these new age babies are lighter, they are prone be damaged more during stormy conditions if not literally be blown off the ground during high winds. Furthermore, lighter weight means lesser mass and thus these vehicles aren't quite compatible with the weight of conventional cars, hence the forces generated during a collision might impact them more or they might spin like a top.

* Dangerous to Pedestrians: Recently, many eyebrows were raised at the US senate about the danger posed to blind individuals navigating the road by super quiet cars. Consequently, the senate preliminarily approved a bill to study how to deal with hybrid vehicles that are a bit too quiet for blind persons.

4. Maintenance: Apart from the initial cost of purchase sometimes maintaining the machinery to becomes somewhat challenging.

* Break Down: In the event that your car breaks down the relative exclusivity of the cars technology could be somewhat troublesome for you to get a quick fix. The cars being newer your local mechanic or others like them might not be prepared or have the skill set, or the automotive tools to repair it. Moreover, the replacement of complex and exclusive components might burn a bigger hole in your pocket.

* Batteries: Sometimes, the batteries of the car need to be recharged at least once in 15 days. In case you need to be away from your home and your car, you might need to think twice before leaving your car to "rot" behind you, or you might have to make an arrangement for someone to take care of it. Further, batteries are a costly piece of equipment and with the hybrids they usually need to be replaced every 150,000 to 200,000 miles.

5. Performance: Other concerns relate to these cars not possessing the same abilities as their conventional counterparts, these cars seem to be falling short of perfectly matching the performance of the gas cars.

* Slow Acceleration: The new age autos for now are a bit slow to accelerate when compared to their conventional counterparts. Hence, it might just take a bit of adjustment on the owner's part about the envy they might feel of the conventional cars and their users. Or perhaps as more R&D goes into making these autos match up to the gas only cars, they could indeed be at par in reality albeit after sometime.