Personally, I haven't gotten a single incentive for my hybrid. Yet I have no problem with federal, state, county or city incentivies to encourage things that are good for our country, state, county and city . . . if that is what it takes.

Bob Wilson

 

The incentive is to promote and encourage newer and cleaner technology to the general buying masses, which tends to be led to do otherwise by the profit-driven promotion gas guzzlers. I would prefer the auto industry to do this promotion and not the government...but industries are driven by profit and never for the common good (unless forced to do so).

[edit: ok, ok...there are industries that do good and make a profit, but I was talking about the auto industry...esp the domestric ones]

 

I'm not clear if you disagree with incentives or anyone that disagrees with incentives.

In general I disagree. It seems to me that many of the current hybrids are in high demand. Things may have changed with pricing but fairly recently it seemed common for Prius's to sell for above invoice, compared to much below invoice for most other vehicles, less so for HCH. This translates into the Toyota or Honda dealership pocketing the incentive, and the car buyer feeling like they got an incentive even though they paid considerably more than if the incentive wasn't given, though generally less over all.

There's isn't a need for incentives if producers can make as many as they can sell, and I think that will remain the same with high gas prices and limited availability with or without incentives.

End the incentives. Oh yeah, end the incentives to buy Hummers too.

 

I would have gotten my car even w/o the tax break. Heck, I waited to get the exact options I wanted on my car, and lost 1/2 of the credit I could have gotten if I had bought a car that was not exactly what I wanted.

Personally, I think the tax break is a bonus, but not required to make me buy the car, but then again, I have a TCH where the comparably equiped non-hybrid version actually costs more than mine did. For some like the Honda and Ford Hybrid, you can not say the same, as the hybrids carry a premium, and MIGHT need the tax credit to offset this premium.

 

Sorry, yes, I'm not in agreement with the incentives offered. Another way to look at the incentives is that it's a way for the manufacturers to not improve things any time soon, they can just say, hey you get incentives from the government if you buy hybrid.

The best incentive so far is the HOV sticker, how lame is that. A lane designed to promote high occupancy, is superseded by a loophole if you drive a hybrid. Ok, make sense to me. What pollutes more? A vehicle with 2 or more people in it or a single hybrid? What adds to traffic 1 car with 2 or more people or multiple hybrids?

 

Do not do the same with the Democrats and your example will ensure that people do not do the same with the Republicans.

Ironically, prior to 1932, the Democratic party platform was based on an efficient free market economy, under which the United States saw Standard Oil using gasoline to run its machinery while buying out less efficient companies to shut them down at a time when oil companies dumped gasoline into rivers. This was before the invention of the automobile of course, but it goes to show that an efficient economy is an environmentally friendly economy.

I agree; that is a problem.

 

Bravo lars for being a Republican who cares about the environment. I'm a Dem and agree 100% it shouldn't strangle private industry.

The Dems do have a liability as you mention in that the Environmental lobby is essential for them to win elections, yet can be so radical as to require occasional bills be passed on their behalf that are completely unrealistic and often shoot themselves in the foot. Although I am an environmentalist, I hate most environmentalists for the simple reason that they're so radical they make me look stupid for wanting to save some trees.

It would at least appear the Environmental lobby has lost some of its grasp on the Dems so hopefully future legislation is more balanced. It's possible moderate Americans increasingly caring about Global Warming are dispensing the Dems' need to cater to the more extreme "no oil starting tomorrow" nonsense.

I'll never get this wish, but I really wish the majority of environmental legislation was replaced with one simple law: a tax on each product that hurts the environment, according to its Lifecycle harm (Toyota budgets internally this way, by the way). So if a Prius hardly makes CO2 but every plastic part in it goes in the ground in the end, it might get taxed just as much as an all-metal SUV that gets 100% recycled or a computer that gets partly recycled. A company running a coal plant gets taxed into oblivion and a company running a solar plant dodges nearly all taxes.

If you take away the obvious "beat the competition by letting the environment pay for it" strategy you'll see industry move to protect the environment faster than any single law will ever do, especially some of the more strangling ones that were passed in the '90s, or obviously the "do whatever you want" ones passed since 2000.

And just as a funny thought, I do wonder what year it will be when Americans will look back and say, "Those barbarians burned oil? But it's so much more useful than that!"

 

If people better understood and were better educated about the consequences of their "choices," we'd not have to wait for automakers to find better choices for us. Closing EV1 plants while opening up Hummer plants at the same time isn't exactly what I'd call free choice.

We have choices within the selection of items we have...beyond that, we have no choice. Choices have become better in recent years but the level of education and understanding the public has in regards to their effects due to their choice has tanked.

 

Agree Noz.

What about my choices? I'd like to drive a car that gets 100mpg. Or 250mpg. Where are those on the dealer lots, ready to sell? Upping CAFE standards is going to increase my options.

As for people who have to have a big truck that's fast off the line... consider buying a smaller vehicle so you don't need to move so much mass, or a big truck that's good at what a truck was meant to do: Haul. Stop racing trucks in the first place. That's just abusing the planet for kicks.

 

I'm an independant who mostly votes Republican.

I am extremely disappointed in the lack of environmental awareness of the Republicans, specifically their irresponsible lack of any policy or action on reducing our outrageous consumption of gasoline, which hurts our country and our planet.

Harry