Filed under: Diesel, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GMC, Green Daily
Here are a few dumb reasons why hybrids are bad for us... sigh
There may be a legitimate complaint levied against hybrids and the lack of sound that they produce. It's possible that pedestrians with poor eyesight might not notice a vehicle running on electricity if that person normally equates a specific sound with an approaching automobile. According to a post on Commercial Auto Dealers, though, the lack of sound inside a hybrid vehicle could lull you to sleep. Yeah, in these days, as manufacturers do everything in their power to reduce the interior noise levels in their products, that's a stupid claim to make. The writer also says that the electricity used by electric cars could be dangerous to your health. Umm, what about gasoline or diesel fuel. Last we checked, those can be rather harmful to your health too, and so can the fumes spewed from the tailpipes of said vehicles. Smog anyone? In conclusion, the writer suggests that you go buy a GMC truck. Did that writer forget that they are offered as hybrids too?
[Source: Commercial Auto Dealers via The Truth About Cars]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Peter Wang 3:40PM (5/28/2008)
The real danger is that hybrids don't generate enough of a fuel economy improvement to make a difference in a world with skyrocketing demand for oil. A couple of years of prices increases can completely erase your fuel cost savings. I think people need to go to electric cars (non-gasoline, non-diesel) ASAP.
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meme 3:50PM (5/28/2008)
Amazingly bad article. Re, the health effects of gasoline and diesel:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20071205/ai_n21142453
Beat that, electricity!
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MIKE 4:01PM (5/28/2008)
This is not the first time people have made this statement and I have to say. I have a V-8 gas engine in my car and unless it's the middle of the night and no one is around, if your more than 2 or 3 feet from my car. You won't hear the engine either.
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Robert 4:28PM (5/28/2008)
I wonder how things would be if the original electric cars won out over gasoline cars back in the early 1900s. Would these types of complaints already been resolved or would people have figured out other ways of dealing with things?
When I lived in L.A., I often day dreamed about how different that city would sound if it were full of electric vehicles. I'd hate to find out that my dreams of a future with less car noise would be impossible because the best solution that can be found to allow hard-of-seeing people to identify cars is to mimmic the "old way."
I mean, how do these people deal with bicycles now? I think that'd be a good place to start looking for a solution.
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Chris M 4:45PM (5/28/2008)
They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel in their effort to discredit hybrids and boost sales of gas guzzlers! It also sounds like they didn't get the memo on some big trucks going hybrid.
Electricity is only dangerous if it goes through your body - not likely in a well made car. Gasoline and diesel are far greater threats to health.
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fnc 6:05PM (5/28/2008)
For a while I honestly couldn't tell if that article was ironically written or not.
"This vehicle that dumps noxious and potentially fatal fumes directly into the air you breathe is a far better choice for your health." == WTF?
And I don't think that "A couple of years of prices increases can completely erase your fuel cost savings"
1 dollar a gallon gas, 100 miles.
A 25mpg car spends 4 dollars.
A 50mpg car spends 2 dollars.
Two dollars saved.
Double the cost of gas.
A 25mpg car spends 8 dollars.
A 50 mpg car spends 4 dollars (the "savings" made at 1 dollar/gallon now spent on fuel, yes).
BUT, four dollars were NOT spent at the doubled price.
You have to look at the money ~saved~ rather than just the money spent. If anything, higher gas prices reduce the time it takes to recoup the hybrid price premium. I still don't want a car with two drivetrains though.
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Kevin Nugent 6:50PM (5/28/2008)
Wow what a trash article , but in any event ags cars cannot be heard that much either unless accelerating . If i coast with a gas car it is barely noticeable so their claim of " pedestrians cannot see it or what have you" is hot down immediately. With these new cars all we have to due is be more aware , driver and pedestrian , then everything will be alright
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stevefazek 7:18PM (5/28/2008)
I rather drive a CNG or hydrogen or an EV than gas. In a serious accident yeah the batteries can leak nasty chemicals and h2 or CNG can leak out.
Both those gases would leak out of those tanks in a matter of seconds and dissipates into the atmosphere just as quickly while the gas will slowly leak and pool under the car for HOURS.
But in reality if the crash is bad enough to crack open the fuel tank or Gas canisters odds are with cars these days thats just one of your worries odds are your half dead anyways.
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fnc 7:19PM (5/28/2008)
Regarding the "silent hybrid killer car" argument, has anyone actually put microphones on a street corner and noted the noise levels of various models and types of car driving by and coasting/stopping?
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stevefazek 7:26PM (5/28/2008)
Sigh that is totally retarded. EMFs are formed by anythign electronic Hell even car speakers the ignition coil, the HVAC blower.
But the lines running from the battery pack to the controller carry DC, DC emmits much less EMF because the electroncs flow through the wire, they need a coil to make high levels of EMF, All radio waves including your cell phone antenna operate on AC where the electrons dont flow through the cables entire length but just move back and forth thats what generates the EMF.
Speakers work on AC too.
Quick electric geek lesson, You all heard 120V 60HZ, or in europe 220V 50Hz. What Hz means is how quickly the wave moves back and forth in the wire.
When you have a 2.4GHZ wifi connection the AC electric signal while may only be 3-12 Volts, and 500Ma "half of a AMP" its HZ has 2,400.
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lodel 8:25PM (5/28/2008)
Save for a few loud vehicles, most of the noise from an approaching vehicle comes from the tires.
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vfx 8:40PM (5/28/2008)
Which would you like to be in locked in a garage while running?
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vfx 8:43PM (5/28/2008)
You know that they now allow more than Christmas tree farms below power lines. The EMF "problem" has been found to ne nonexistant.
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jmspearman 10:54PM (5/28/2008)
Wow. The only consolation as I read that post is how much this guy forks out on gas every time he fills up his truck. All the money these folks are spending on gas is that much less they will be contributing in the upcoming elections to right wing politicians who would drill the Alaskan wilderness and undercut spending on alternative energy.
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jmspearman 10:54PM (5/28/2008)
Strange, but the same blogger posted this:
http://www.commercialautodealers.com/gmc-truck-dealership/what-is-gmc-doing-about-hybrids/
So he wants us to buy gas guzzlers, but he says they are busy building lots of hybrids.
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philmcneal 12:42AM (5/29/2008)
wow #10 thanks for the education! its good to know!!
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Steve 1:46AM (5/29/2008)
Do you all believe hybrids have smaller emissions than other cars? I don't. It's only a wild-eyed theory. Like evolution.
(read 1st sentence of 2nd paragraph in article)
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Jim Villano 8:48AM (5/29/2008)
@stevefaxek, your understanding of EMF is completely wrong. DC motors (wound field or permanent magnet) rely on EMF to work at all. Any time current flows in a conductor EMF is generated. As far as AC is concerned, you've got that wrong too. Suggest you re-read your highschool physics book.
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Tim 10:21AM (5/29/2008)
Food too could be bad for you:
You could choke on it.
It could make you fat.
You could be alergic to it.
Producing it causes global warming.
Let's all stop eating food. What a STUPID reason to die of energy starvation.
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John Rowell 12:51PM (5/29/2008)
I second lodel's comment - in most modern vehicles the tires generate the majority of the noise. If our cities were a quieter place the tire noise would be sufficient to alert pedestrians. And the argument about being lulled to sleep by a silent car is moot - more than likely the silence will keep you awake. I find the noisy tires lull me to sleep so I keep the radio on to drown out the noise and keep me awake lol
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