Mayersohn, Norman. "The Batteries are Included." The New York Times 14 Sept. 2008.
This article provides evidence to the sustainability of hybrid cars. Mayersohn sites that battery technology as of now cannot support a totally electric car. Therefore, hybrid cars are the best way to solve our alternative energy crisis as of now. Mayersohn never agrees that hybrids are the only way. Obviously other technologies like hydrogen would be more efficient. However, Mayersohn makes the point that if America wants to help reduce emissions and oil dependency, hybrids are the best choice as of now. In his article, Mayersohn list various hybrid cars on the market. All of these cars are compact and small. While Mayersohn does not address concern for safety due to the smaller cars, the impact of more drivers with smaller cars on safety is apparent.
Hybrid survey shows economic benefits." National Post 25 Apr. 2008.
This is an article from a Canadian news outlet. The article discusses how the website IntelliChoice.com has punctured the myth that hybrid cars aren't a good economic investment. The article says that ItelliChoice is "a leading source for automotive ownership cost and value analysis in the United States." The survey discusses
Hybrid and non-hybrid versions of the same vehicle for the 2008 model year. The survey examines how each vehicle performs based on a projected total cost of ownership figure over five years or 113,000 kilometers. Besides fuel costs, which are considered the primary savings for hybrid cars, the survey factors in other major cost items that consumers often overlook such as maintenance and repair costs and car insurance.
The survey proves that hybrid cars are not only good for the environment but made sense to purchase.
Incantalupo, Tom. "Driven to the fuel-efficient." Newsday 21 Aug. 2008.
This article is from a major New York newspaper called Newsday. It discusses the growing trend of hybrid cars and fuel efficiency. The article quotes Jeff Schuster from JD Power and Associates. He describes that all major automobile manufacturers are heavily invested in hybrid technology. The article notes that the push for fuel efficient vehicles will have a major impact on the automotive industry to include hybrid vehicles. This article is useful for me because it describes the many hybrid sedan vehicles and mentions the relatively new technology for hybrid SUV (eventually I would like to find a more credible source to cover this topic). Since the technology is not as very well developed as hybrid technology for sedans, the ability to have safer and larger vehicles that are eco-friendly is out of the question at the moment. All hybrid SUVs do not come close to competing with the fuel efficiency of hybrid sedans. This could be a good topic for me to discuss as a means to increase safety and fuel efficiency in the future. If hybrid SUVs can be developed to be as efficient as sedans, car safety and fuel efficiency can be met. Otherwise, other measures will need to be taken to meet the safety of drivers with small hybrid cars.
Healey, James R. "The number of small-car owners is growing even though ...... more drivers die in small cars." USA Today 20 Aug. 2007.
This article backs up my main claim that smaller cars are unsafe. Even though this is common knowledge, the article's importance lies in its claim that more people are buying smaller cars. An increase in smaller vehicles decreases safety against larger vehicles. The article sites studies by the insurance industry and the National Academy of Sciences and the reasons why smaller vehicles are unsafe. There is a likelihood that this trend will continue to grow. Fuel prices are not lower than in 2007 and SUV purchases are steadily decreasing. Consumers are now purchasing smaller vehicles and eventually will purchase hybrids for even greater fuel efficiency.
Crain, Keith. "Surprise! Small cars aren't so safe." Automotive News 25 Dec. 2006.
This article for Automotive News sarcastically points out those smaller cars have never been safer. While the sarcasm is humorous, the main point of the article supports the struggle between safety and fuel efficiency. The article discusses that the EPA has been trying to get consumers out of large vehicles for forever while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts safety first (large cars provide better safety). With the recent push for more fuel efficient cars, smaller vehicles are the best tool to combat fuel efficiency. The article sites that the only real way to make small cars safer is to eliminate large SUVs. Obviously this will not happen anytime soon. However, there are ways to discourage the purchase of SUVs. Incentives for hybrid cars (to consumers and producers) encourage the purchase of smaller hybrid sedans and discourage the purchase of SUV. An even more efficient way to discourage SUVs would be to set some kind of CO2 emission requirement that would be hard for any SUV to meet. Ultimately, the best way to increase small car safety is to make SUVs just as fuel efficient, creating little incentive to purchase a small car over a big car. I would like to further investigate the battle between the EPA and the NHTSA.
Garman, Erica. "Will a Tax Break On Hybrids Skid to a Stop?" The Washington Post 19 Oct. 2008.
This article discusses the negatives and positives of hybrid incentives to consumers. As of now, consumers who purchase a hybrid pay a penny per $100 assessed value of their hybrid car. Regular car owners pay about $4.20 per $100. Negatives of the incentive note that people who own luxury hybrid SUVs receive the tax break but their cars mpg is that of a normal small sedan who does not receive the incentive. Positives of the incentive include that 80% of consumers purchase hybrids for the incentive. Overall, I think the incentives should be in place but modified. Congressman Stevens Miller wants to give the incentive to all-electric vehicles. However, I find this to be counterintuitive. Very few all-electric vehicles are available because the battery technology is not efficient enough to be practice. Also, if incentives are removed from hybrids, their cost might out way their benefits for saving money at the pump (the survey by IntelliChoice includes incentives). Instead, an incentive program that requires a certain mpg for various categories of vehicles would eliminate freeloaders who own inefficient hybrid SUVs. I want to further research incentive programs for automakers to continue researching how to make hybrid cars even more fuel efficient.
Comments: I feel like my topic is coming together but i need to get away from newspaper articles and magazines.
This article provides evidence to the sustainability of hybrid cars. Mayersohn sites that battery technology as of now cannot support a totally electric car. Therefore, hybrid cars are the best way to solve our alternative energy crisis as of now. Mayersohn never agrees that hybrids are the only way. Obviously other technologies like hydrogen would be more efficient. However, Mayersohn makes the point that if America wants to help reduce emissions and oil dependency, hybrids are the best choice as of now. In his article, Mayersohn list various hybrid cars on the market. All of these cars are compact and small. While Mayersohn does not address concern for safety due to the smaller cars, the impact of more drivers with smaller cars on safety is apparent.
Hybrid survey shows economic benefits." National Post 25 Apr. 2008.
This is an article from a Canadian news outlet. The article discusses how the website IntelliChoice.com has punctured the myth that hybrid cars aren't a good economic investment. The article says that ItelliChoice is "a leading source for automotive ownership cost and value analysis in the United States." The survey discusses
Hybrid and non-hybrid versions of the same vehicle for the 2008 model year. The survey examines how each vehicle performs based on a projected total cost of ownership figure over five years or 113,000 kilometers. Besides fuel costs, which are considered the primary savings for hybrid cars, the survey factors in other major cost items that consumers often overlook such as maintenance and repair costs and car insurance.
The survey proves that hybrid cars are not only good for the environment but made sense to purchase.
Incantalupo, Tom. "Driven to the fuel-efficient." Newsday 21 Aug. 2008.
This article is from a major New York newspaper called Newsday. It discusses the growing trend of hybrid cars and fuel efficiency. The article quotes Jeff Schuster from JD Power and Associates. He describes that all major automobile manufacturers are heavily invested in hybrid technology. The article notes that the push for fuel efficient vehicles will have a major impact on the automotive industry to include hybrid vehicles. This article is useful for me because it describes the many hybrid sedan vehicles and mentions the relatively new technology for hybrid SUV (eventually I would like to find a more credible source to cover this topic). Since the technology is not as very well developed as hybrid technology for sedans, the ability to have safer and larger vehicles that are eco-friendly is out of the question at the moment. All hybrid SUVs do not come close to competing with the fuel efficiency of hybrid sedans. This could be a good topic for me to discuss as a means to increase safety and fuel efficiency in the future. If hybrid SUVs can be developed to be as efficient as sedans, car safety and fuel efficiency can be met. Otherwise, other measures will need to be taken to meet the safety of drivers with small hybrid cars.
Healey, James R. "The number of small-car owners is growing even though ...... more drivers die in small cars." USA Today 20 Aug. 2007.
This article backs up my main claim that smaller cars are unsafe. Even though this is common knowledge, the article's importance lies in its claim that more people are buying smaller cars. An increase in smaller vehicles decreases safety against larger vehicles. The article sites studies by the insurance industry and the National Academy of Sciences and the reasons why smaller vehicles are unsafe. There is a likelihood that this trend will continue to grow. Fuel prices are not lower than in 2007 and SUV purchases are steadily decreasing. Consumers are now purchasing smaller vehicles and eventually will purchase hybrids for even greater fuel efficiency.
Crain, Keith. "Surprise! Small cars aren't so safe." Automotive News 25 Dec. 2006.
This article for Automotive News sarcastically points out those smaller cars have never been safer. While the sarcasm is humorous, the main point of the article supports the struggle between safety and fuel efficiency. The article discusses that the EPA has been trying to get consumers out of large vehicles for forever while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts safety first (large cars provide better safety). With the recent push for more fuel efficient cars, smaller vehicles are the best tool to combat fuel efficiency. The article sites that the only real way to make small cars safer is to eliminate large SUVs. Obviously this will not happen anytime soon. However, there are ways to discourage the purchase of SUVs. Incentives for hybrid cars (to consumers and producers) encourage the purchase of smaller hybrid sedans and discourage the purchase of SUV. An even more efficient way to discourage SUVs would be to set some kind of CO2 emission requirement that would be hard for any SUV to meet. Ultimately, the best way to increase small car safety is to make SUVs just as fuel efficient, creating little incentive to purchase a small car over a big car. I would like to further investigate the battle between the EPA and the NHTSA.
Garman, Erica. "Will a Tax Break On Hybrids Skid to a Stop?" The Washington Post 19 Oct. 2008.
This article discusses the negatives and positives of hybrid incentives to consumers. As of now, consumers who purchase a hybrid pay a penny per $100 assessed value of their hybrid car. Regular car owners pay about $4.20 per $100. Negatives of the incentive note that people who own luxury hybrid SUVs receive the tax break but their cars mpg is that of a normal small sedan who does not receive the incentive. Positives of the incentive include that 80% of consumers purchase hybrids for the incentive. Overall, I think the incentives should be in place but modified. Congressman Stevens Miller wants to give the incentive to all-electric vehicles. However, I find this to be counterintuitive. Very few all-electric vehicles are available because the battery technology is not efficient enough to be practice. Also, if incentives are removed from hybrids, their cost might out way their benefits for saving money at the pump (the survey by IntelliChoice includes incentives). Instead, an incentive program that requires a certain mpg for various categories of vehicles would eliminate freeloaders who own inefficient hybrid SUVs. I want to further research incentive programs for automakers to continue researching how to make hybrid cars even more fuel efficient.
Comments: I feel like my topic is coming together but i need to get away from newspaper articles and magazines.
Thanks for the promotion, but I'm not a member of Congress. I have the honor of being a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
Incentives based on MPG would be great, but Virginia law doesn't authorize counties to grant them. We have a new, limited, power to incentivize all-electrics, however. I felt it was the time to roll the tax break forward, to express approval of the latest technology, even if that technology is not yet fully mature. Perhaps a bit of encouragement from local government will speed that along.
Hi Greg,
As you noted, you are relying heavily on news and industry articles which may have some bias. The articles you've chosen seem to deal more with hybrids and their economy or fuel efficiency rather than safety issues. If you want to continue with your focus on safety, you might want to search in the Applied Science & Technology Abstracts database for articles. Try a search on: (cars or automobiles) and safety.
You might also want to go to the Department of Transportation (www.dot.gov) to look for information and statistics.