Hi All,
Well, he is a good writer, he duped you guys good. I do not think much of his reasoning, however. Here is my take on the Hybrid and Diesel pieces. Good Writer, never solved a real-world engineering or accounting problem in his life, I bet.
In the Hybrid car piece he said the Prius was $100.00 more than a comparable Camry. But, then in the Diesel piece he said a Diesel is $2K more than a comparable car. This apparently contradicts the main generality in your Hybrid piece as declared in the title "Hybrids: Don't buy the hype Sure, hybrids save gas but they won't save you money. There are smarter ways to go.". For $1900 dollars less premium, I can get better mileage in the Prius, with a fuel that costs less, and does not have cold morning starting problems. He also points out that a Hybrid will retain most of its mileage advantage in the suburban driving environment, but the Diesel wont. Again I will save more money with the Prius! It hardly seems "smarter" to me to pay $1900 dollars more for a Diesel , rather than a Prius, and then have to pay more for the fuel as well!
There are other issues. I believe the only economical diesels in the US are being sold by VW. I doubt that the Camry size comparable Mercedes Diesel E320 CDI is even anywhere close to a Camry in cost, let alone the $100 dollar premium for the Prius.
As far as pollution goes, even modern diesels smell. I was behind a brand new VW TDI on my drive home tonight. It smelled.
While a Diesel could be used in a Hybrid Synergy drive, none are now, so the Diesel cars have all the extra unreliability of the multi-gear-set transmission, the starter, and the alternator.
A more heavily built Diesel engine does not mean it is going to last longer, for the very reason it was built more heavily in the first place. The forces inside such an engine are allot greater, and that means to keep things straight it has to be heavier. But who is to say its heavy enough to have more engine life? GM built automotive Diesels once, and they did not last very long. This is a wash. It all depends on the manufacturer's corporate commitment to actual vehicle value and has nothing to do with if the engine itself is a Diesel.
A heavier Diesel engine needs a heavier car to keep it on the road, and a heavier car needs more fuel to accelerate and tires with more drag. In a Hybrid, this is not so much a problem, as the weight means more regenerated energy.
While I agree with most of the facts in his pieces, I generally disagree with the generalities he draws from them. The Hybrid piece should be titled "Prius - Nothing comes close yet" instead based on the facts in the two articles!
The Prius was designed from the ground up to be a total system. The only other Hybrid that appears to also have been so designed would be the no-longer marketed Insight. When looking for a new car, this appears to be the important thing to look for, in a vehicle that is practical for your life. All the car companies are scrambling now. There will be allot of car designs that get rushed onto the street in the next few years. Many will have all the marketing punch list items pushed, but that does not garuntee a car that works well in the real word!