Used vehicles and environment

Perhaps there is no greater symbol of man’s relationship with the environment than that of the oil rig. The fact is, Americans are addicted to oil, just like the rest of the world. We use it for heating, energy, transportation, plastic, and a host of other necessities that make up almost every aspect of modern life. So why would used cars be an environmental boon?

Hybrids

Many people look at the environmental crisis and are driven to buy a hybrid. These cars require less gasoline to run because they also use electric batteries. However, most of them require an enormous amount of energy to build, by some estimates, in the neighborhood of one hundred million BTUs of energy, roughly the same as a thousand gallons of gasoline. That means every new hybrid on the market has already traveled the equivalent of nearly 50,000 miles or more, when BTU usage is compared.

Additionally, hybrids cause some serious problems when it comes to emissions. These vehicles are powered by two engines, which drives production costs through the roof in terms of air quality. Additionally, electric batteries are full of dangerous chemicals, many of which are mined in areas with less stringent environmental policies than those in the United States, a classic example of charge shifting. It is estimated that many hybrids actually leave the environment worse due to the material cost of transporting heavy batteries across the ocean in tanker trucks. And while plug-in cars sound like a good idea, the electricity used to power them comes from a coal plant, which can cause more pollution in the long run than gasoline.

The manufacturing process

When considering the environmental impact of buying a car, MPG is often the first condition to consider. This is not a completely wrong move, since the more efficient the car, the less energy it will use and the less pollutants it will release into the atmosphere. However, every new car requires energy to produce. This is true for traditional SUVs, plug-in electric vehicles, and hybrids.

Used cars

Used cars, on the other hand, have already been produced, so they don’t add any new burden to the environment. This, of course, is especially true for vehicles in good condition that already have great fuel economy. The environmental savings from buying a compact car with an MPG of around 35, for example, is immense. Many recent studies have shown that used cars are often a better environmental investment than a new hybrid, simply due to the lack of manufacturing costs and the efficiency of many passenger cars of the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the end of the day, the rust cube could beat the shiny new hybrid, even with all the marketing in the world.