Will consumers shift to hybrid cars?

I really dont know what Mridula has against hybrids, I see her posting consistently against Hybrids.

These types of cars will become standard around the world in the next decade. We can be like we were last decade accepting technologies that are atleast 10 years old, or we could for once move forward and make a difference.

The cost associated in hybrids are only temporary or initial. Over lifetime it can save a huge amount. Most of the cost associated with hybrids are due to the fact that there has never been so much demand for batteries and motors before this. This means we will have to do a round of beafing up of production, standardizing the design and the cost of the batteries and motors will come down. With that the initial cost of hybrids will also come down.

The high voltage hazard is just paranoia. There has never really bean any situation where people died out of shock from these batteries in the last 10 years that they existed. This paranoia should exist even if you are using your fridge or mixer grinder or oven. Its nothing special in Hybrids. To make things even better the Hybrid battery pack will shut itself down internally if in case it detects a loose wire. The DC wires used to connect the batteries are really thick and very difficult to get cut.

Weather we like it or not our need to save fuel is very high. Even if we Indians dont accept Hybrid cars the rest of the world will accpet them slowly but surely. There is no denying the fact the money one saves by buying hybrids. If we don't setup enough infrastructure to make hybrids and sell them. We will be the only nation importing real pricey oil after a decade. Its better to start off now and save a lot of money, time and pollution.

PS: The price increase in all the commodities we see is due to the increase in fuel cost and our total dependency on imported fuel. So adopting hybrids we can indirectly save a lot more. I dont like to pay Rs.50 per kg for potato 5 years from now just because transporting that 1 kg costs Rs.40, I dont know about you. My view is stop importing fuel and start importing vehicles(since we cant seem to make them here) and save lots of money in long term.

If our manufacturers can make available some sensible hybrid cars in the market. People will certainly shift. No one has any reason not to use cars that give over twice the mileage of their current cars. The Maruti Alto for example costs about 3L to purchase but over its lifetime of 1L kms(will be covered in 6-7 years) it consumes over 3.5-4L rupees worth fuel. This brings the overall cost of ownership of Alto to about 6L(4L for fuel + 1L resale price). Now if we made a alto hybrid for 4L and it gave twice the mileage. The overall Ownership cost would be 4.5L(2L for fuel + 1.5 resale price).

I think its time our government starts giving out tax incentives based on how much fuel we save. It is said that We loose over 30,000 Crores a year to pay subsidies one LPG and diesel alone. The overall money we pay to crude oil imports is about Rs. 2-2.5L crores a year. I think its time to save some of that money and give it out as subsidies to Hybrid and Electric cars. We can easily bring down the money spend on fuel import in 10 years to about Rs.1.8L despite the growing economy if we adopt more hybrids.

So it makes sense for every one.

We can save more than 90% using hybrids. See how  http://arunmur.blogspot.com.

yes the future is definitely bright for hybrids, almost every automobile giant is planning it but time it will reach the market and cost will be major factors. but people need to look at MASS RAPID TRANSIT system as much as hybrids, they need to choose it if they need sustainable and progressive development

I think consumers will shift to hybrid cars because these cars are low on driving costs. Hybrid cars are unlike battery electric vehicles because the batteries used in hybrid cars do not have to be charged by an external source. The hybrid car is so innovative in the way it powers itself and the way it is able to save travelers money on fuel, it's called the car of the future.