Hi Lars-ss:

___You make excellent points but the fact remains that if the US or a given location (Bay Area) were promoting clean air to its fullest, they would attempt to maximize the replacement of these older/less clean automobiles with the maximum number of new/lower emission rated automobiles. Hybrids do not add up in this regard because the affordability as well as total sales by comparison to any number of non-hybrid PZEV’s one might consider if you do in fact live in California, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and/or Maine isn’t even close. Like I mentioned above, I have been able to purchase a PZEV equipped Ford Focus (there is actually no PZEV rating here in Illinois given our high sulfur fuel and the Illinois DMV doesn’t have the resources apparently to follow California’s lead?) from my local Ford dealer since late 2002 not including the 2005’s. The only other PZEV available to me today is the Prius II (the Prius II is not PZEV rated here in Illinois either). Do you know how many PZEV equipped Focus’ have been sold in Illinois vs. PZEV equipped Prius II’s? Probably a 40:1 ratio or more! So again, does one Prius II help clean the air as much as 40 PZEV equipped Ford Focus’? Those 40 PZEV equipped Focus’ replaced a previous less clean car vs. 1 less clean car replaced car by the Prius II if that helps explain the situation further.

___In regards to a Hybrid in autostop or EV mode(s) emissions, it still only receives ~ 40 - 45 mpg on average whether it is not running for 5 minutes of 10 hours or 10 minutes every hour. When it does run to take you from point A to point B, it emits HC, NOx, CO, PM, and CO2 at a given rate in g/mile. The PZEV rating of the non-Hybrid PZEV taking you from the same said Point A to the same Point B still emits a given amount of HC, NOx, CO, PM, and CO2 in g/mile if you achieve the EPA estimates in one. We don’t really want to go into the PZEV based Hybrid’s ability to achieve EPA estimates vs. a PZEV based non-Hybrid’s ability to do so, do we

___Once again, I am not saying a Hybrid is a less clean automobile replacement for most but there are other alternatives that are not only much more affordable but do in fact have a far greater effect on the local environment because of the numbers sold. If you were in charge of air quality in your locale, would maximizing the number of older car replacements with a large number of inexpensive PZEV’s make more sense or would replacing just a few older cars with much more expensive Hybrid’s be the right choice? The answer is quite clear. The average Hybrid owner makes over $100K/year and can afford a PZEV based HCH or Prius II. The average non-hybrid owning Joe who makes $40 - $45K/year will never be able to afford anything but a std. PZEV based Focus ZX3, Accord LX, Camry LE … whatever. At least up to this point in time.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net